2026 Major League Soccer season

2026 Major League Soccer season

The 2026 Major League Soccer season is the ongoing 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 overseen by the United States Soccer Federation. The league has 30 clubs that are divided into the Eastern and Western conferences, each with 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, on December 18. 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.

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 MLS Season Pass, which was a standalone streaming service by Apple, used from 2023 to 2025.

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

Nu Stadium is scheduled to open on April 4, 2026, as the new home of Inter Miami CF. In addition to their normal home venues, some teams have scheduled matches at other stadiums to increase capacity.

<table><thead><tr><th>Team</th><th>Stadium</th><th>Capacity</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Atlanta United FC</td><td>Mercedes-Benz Stadium</td><td>42,500</td></tr><tr><td>Austin FC</td><td>Q2 Stadium</td><td>20,738</td></tr><tr><td>CF Montréal</td><td>Saputo Stadium</td><td>19,619</td></tr><tr><td>Charlotte FC</td><td>Bank of America Stadium</td><td>38,000</td></tr><tr><td>Chicago Fire FC</td><td>Soldier Field</td><td>24,955</td></tr><tr><td>Colorado Rapids</td><td>Dick's Sporting Goods Park</td><td>18,061</td></tr><tr><td>Columbus Crew</td><td>ScottsMiracle-Gro Field</td><td>20,011</td></tr><tr><td>D.C. United</td><td>Audi Field</td><td>20,000</td></tr><tr><td>FC Cincinnati</td><td>TQL Stadium</td><td>26,000</td></tr><tr><td>FC Dallas</td><td>Toyota Stadium</td><td>20,500</td></tr><tr><td>Houston Dynamo FC</td><td>Shell Energy Stadium</td><td>22,039</td></tr><tr><td>Inter Miami CF</td><td>Nu Stadium</td><td>25,000</td></tr><tr><td>LA Galaxy</td><td>Dignity Health Sports Park</td><td>27,000</td></tr><tr><td>Los Angeles FC</td><td>BMO Stadium</td><td>22,000</td></tr><tr><td>Minnesota United FC</td><td>Allianz Field</td><td>19,400</td></tr><tr><td>Nashville SC</td><td>Geodis Park</td><td>30,000</td></tr><tr><td>New England Revolution</td><td>Gillette Stadium</td><td>20,000</td></tr><tr><td>New York City FC</td><td>Yankee StadiumCiti Field</td><td>28,74341,992</td></tr><tr><td>New York Red Bulls</td><td>Sports Illustrated Stadium</td><td>25,000</td></tr><tr><td>Orlando City SC</td><td>Inter&Co Stadium</td><td>25,500</td></tr><tr><td>Philadelphia Union</td><td>Subaru Park</td><td>18,500</td></tr><tr><td>Portland Timbers</td><td>Providence Park</td><td>25,218</td></tr><tr><td>Real Salt Lake</td><td>America First Field</td><td>20,213</td></tr><tr><td>San Diego FC</td><td>Snapdragon Stadium</td><td>35,000</td></tr><tr><td>San Jose Earthquakes</td><td>PayPal Park</td><td>18,000</td></tr><tr><td>Seattle Sounders FC</td><td>Lumen Field</td><td>37,722</td></tr><tr><td>Sporting Kansas City</td><td>Sporting Park</td><td>18,467</td></tr><tr><td>St. Louis City SC</td><td>Energizer Park</td><td>22,423</td></tr><tr><td>Toronto FC</td><td>BMO Field</td><td>28,351</td></tr><tr><td>Vancouver Whitecaps FC</td><td>BC Place</td><td>22,120</td></tr></tbody></table>

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.

