Pre-season On October 7, 2019, one day after the final game of the
2019 season, Orlando City parted ways with head coach
James O'Connor. With the addition of
Nashville SC and
Inter Miami CF in 2020, MLS held an
Expansion Draft on November 19, 2019. Orlando City had 13 players exposed. None were taken. On November 21, 2019, it was announced that a total of 14 players would not return either because their contract had expired, they had their contract option declined or, in the case of
Danilo Acosta, they returned to their parent club after their loan expired. Orlando City had an option to buy Acosta at the end of the loan but declined. However,
Ruan had his purchase option exercised following his loan in 2019. Another notable departure was
Cristian Higuita who had been the sole remaining member of the team's inaugural MLS roster in
2015 and departed as the club's leading appearance maker with 108 across all competitions. Having initially had their options declined,
Uri Rosell,
Alex DeJohn and
Mason Stajduhar all later renegotiated new contracts with Orlando. On December 4, 2019,
Óscar Pareja was announced as Orlando City's new head coach. Pareja had previously worked with Orlando's VP of soccer operations Luiz Muzzi at
FC Dallas. Having emphasized the importance
Homegrown players the previous offseason, Orlando signed the sixth and seventh Homegrown players in club history in December, signing
David Loera following his junior year at
NC State and
Jordan Bender from USL affiliate
Orlando City B. The team also did a significant amount of recruiting in South America, bringing in Colombian midfielder
Andrés Perea, Argentine defender
Rodrigo Schlegel and Brazilian defender
Antônio Carlos all on one-year loans from
Atlético Nacional,
Racing Club and
Palmeiras respectively while Brazilian midfielder
Júnior Urso joined permanently from
Corinthians.
Peruvian international goalkeeper
Pedro Gallese also joined on a free having last played for
Alianza Lima, on loan from
Veracruz. On January 9, Orlando made five selections in the
2020 MLS SuperDraft including one in the first round. Fifth-overall pick
Daryl Dike was automatically signed due to his
Generation Adidas status while
Joey DeZart was later given a contract.
Austin Aviza and
Nick O'Callaghan were signed to
Orlando City B. On January 17, Orlando officially opened the new
Orlando City SC Training Ground at Osceola Heritage Park.
February Orlando's sixth MLS campaign began at home to
Real Salt Lake on
February 29, a repeat of the
2016 season opener. Just like 2016, the game once again finished level, this time goalless as debutant goalkeeper
Pedro Gallese kept Orlando's first clean sheet in nine games stretching back to the previous season. The result meant Orlando remained unbeaten on matchday one since joining MLS. The game was also notable for the substitute appearance of on loan
Andrés Perea who became the first person born in the 21st century to play for Orlando City SC.
March March 7 saw Orlando's first away game of 2020. It ended in a 2–1 defeat to
Colorado Rapids as
Drew Moor headed a 90th-minute winner from a corner after substitute
Chris Mueller had scored the team's first goal of the season to tie up the game in the 82nd minute. It was the first time Orlando had lost to Colorado in the two teams' six meetings.
COVID-19 pandemic On March 12 it was announced that the
2020 Major League Soccer season had been temporarily suspended for 30 days on the advice of public health authorities due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. With the situation developing, the suspension was extended until at least June 8. On May 6, MLS allowed voluntary individual workouts on outdoor fields for the first time since the suspension. Every Orlando City player opted to train at the team's Kissimmee training facility.
MLS is Back Tournament On June 10, MLS announced a return to play via a one-off
MLS is Back Tournament. The competition ran from July 8 to August 11 at the
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Orlando's first match was the tournament opener, scheduled against newly created Florida rivals
Inter Miami CF. Orlando won the game 2–1 after trailing thanks to goals from Mueller with his second goal of the season and then a 90+7-minute winner from captain
Nani in his first appearance of the year. In the second game Mueller scored twice in the opening ten minutes as Orlando earned back to back MLS wins for the first time since May 2018, running out 3–1 winners over
New York City FC with
Tesho Akindele also scoring his first goal of the season during the match. The result, coupled with
Philadelphia Union beating Inter Miami later that evening, meant Orlando sealed qualification to the knockout round with a game to spare. A 1–1 draw against similarly already-qualified Philadelphia in the final group game, in which
Mauricio Pereyra scored his first goal for the club, ensured Orlando finished top of Group A on goal difference. Orlando faced
Montreal Impact, who qualified as one of the best third-place teams, in the round of 16. Orlando won 1–0, earning their first shutout of the tournament and second of the season. The team progressed to the semi-final stage following a
penalty shootout win over
Los Angeles FC with the teams tied 1–1 after 90 minutes. Nani had a penalty saved by
Kenneth Vermeer in the second half before
Bradley Wright-Phillips opened the scoring shortly after.
