2026 Major League Soccer season

Major League Soccer
Season2026
Dates
  • February 21 – November 7
    (regular season)
  • TBA
    (playoffs)
Teams30
← 2025
2027 →

The 2026 Major League Soccer season is the upcoming 31st season of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is also the 48th overall season of a national first-division men's soccer league in the United States sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation. The league has 30 clubs that are divided into the Eastern and Western conferences, which each have 15 teams.

The regular season is scheduled to run from February 21 to November 7 with 34 matches for each team, primarily against opponents in the same conference. A six-week break from May 25 to July 16 is planned for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is being hosted in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The playoffs are scheduled to be played during an uninterrupted period in November and December that culminates in MLS Cup 2026, the league's postseason championship.[1] The 2026 season is the final full season played under the spring–autumn format, as MLS plans to transition to a summer–spring format beginning with the 2027–28 season. A shortened season with 14 matches is scheduled to be played in early 2027.[2]

All MLS matches during the regular season and playoffs are planned to be broadcast on Apple TV, an online streaming service operated by Apple Inc. It replaces Apple's previous league streaming service, MLS Season Pass, which had a separate subscription fee and was used from 2023 to 2025.[3]

Inter Miami CF enters the season as reigning MLS Cup champions, while the Philadelphia Union enter as holders of the Supporters' Shield.

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Main article: List of Major League Soccer stadiums
Locations of teams for the 2026 Major League Soccer season
Western Conference   Eastern Conference
Team Stadium Capacity
Atlanta United FC Mercedes-Benz Stadium[A] 42,500
Austin FC Q2 Stadium 20,738
CF Montréal Saputo Stadium 19,619
Charlotte FC Bank of America Stadium[A] 38,000[4]
Chicago Fire FC Soldier Field[A] 24,955
Colorado Rapids Dick's Sporting Goods Park 18,061
Columbus Crew ScottsMiracle-Gro Field 20,011
D.C. United Audi Field 20,000
FC Cincinnati TQL Stadium 26,000
FC Dallas Toyota Stadium 20,500
Houston Dynamo FC Shell Energy Stadium 22,039
Inter Miami CF Miami Freedom Park 25,000
LA Galaxy Dignity Health Sports Park 27,000
Los Angeles FC BMO Stadium 22,000
Minnesota United FC Allianz Field 19,400
Nashville SC Geodis Park 30,000
New England Revolution Gillette Stadium[A] 20,000
New York City FC Yankee Stadium[A]
Citi Field[A] 		28,743
41,992
New York Red Bulls Sports Illustrated Stadium 25,000
Orlando City SC Inter&Co Stadium 25,500
Philadelphia Union Subaru Park 18,500
Portland Timbers Providence Park 25,218
Real Salt Lake America First Field 20,213
San Diego FC Snapdragon Stadium 35,000
San Jose Earthquakes PayPal Park 18,000
Seattle Sounders FC Lumen Field[A] 37,722
Sporting Kansas City Children's Mercy Park 18,467
St. Louis City SC Energizer Park 22,423
Toronto FC BMO Field 28,351
Vancouver Whitecaps FC BC Place[A] 22,120
  1. ^
    Non-soccer specific stadium and artificially reduced capacity. Capacity may be increased to full capacity if demand requires.
  2. ^
    Temporary stadium.

Personnel and sponsorships

Note: All teams use Adidas as universal kit manufacturer. As part of Apple's broadcast contract, all MLS kits include Apple TV+ as a sleeve sponsor.[5]

Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsor Sleeve sponsor
Atlanta United FC Gerardo Martino TBA American Family Insurance Emory Healthcare
Austin FC Nico Estévez Ilie Sánchez Yeti Siete Foods
Charlotte FC Dean Smith Ashley Westwood Ally Rugs.com
Chicago Fire FC Gregg Berhalter Kellyn Acosta Carvana[6] Magellan Corporation
FC Cincinnati Pat Noonan Miles Robinson Mercy Health Kroger
Colorado Rapids Vacant Keegan Rosenberry UCHealth Kiewit
Columbus Crew Vacant TBA Nationwide DHL Supply Chain[7]
FC Dallas Eric Quill Maarten Paes Children's Health (Home)
UT Southwestern (Away) 		—
D.C. United René Weiler Christian Benteke Guidehouse Fruitist
Houston Dynamo FC Ben Olsen Artur MD Anderson —
Inter Miami CF Javier Mascherano Lionel Messi Royal Caribbean Fracht Group
LA Galaxy Greg Vanney Maya Yoshida Herbalife RBC
Los Angeles FC Marc Dos Santos Aaron Long BMO Bank[t 1] Ford
Minnesota United FC Eric Ramsay Michael Boxall Target[t 2] NutriSource
CF Montréal Marco Donadel Samuel Piette Bank of Montreal Telus
Nashville SC B.J. Callaghan Walker Zimmerman Renasant Bank[t 3] Hyundai
New England Revolution Marko Mitrović Carles Gil Gillette —
New York City FC Pascal Jansen Thiago Martins Etihad Airways[t 4] Judi Health
New York Red Bulls Michael Bradley Emil Forsberg Red Bull OANDA
Orlando City SC Óscar Pareja Robin Jansson Orlando Health Exploria
Philadelphia Union Bradley Carnell Alejandro Bedoya Bimbo Bakeries USA Independence Blue Cross
Portland Timbers Phil Neville Diego Chará Bank of America[8][t 5] Tillamook
Real Salt Lake Pablo Mastroeni Rafael Cabral Select Health Intermountain Health
San Diego FC Mikey Varas Jeppe Tverskov DirecTV[9] Adriana's Insurance
San Jose Earthquakes Bruce Arena Cristian Espinoza El Camino Health Habbas Law
Seattle Sounders FC Brian Schmetzer Stefan Frei Providence[t 6] Emerald Queen Casino
Sporting Kansas City Kerry Zavagnin (interim) Erik Thommy Compass Minerals Saint Luke's
St. Louis City SC Yoann Damet Roman Bürki Purina BJC HealthCare
Toronto FC Robin Fraser Jonathan Osorio Bank of Montreal LG
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Jesper Sørensen Ryan Gauld Telus BLG
  1. ^ Rockstar sponsors training and special event jerseys
  2. ^ Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota sponsors training and special event jerseys
  3. ^ Vanderbilt Health sponsors training and special event jerseys
  4. ^ Montefiore Einstein sponsors training and special event jerseys
  5. ^ Dutch Bros. Coffee sponsors training and special event jerseys
  6. ^ Providence Swedish sponsors training and special event jerseys

Coaching changes

Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming coach Date of appointment
Atlanta United FC Ronny Deila Fired[10] October 19, 2025 Pre-season Gerardo Martino November 6, 2025[11]
Colorado Rapids Chris Armas End of contract[12] October 27, 2025 TBA TBA
New York Red Bulls Sandro Schwarz Mutual consent[13] Michael Bradley December 15, 2025[14]
New England Revolution Pablo Moreira (interim) End of interim period November 7, 2025 Marko Mitrović November 7, 2025[15]
Los Angeles FC Steve Cherundolo Mutual consent[a] December 1, 2025 Marc Dos Santos December 5, 2025[16]
Columbus Crew Wilfried Nancy Signed by Celtic[17] December 3, 2025 TBA TBA
St. Louis City SC David Critchley (interim) End of interim period December 16, 2025 Yoann Damet December 16, 2025[18]

Regular season

Conference standings

MLS Eastern Conference table (2026)
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Atlanta United FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for round one and the CONCACAF Champions Cup round one
2 Chicago Fire FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for round one
3 FC Cincinnati 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Columbus Crew 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Charlotte FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 D.C. United 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 Inter Miami CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 CF Montréal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for the wild-card round
9 Nashville SC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 New England Revolution 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 New York City FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 New York Red Bulls 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 Orlando City SC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 Philadelphia Union 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 Toronto FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: TBD 2026. Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) total goal differential; 4) total goals scored; 5) fewer disciplinary points; 6) away goal differential; 7) away goals scored; 8) home goals differential; 9) home goals scored; 10) coin toss (2 clubs tied) or drawing of lots (≥3 clubs tied)

MLS Western Conference table (2026)
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Austin FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for round one and the CONCACAF Champions Cup round one
2 Colorado Rapids 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for round one
3 FC Dallas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Houston Dynamo FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 LA Galaxy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 Los Angeles FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 Minnesota United FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 Portland Timbers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for the wild-card round
9 Real Salt Lake 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 San Diego FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 San Jose Earthquakes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 Seattle Sounders FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 Sporting Kansas City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 St. Louis City SC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: TBD 2026. Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) total goal differential; 4) total goals scored; 5) fewer disciplinary points; 6) away goal differential; 7) away goals scored; 8) home goals differential; 9) home goals scored; 10) coin toss (2 clubs tied) or drawing of lots (≥3 clubs tied)

Overall table

The leading team in this table won the Supporters' Shield.