<table><thead><tr><th>Team</th><th>Head coach</th><th>Captain</th><th>Shirt sponsor</th><th>Sleeve sponsor</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Atlanta United FC</td><td>Gerardo Martino</td><td>Miguel Almirón</td><td>American Family Insurance</td><td>Emory Healthcare</td></tr><tr><td>Austin FC</td><td>Nico Estévez</td><td>Ilie Sánchez</td><td>Yeti</td><td>Siete Foods</td></tr><tr><td>Charlotte FC</td><td>Dean Smith</td><td>Ashley Westwood</td><td>Ally</td><td>Rugs.com</td></tr><tr><td>Chicago Fire FC</td><td>Gregg Berhalter</td><td>Jack Elliot</td><td>Carvana</td><td>Magellan Corporation</td></tr><tr><td>FC Cincinnati</td><td>Pat Noonan</td><td>Miles Robinson</td><td>Mercy Health</td><td>Kroger</td></tr><tr><td>Colorado Rapids</td><td>Matt Wells</td><td>Keegan Rosenberry</td><td>UCHealth</td><td>Kiewit</td></tr><tr><td>Columbus Crew</td><td>Henrik Rydström</td><td>Sean Zawadzki</td><td>Nationwide</td><td>DHL Supply Chain</td></tr><tr><td>FC Dallas</td><td>Eric Quill</td><td>Ramiro</td><td>Children's Health (Home) UT Southwestern (Away)</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>D.C. United</td><td>René Weiler</td><td>Lucas Bartlett</td><td>Guidehouse</td><td>Fruitist</td></tr><tr><td>Houston Dynamo FC</td><td>Ben Olsen</td><td>Artur</td><td>MD Anderson</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>Inter Miami CF</td><td>Javier Mascherano</td><td>Lionel Messi</td><td>Royal Caribbean</td><td>Lowe's</td></tr><tr><td>LA Galaxy</td><td>Greg Vanney</td><td>Maya Yoshida</td><td>Herbalife</td><td>RBC</td></tr><tr><td>Los Angeles FC</td><td>Marc Dos Santos</td><td>Aaron Long</td><td>BMO Bank</td><td>Ford</td></tr><tr><td>Minnesota United FC</td><td>Cameron Knowles</td><td>Michael Boxall</td><td>Target</td><td>NutriSource</td></tr><tr><td>CF Montréal</td><td>Marco Donadel</td><td>Samuel Piette</td><td>Bank of Montreal</td><td>Telus</td></tr><tr><td>Nashville SC</td><td>B.J. Callaghan</td><td>Hany Mukhtar</td><td>Renasant Bank</td><td>Hyundai</td></tr><tr><td>New England Revolution</td><td>Marko Mitrović</td><td>Carles Gil</td><td>Gillette</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>New York City FC</td><td>Pascal Jansen</td><td>Thiago Martins</td><td>Etihad Airways</td><td>Judi Health</td></tr><tr><td>New York Red Bulls</td><td>Michael Bradley</td><td>Emil Forsberg</td><td>Red Bull</td><td>OANDA</td></tr><tr><td>Orlando City SC</td><td>Martín Perelman (interim)</td><td>Robin Jansson</td><td>Orlando Health</td><td>Exploria</td></tr><tr><td>Philadelphia Union</td><td>Bradley Carnell</td><td>Alejandro Bedoya</td><td>Bimbo Bakeries USA</td><td>Independence Blue Cross</td></tr><tr><td>Portland Timbers</td><td>Phil Neville</td><td>Diego Chará</td><td>Bank of America</td><td>Tillamook</td></tr><tr><td>Real Salt Lake</td><td>Pablo Mastroeni</td><td>Rafael Cabral</td><td>Select Health</td><td>Intermountain Health</td></tr><tr><td>San Diego FC</td><td>Mikey Varas</td><td>Jeppe Tverskov</td><td>DirecTV</td><td>Adriana's Insurance</td></tr><tr><td>San Jose Earthquakes</td><td>Bruce Arena</td><td>Ronaldo Vieira</td><td>El Camino Health</td><td>Habbas Law</td></tr><tr><td>Seattle Sounders FC</td><td>Brian Schmetzer</td><td>Stefan Frei</td><td>Providence</td><td>Emerald Queen Casino</td></tr><tr><td>Sporting Kansas City</td><td>Raphaël Wicky</td><td>Dejan Joveljić</td><td>Compass Minerals</td><td>Saint Luke's</td></tr><tr><td>St. Louis City SC</td><td>Yoann Damet</td><td>Roman Bürki</td><td>Purina</td><td>BJC HealthCare</td></tr><tr><td>Toronto FC</td><td>Robin Fraser</td><td>Jonathan Osorio</td><td>Bank of Montreal</td><td>LG</td></tr><tr><td>Vancouver Whitecaps FC</td><td>Jesper Sørensen</td><td>Ryan Gauld</td><td>Telus</td><td>BLG</td></tr></tbody></table>