João Moutinho forced the shootout, scoring an equalizer against his former club off a Nani corner in the 90th minute, his first goal for Orlando City. Nani went on to score the decisive penalty in the 5–4 shootout victory with every Orlando player scoring their penalty. For the semi-final, Orlando City matched up against
Minnesota United FC, coached by
Adrian Heath who had led Orlando City's
USL predecessor to two USL Pro titles and had remained unbeaten against the Lions in three previous meetings since his 2016 sacking. However, a first half Nani brace and a second half
Benji Michel stoppage time goal earned Orlando a 3–1 win and booked their place in the final.
Portland Timbers won the final 2–1.
Nani,
João Moutinho and
Ruan were all later named to the tournament
Best XI.
August On August 19, following the return of the MLS regular season in home markets, Orlando City announced that all three phase one games at Exploria Stadium would be open to fans at a reduced capacity and that face coverings would be mandatory for those in attendance. They were one of only five teams (with Dallas, Montreal, Real Salt Lake and Sporting KC) to confirm fans could attend during phase one. Phase one consisted of Orlando playing three regional opponents both home and away:
Inter Miami CF,
Nashville SC and
Atlanta United FC. The first of these was a 3–2 defeat away to Inter Miami on August 22, the new expansion franchise's first home match and subsequently their first victory having lost all five of their previous matches. It was also notable for the first senior career goal scored by Orlando's first-round rookie
Daryl Dike. In the following game, Dike scored another two goals as Orlando won 3–1 in their first meeting with
Nashville SC. The game was the first to kick off on August 26, with the other ten teams scheduled to play that evening later deciding to postpone in solidarity with sports teams from other leagues, including the
NBA,
WNBA and
MLB, who refused to play in protest following the
shooting of Jacob Blake on August 23. Three days later, Orlando traveled to Atlanta and earned their first ever win over their rivals when
Urso opened the scoring with his first goal for the club. Mueller doubled Orlando's lead before the halftime break and while
Brooks Lennon halved the lead in the 83rd minute, Nani immediately restored the cushion to help seal a 3–1 victory.
September On September 2, Orlando traveled to Nashville, this time playing out a 1–1 draw with the expansion side when Nashville DP
Randall Leal scored his first goal for the club to rescue a point for the hosts following Michel's first half rocket from outside the box which had opened the scoring. On September 5, Orlando's second matchup with Atlanta inside a week ended in a 1–1 draw after
Adam Jahn scored a stoppage time equalizer. After playing five games in a 15-day stretch, Orlando had a full week break before the final phase one match on September 12: Miami's first visit to Exploria Stadium. Orlando won 2–1, ending Miami's club-record three game unbeaten streak in the process. The game included a dramatic series of officiating calls whereby referee Ismail Elfath awarded a penalty to Miami after consulting the video screen, sending
Rodrigo Schlegel off for second yellow card on
Julián Carranza in the process before both were rescinded after officials realized Carranza was offside, negating the play. With the conclusion of the phase one home and away series, Orlando hosted
Chicago Fire FC on September 19, winning 4–1 and equaling the club record streak of six games unbeaten in regular season MLS play in the process. The record was broken on September 23 when Orlando beat
Sporting Kansas City 2–1 thanks to first half goals from Akindele and Michel.
Johnny Russell halved the home team's deficit early in the second half but the Lions held out to also maintain the club's 100% win record when leading by two goals in MLS history. On September 27, Pareja coached against
FC Dallas for the first time since ending his five-year head coaching spell with the Texas club in November 2018. The game finished goalless with Orlando playing down a man from the 69th minute after
Sebas Méndez became the first Lion to be sent off in 2020.
October Orlando's first game of October saw the Lions play
New York Red Bulls for the first time in 2020, a 3–1 home win that saw the first goal for the club by
Antônio Carlos and the professional debut of homegrown player
David Loera. With Gallese away on international duty,
Brian Rowe made his first appearance of the season on October 7 as Orlando stretched the unbeaten run to 10 matches after a heavily rotated team played out a goalless draw away to Atlanta United. Orlando's game against
Columbus Crew scheduled for October 11, which would have seen the Lions play an Eastern Conference team above them in the standings for the first time on the year, was postponed following two confirmed cases of COVID-19 among Columbus staff: the third MLS match of the week forced into a postponement. It was later rescheduled for November 4. Orlando acquired winger
Alexander Alvarado on loan from Ecuadorian club
Aucas on October 13, trading for an additional international roster slot from
Montreal Impact in order to add him to the roster. On October 14, Orlando drew 1–1 with
New York City FC. The result kept Orlando in fourth place in both the Eastern Conference and Supporters' Shield standings.