Overall MLS standings table
Pos Team Pld W L T GF GA GD Pts
1 Atlanta United FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 Austin FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 Chicago Fire FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 FC Cincinnati 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Charlotte FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 Columbus Crew 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 Colorado Rapids 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 FC Dallas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 D.C. United 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 Houston Dynamo FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 LA Galaxy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 Los Angeles FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 Inter Miami CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 Minnesota United FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
15 CF Montréal 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 Nashville SC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 New England Revolution 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
18 New York City FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
19 New York Red Bulls 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
20 Orlando City SC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
21 Philadelphia Union 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
22 Portland Timbers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
23 Real Salt Lake 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
24 San Diego FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
25 San Jose Earthquakes 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
26 Seattle Sounders FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
27 St. Louis City SC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
28 Sporting Kansas City 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
29 Toronto FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
30 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: February 21, 2026. Source: MLS
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) total goal differential; 4) total goals scored; 5) fewer disciplinary points; 6) away goal differential; 7) away goals scored; 8) home goals differential; 9) home goals scored; 10) coin toss (2 clubs tied) or drawing of lots (≥3 clubs tied)

Notes

  1. ^ Announcement was made originally on April 18, 2025

References

  1. ^ Becherano, Lizzy (November 20, 2025). "MLS reveals 2026 schedule with 7-week break for World Cup". ESPN. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
  2. ^ Sutcliffe, Steve (November 13, 2025). "MLS calendar to change in 2027 to align with top leagues". BBC Sport. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
  3. ^ Rizzo, Lillian (November 13, 2025). "MLS games head to Apple TV in 2026 as Season Pass subscription ends". CNBC. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
  4. ^ Spanberg, Erik (February 11, 2022). "Charlotte FC moving closer to sellout for season opener at Bank of America Stadium". Charlotte Business Journal. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
  5. ^ McCaskill, Steve (November 17, 2022). "MLS clubs to promote Apple TV season pass with sleeve sponsorship". SportsPro. Archived from the original on November 17, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  6. ^ "Chicago Fire FC Kicks Off Multi-Year Partnership with Carvana as Official Online Auto Retailer and Front of Kit Sponsor – Chicago Fire FC". chicagofirefc. December 12, 2023. Archived from the original on December 13, 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
  7. ^ https://www.columbuscrew.com/news/columbus-crew-announce-official-partnership-with-dhl-supply-chain-who-will-be-featured-on-kit-sleeve
  8. ^ "Portland Timbers enter multi-year partnership with Bank of America to become front-of-jersey partner". Portland Timbers. December 9, 2025. Retrieved December 9, 2025.
  9. ^ Finley, Ryan (July 19, 2024). "San Diego FC announces jersey sponsor ahead of first Major League Soccer season". Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  10. ^ "Atlanta United Part Ways with Head Coach Ronny Deila". Atlanta United FC. October 19, 2025. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  11. ^ "Atlanta United names Gerardo "Tata" Martino as head coach". Atlanta United FC. November 6, 2025. Retrieved November 6, 2025.
  12. ^ "Colorado Rapids and Head Coach Chris Armas mutually agree to part ways". Colorado Rapids. October 27, 2025. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  13. ^ "New York Red Bulls part ways with Sandro Schwarz". Major League Soccer. October 27, 2025. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  14. ^ "Red Bull New York name Michael Bradley head coach". Major League Soccer. December 15, 2025. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
  15. ^ "New England Revolution hire Marko Mitrović as club's 10th head coach". New England Revolution. November 7, 2025. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
  16. ^ "LAFC Announces Marc Dos Santos as Head Coach". Los Angeles FC. December 5, 2025. Retrieved December 5, 2025.
  17. ^ "Wilfried Nancy leaves Columbus Crew to coach Celtic FC". Major League Soccer. December 3, 2025. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  18. ^ "St. Louis CITY SC Appoints Yoann Damet as Head Coach". St. Louis City SC. December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 17, 2025.
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