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	October 19, 2025	Pre-season	Gerardo Martino	November 6, 2025
Colorado Rapids	Chris Armas	End of contract	October 27, 2025	Matt Wells	December 23, 2025
New York Red Bulls	Sandro Schwarz	Mutual consent	Michael Bradley	December 15, 2025
New England Revolution	Pablo Moreira (interim)	End of interim period	November 7, 2025	Marko Mitrović	November 7, 2025
Los Angeles FC	Steve Cherundolo	Mutual consent	December 1, 2025	Marc Dos Santos	December 5, 2025
Columbus Crew	Wilfried Nancy	Signed by Celtic	December 3, 2025	Henrik Rydström	December 31, 2025
St. Louis City SC	David Critchley (interim)	End of interim period	December 16, 2025	Yoann Damet	December 16, 2025
Sporting Kansas City	Kerry Zavagnin (interim)	End of interim period	January 5, 2026	Raphaël Wicky	January 5, 2026
Minnesota United FC	Eric Ramsay	Signed by West Bromwich Albion	January 11, 2026	Cameron Knowles	January 12, 2026
Orlando City SC	Óscar Pareja	Mutual consent	March 11, 2026	30th	Martín Perelman (interim)	March 11, 2026

Regular season

Conference standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nashville SC	5	4	0	1	13	2	+11	13	Qualification for round one and the CONCACAF Champions Cup round one
2	New York City FC	5	3	1	1	13	6	+7	10	Qualification for round one
3	Inter Miami CF	5	3	1	1	9	8	+1	10
4	Charlotte FC	5	2	1	2	10	6	+4	8
5	Chicago Fire FC	5	2	2	1	7	5	+2	7
6	D.C. United	5	2	2	1	4	4	0	7
7	Toronto FC	5	2	2	1	6	8	−2	7
8	New York Red Bulls	5	2	2	1	5	11	−6	7	Qualification for the wild-card round
9	FC Cincinnati	5	2	3	0	7	11	−4	6
10	Atlanta United FC	5	1	3	1	5	8	−3	4
11	New England Revolution	4	1	3	0	8	9	−1	3
12	CF Montréal	5	1	4	0	7	14	−7	3
13	Orlando City SC	5	1	4	0	5	17	−12	3
14	Columbus Crew	5	0	3	2	5	8	−3	2
15	Philadelphia Union	5	0	5	0	3	9	−6	0

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Los Angeles FC	5	4	0	1	8	0	+8	13	Qualification for round one and the CONCACAF Champions Cup round one
2	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	5	4	1	0	14	2	+12	12	Qualification for round one
3	San Jose Earthquakes	5	4	1	0	7	1	+6	12
4	San Diego FC	5	3	0	2	13	5	+8	11
5	Seattle Sounders FC	5	3	1	1	5	2	+3	10
6	Real Salt Lake	5	3	1	1	9	7	+2	10
7	Colorado Rapids	5	3	2	0	11	7	+4	9
8	FC Dallas	5	2	1	2	10	9	+1	8	Qualification for the wild-card round
9	Houston Dynamo FC	4	2	2	0	8	9	−1	6
10	LA Galaxy	5	1	2	2	7	8	−1	5
11	Austin FC	5	1	2	2	5	7	−2	5
12	Minnesota United FC	5	1	2	2	4	11	−7	5
13	St. Louis City SC	5	1	3	1	4	7	−3	4
14	Portland Timbers	5	1	3	1	7	12	−5	4
15	Sporting Kansas City	5	1	3	1	5	11	−6	4

