The 2026 season will be the 18th season for Seattle Sounders FC in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top flight of professional club soccer in the United States. It will be the 43rd season for a professional team bearing the Sounders name, which had originated in 1974 with the first incarnation of the franchise. The team remained under the management of Brian Schmetzer in his tenth full MLS season as head coach of the Sounders.
The Sounders will be play 34 matches in the MLS regular season and also qualified for the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup as winners of the 2025 Leagues Cup.[1] The team will also play in the 2026 edition of the Leagues Cup.[2] During the 2025 season, Seattle finished fifth in the Western Conference standings and qualified for the MLS Cup playoffs, where they were eliminated in the first round by Minnesota United FC.[3] The Sounders also played in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup.[4]
The 2026 season will be the last under the spring–autumn format used by MLS since it began play in 1996. The league plans to use a autumn–spring schedule beginning in late 2027 with a long winter break.[5]
Competitions
Major League Soccer
Regular season
The MLS regular season schedule was released on November 20, 2025. The Sounders will play 34 matches—17 at home and 17 away—primarily against the 14 other teams in the Western Conference; the team is scheduled to play six opponents from the Eastern Conference. The regular season will include a six-week break for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in May and June.[6] The Sounders will have five consecutive away matches from February to April while Lumen Field undergoes preparations to host the World Cup, including the installation of a grass pitch to temporarily replace the artificial turf.[7]
CONCACAF Champions Cup
The Sounders will play in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the regional club championship for North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, for the ninth season since entering MLS. The team qualified for the tournament as winners of the 2025 Leagues Cup and were granted a bye to the round of 16.[8]
Leagues Cup
The Sounders are one of 18 MLS teams that qualified for the 2026 Leagues Cup based on their performance during the 2025 regular season. The tournament begins in early August and concludes in late September with the same format as the 2025 Leagues Cup: three matches in the first phase against teams from Liga MX and a knockout round for the top four teams from each league.[2]
Players
Roster
- As of November 25, 2025[9]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Squad includes all players who had first team contracts or appearances during the 2025 season across all competitions. Ages listed for each player is calculated from February 22, 2025, the first matchday of the MLS regular season.
Coaching staff
- As of November 2025[12]
Transfers
For transfers in, dates listed are when Seattle Sounders FC officially signed the player to the roster. Transactions where only the rights to the players are acquired are not listed. For transfers out, dates listed are when Seattle Sounders FC officially removed the players from its roster, not when they signed with another club. If a player later signed with another club, his new club will be noted, but the date listed here remains the one when he was officially removed from the Seattle Sounders FC roster.
In
Out
Draft picks
Draft picks were not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract were listed as transfers in. Only trades involving draft picks and executed after the start of the 2026 MLS SuperDraft are listed in the notes.
References
- ^ Evans, Jayda (August 31, 2025). "Sounders top Messi, Inter Miami for Leagues Cup title; brawl mars finish". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
- ^ a b "Leagues Cup 2026: Competition dates, format & teams". MLSsoccer.com. December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
- ^ Rule, Heather (November 8, 2025). "MLS playoffs: Sounders eliminated in Game 3 loss to Minnesota United". The Seattle Times. Retrieved November 9, 2025.
- ^ "Sounders FC's 2025 Season Comes to an End Following Penalty Shootout Loss to Minnesota" (Press release). Seattle Sounders FC. November 8, 2025. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
- ^ Abnos, Alexander (November 13, 2025). "MLS announces calendar change, will play fall-to-spring from 2027 onward". The Guardian. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
- ^ Becherano, Lizzy (November 20, 2025). "MLS reveals 2026 schedule with 7-week break for World Cup". ESPN. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
- ^ "Major League Soccer Releases 2026 Schedule" (Press release). Seattle Sounders FC. November 20, 2025. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
- ^ "2026 Champions Cup Key Details and Qualified Teams" (Press release). CONCACAF. November 10, 2025. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
- ^ a b "Roster". SoundersFC.com. Retrieved November 26, 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Sounders FC Announces Roster Decisions to Conclude 2025 Season" (Press release). Seattle Sounders FC. November 25, 2025. Retrieved November 26, 2025.
- ^ "Club Roster Profiles, September 2025". Major League Soccer. September 19, 2025. pp. 1, 30. Retrieved November 26, 2025.
- ^ "Team Staff". SoundersFC.com. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
- ^ "Sounders FC Signs Free Agent Midfielder Hassani Dotson" (Press release). Seattle Sounders FC. December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
- ^ a b "Sounders FC signs free agent defender Ryan Sailor" (Press release). Seattle Sounders FC. December 17, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
- ^ Gordon, Colby (December 16, 2025). "Austin FC signs veteran defender Jon Bell in first move of MLS free agency". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved December 16, 2025.
- ^ "Sounders FC Transfers Midfielder Danny Leyva to Club Necaxa of Liga MX" (Press release). Seattle Sounders FC. December 8, 2025. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
- ^ "Sounders FC selects two players in 2026 MLS SuperDraft" (Press release). Seattle Sounders FC. December 18, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.