Homegrown midfielder
Jordan Bender made his senior debut for the club as a substitute during the match. Despite conceding a 90+5-minute equalizer in a 1–1 draw with
New York Red Bulls earlier in the evening, Orlando City's first MLS playoff berth in club history was confirmed on October 18 with a combination of the tie and Toronto FC later beating Atlanta United 1–0 thanks to an 89th-minute winner by
Pablo Piatti. The club record unbeaten streak ended at 12 matches on October 24 as Orlando lost to
Inter Miami CF, the last team to have beaten the Lions prior to the start of the streak on August 22. This time the score was 2–1 with
Leandro González Pírez scoring a 90th-minute winner for the expansion side. August transfer
Matheus Aiás made his club debut in the game as a stoppage time substitute. Orlando's final game of October was a 4–1 win over Atlanta, the fourth meeting between the two teams on the season with the Lions remaining unbeaten in the series. It marked the first time Orlando beat Atlanta at home. Loanee
Alexander Alvarado made his club debut in the game as a 79th-minute substitute while Matheus Aiás scored his first goal for Orlando.
November Orlando earned their first regular season shutout win of the season on November 1, beating
Montreal Impact 1–0 at the Canadian side's temporary designated home stadium
Red Bull Arena, a repeat of the scoreline when the team's met in the MLS is Back Tournament round of 16. Dike's seventh goal of the season proved the difference and took him level with Nani as the team's second-highest goalscorer on the season. On November 5, Orlando finally played the rescheduled game against
Columbus Crew - the teams entered the game level on points with Columbus ahead in third on the number of wins tiebreaker. Orlando dominated the first half and led at half-time as Chris Mueller hit double figures for goals for the first time in his professional career. However, a seemingly innocuous foul was controversially upgraded to a red card after VAR review which saw Nani sent off in the 52nd minute. The red card was rescinded by the Independent Review Panel on November 7. Columbus capitalized on the swing in momentum,
Harrison Afful scoring an equalizer four minutes later. Despite the numerical disadvantage, Orlando weathered the storm and found a winning goal in the 84th minute through Benji Michel. The victory guaranteed Orlando a top-four finish in the Eastern Conference and home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs as a result.
Decision Day Having moved up to third place in the Eastern Conference with the victory over Columbus, Orlando just needed to avoid defeat against
Nashville SC in the final game of the season to retain the #3 seed for the playoffs. The Lions, who were unbeaten at home on the season coming into the game, took the lead early in the first half through Dike but were pegged back and went into half-time tied at 1–1. Having re-established the lead with a Nani freekick on the hour mark, Nashville turned the game around late on with goals in the 88th and 90+3rd minute to win 3–2, handing Orlando their only home loss of the regular season. Orlando dropped down to the #4 seed on the total wins tiebreaker, finishing level on points with Columbus following the Crew's win over Atlanta.
Playoffs Having finished in fourth-place in the Eastern Conference, Orlando City were positioned to play #5 seed
New York City FC in the first round of the
playoffs on November 21 having avoided the play-in round and clinched home-field advantage for the first round. Orlando took an early lead in the 5th minute through a Nani penalty but New York responded within three minutes, equalizing through a
Maxime Chanot header. Despite the franctic pace to the game, it remained 1–1. Tensions boiled over in the 87th minute when Ruan, having been pushed by
Gary Mackay-Steven while on the ground, lashed out and kicked at Mackay-Steven resulting in a red card. Despite the numerical disadvantage during
extra-time, Orlando held on to take the game to a
penalty shootout. Goalkeeper Gallese made a stop on
Maximiliano Moralez's opener and thought he had made the winning save on New York's fifth attempt after Orlando had successfully converted all of their first four. However a VAR review deemed Gallese had left his goal line early which resulted in his second yellow card having been booked in extra-time for time wasting. Unable to make a substitution in a shootout, on loan defender
Rodrigo Schlegel volunteered to finish the shootout as an emergency goalkeeper. With Nani's penalty saved by
Sean Johnson to take the shootout into sudden death, Schlegel eventually made a decisive save on
Guðmundur Þórarinsson teeing up Benji Michel to net the final penalty to lift Orlando to a 6–5 victory. Between the VAR review, the sending off, confusion around Orlando's attempt to substitute on backup goalkeeper
Brian Rowe and the referee mistakenly signaling the end of the shootout following Schlegel's save with the scores level at 5–5, the shootout took 22 minutes to complete. As a result of the debacle, which gained international attention, MLS suspended referee Allen Chapman and the rest of the officiating crew for the remainder of the playoffs. Orlando's season was ended by #8 seed
New England Revolution on November 29, a 3–1 conference semi-final defeat compounded by yet another red card for an Orlando player, this time Pereyra. New England jumped out to a two-goal lead through a
Carles Gil penalty and
Gustavo Bou strike. Urso halved the deficit before half-time but Orlando, who played down a man from the 60th minute onwards, couldn't find an equalizer and even saw a Nani penalty saved before the Revs eventually found a third goal in the 86th minute to kill off any hopes of a late Orlando comeback. == Roster ==