Overall table

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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Nashville SC	5	4	0	1	13	2	+11	13	Qualification for the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round One
2	Los Angeles FC	5	4	0	1	8	0	+8	13	Qualification for the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round One
3	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	5	4	1	0	14	2	+12	12	Qualification for the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round One
4	San Jose Earthquakes	5	4	1	0	7	1	+6	12	Qualification for the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round One
5	San Diego FC	5	3	0	2	13	5	+8	11
6	New York City FC	5	3	1	1	13	6	+7	10
7	Seattle Sounders FC	5	3	1	1	5	2	+3	10
8	Real Salt Lake	5	3	1	1	9	7	+2	10
9	Inter Miami CF	5	3	1	1	9	8	+1	10
10	Colorado Rapids	5	3	2	0	11	7	+4	9
11	Charlotte FC	5	2	1	2	10	6	+4	8
12	FC Dallas	5	2	1	2	10	9	+1	8
13	Chicago Fire FC	5	2	2	1	7	5	+2	7
14	D.C. United	5	2	2	1	4	4	0	7
15	Toronto FC	5	2	2	1	6	8	−2	7
16	New York Red Bulls	5	2	2	1	5	11	−6	7
17	Houston Dynamo FC	4	2	2	0	8	9	−1	6
18	FC Cincinnati	5	2	3	0	7	11	−4	6
19	LA Galaxy	5	1	2	2	7	8	−1	5
20	Austin FC	5	1	2	2	5	7	−2	5
21	Minnesota United FC	5	1	2	2	4	11	−7	5
22	Atlanta United FC	5	1	3	1	5	8	−3	4
23	St. Louis City SC	5	1	3	1	4	7	−3	4
24	Portland Timbers	5	1	3	1	7	12	−5	4
25	Sporting Kansas City	5	1	3	1	5	11	−6	4
26	New England Revolution	4	1	3	0	8	9	−1	3
27	CF Montréal	5	1	4	0	7	14	−7	3
28	Orlando City SC	5	1	4	0	5	17	−12	3
29	Columbus Crew	5	0	3	2	5	8	−3	2
30	Philadelphia Union	5	0	5	0	3	9	−6	0

Attendance

Average home attendances

Rank	Team	GP	Cumulative	High	Low	Mean
1	D.C. United	2	90,029	72,026	18,003	45,015
2	Atlanta United FC	3	124,588	53,862	35,308	41,529
3	Los Angeles FC	3	120,069	75,673	22,130	40,023
4	Charlotte FC	3	97,557	35,611	27,166	32,519
5	Seattle Sounders FC	1	31,606	31,606	31,606	31,606
6	New York City FC	3	88,979	45,845	18,079	29,660
7	Nashville SC	3	76,598	27,167	24,387	25,533
8	FC Cincinnati	3	76,539	25,513	25,513	25,513
9	San Diego FC	3	71,522	25,412	21,969	23,841
10	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	4	93,225	24,533	21,261	23,306
11	Portland Timbers	3	67,758	23,075	22,210	22,586
12	St. Louis City SC	3	67,269	22,423	22,423	22,423
13	Orlando City SC	3	66,941	24,453	18,035	22,314
14	LA Galaxy	3	63,462	25,025	18,232	21,154
15	Austin FC	3	62,214	20,738	20,738	20,738
16	Real Salt Lake	2	41,411	20,751	20,660	20,706
17	Columbus Crew	2	40,081	20,121	19,960	20,041
18	Houston Dynamo FC	3	59,133	20,853	18,026	19,711
19	Minnesota United FC	2	39,246	19,637	19,609	19,623
20	Chicago Fire FC	2	36,717	20,872	15,845	18,359
21	Philadelphia Union	3	54,676	18,753	17,410	18,225
22	Toronto FC	2	34,151	18,767	15,384	17,301
23	San Jose Earthquakes	3	50,777	18,251	16,159	16,926
24	Sporting Kansas City	3	49,853	18,522	14,294	16,618
25	New York Red Bulls	2	31,934	16,847	15,087	15,967
26	New England Revolution	1	15,627	15,627	15,627	15,627
27	Colorado Rapids	2	30,681	16,113	14,568	15,341
28	FC Dallas	4	44,016	11,004	11,004	11,004
29	Inter Miami CF	0		0	0
30	CF Montréal	0		0	0
Total	74	1,726,659	75,673	11,004	23,333

Player statistics

Goals

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Sam Surridge	Nashville SC	7
2	Petar Musa	FC Dallas	6
3	Nicolás Fernández	New York City FC	5
João Klauss	LA Galaxy
Brian White	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
6	Pep Biel	Charlotte FC	4
Hugo Cuypers	Chicago Fire FC
Guilherme	Houston Dynamo FC
Julian Hall	New York Red Bulls
Marcus Ingvartsen	San Diego FC
Lionel Messi	Inter Miami CF
Prince Owusu	CF Montréal

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Score	Date
Petar Musa	FC Dallas	San Diego FC	3–3 (H)	March 14
Sam Surridge	Nashville SC	Orlando City SC	5–0 (H)	March 21

Assists

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Sebastian Berhalter	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	4
Jesús Ferreira	Seattle Sounders FC
Luca Langoni	New England Revolution
Maximiliano Moralez	New York City FC
4	Miguel Almirón	Atlanta United FC	3
Iván Angulo	Orlando City SC
Anders Dreyer	San Diego FC
Cristian Espinoza	Nashville SC
Guilherme	Houston Dynamo FC
Jack McGlynn	Houston Dynamo FC
Rafael Navarro	Colorado Rapids
Gabriel Pec	LA Galaxy
Amahl Pellegrino	San Diego FC
Telasco Segovia	Inter Miami CF
Son Heung-min	Los Angeles FC
Ashley Westwood	Charlotte FC

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Hugo Lloris	Los Angeles FC	5
2	Daniel	San Jose Earthquakes	4
Andrew Thomas	Seattle Sounders FC
4	Duran Ferree	San Diego FC	3
Brian Schwake	Nashville SC
Yohei Takaoka	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
7	Chris Brady	Chicago Fire FC	2
Drake Callender	Minnesota United FC
Sean Johnson	D.C. United
Brad Stuver	Austin FC

Awards

Team/Player of the Matchday

Team of the Matchday
Matchday	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Bench	Coach
1	Kahlina (CLT)	Munie (SJ) Robinson (CIN) McVey (SD)	Bouanga (LAFC) Mehmeti (RBNY) Eustáquio (LAFC) Guilherme (HOU)	Musa (DAL) Hall (RBNY) Surridge (NSH)	Crépeau (ORL) Bassett (POR) Berhalter (VAN) Hartel (STL) Madrigal (NSH) Rothrock (SEA) Dreyer (SD) Farrington (DAL) Baribo (DC)	Marc Dos Santos (LAFC)
2	Rafael (RSL)	Urhoghide (DAL) Herrington (COL) Gray (NYC)	Segovia (MIA) Delgado (LAFC) Müller (VAN) Dreyer (SD)	Joveljić (SKC) Klauss (LA) Messi (MIA)	Callender (MIN) Che (RBNY) Mehmeti (RBNY) Gozo (RSL) Ricketts (SJ) Silvetti (MIA) Yeboah (MIN) Ramirez (ATX) Ingvartsen (SD)	Javier Mascherano (MIA)
3	Brady (CHI)	Kossa-Rienzi (SEA) Blackmon (VAN) Gozo (RSL)	Biel (CLT) Parks (NYC) Moralez (NYC) Carmona (MTL)	Surridge (NSH) White (VAN) Navarro (COL)	Gillier (MTL) Laryea (TOR) Yazbeck (NSH) Berhalter (VAN) Miranchuk (ATL) Martínez (LAFC) Dreyer (SD) Werner (SJ) Yapi (COL)	Jesper Sørensen (VAN)
4	Thomas (SEA)	Laborda (VAN) Ceballos (NE) Jacob (ATL)	Almirón (ATL) Berhalter (VAN) Choinière (LAFC) Langoni (NE)	Musa (DAL) Fernández (NYC) White (VAN)	Ríos Novo (MIA) Woledzi (NSH) Peltola (DC) Berg Johnsen (SKC) Valakari (SD) Guilherme (HOU) Bogusz (HOU) Joveljić (SKC) Latte Lath (ATL)	Brian Schmetzer (SEA)
5	Daniel (SJ)	Porteous (LAFC) Luján (MIA) Zimmerman (TOR)	Echenique (CIN) Aaronson (COL) Biel (CLT) Espinoza (NSH)	Farrington (DAL) Surridge (NSH) Cuypers (CHI)	Pantemis (POR) Nouhou (SEA) Edelman (STL) Leroux (SJ) Guilherme (HOU) Owusu (MTL) Messi (MIA) Goodwin (CTL) Navarro (COL)	B. J. Callaghan (NSH)

Goal of the Matchday

Goal of the Matchday
Matchday	Player	Club	Ref.
1	Diego Rossi	Columbus Crew
2	Lionel Messi	Inter Miami CF
3	Nectarios Triantis	Minnesota United FC
4	Stijn Spierings	Real Salt Lake
5	Marcel Hartel	St. Louis City SC

Player of the Month

Month	Player	Club	Stats	Ref.
February/March	Sam Surridge	Nashville SC	4 matches played, 7 goals, 0 assists