2026 Major League Soccer season

Last updated
Major League Soccer
MLS crest logo RGB gradient.svg
Season 2026
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.

Contents

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 be the final full season played under the spring–autumn format, as MLS plans to transition to a autumn–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]

Teams

Stadiums and locations

TeamStadiumCapacity
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]

TeamHead coachCaptainShirt sponsorSleeve sponsor
Atlanta United FC Flag of Argentina.svg Gerardo Martino TBA American Family Insurance Emory Healthcare
Austin FC Flag of Spain.svg Nico Estévez Flag of Spain.svg Ilie Sánchez Yeti Siete Foods
Charlotte FC Flag of England.svg Dean Smith Flag of England.svg Ashley Westwood Ally Rugs.com
Chicago Fire FC Flag of the United States.svg Gregg Berhalter Flag of the United States.svg Kellyn Acosta Carvana [6] Magellan Corporation
FC Cincinnati Flag of the United States.svg Pat Noonan Flag of the United States.svg Miles Robinson Mercy Health Kroger
Colorado Rapids Vacant Flag of the United States.svg Keegan Rosenberry UCHealth Kiewit
Columbus Crew Flag of France.svg Wilfried Nancy TBA Nationwide DHL Supply Chain [7]
FC Dallas Flag of the United States.svg Eric Quill Flag of Indonesia.svg Maarten Paes Children's Health (Home)
UT Southwestern (Away)		—
D.C. United Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg René Weiler Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Christian Benteke Guidehouse Fruitist
Houston Dynamo FC Flag of the United States.svg Ben Olsen Flag of Brazil.svg Artur MD Anderson —
Inter Miami CF Flag of Argentina.svg Javier Mascherano Flag of Argentina.svg Lionel Messi Royal Caribbean Fracht Group
LA Galaxy Flag of the United States.svg Greg Vanney Flag of Japan.svg Maya Yoshida Herbalife RBC
Los Angeles FC Vacant Flag of the United States.svg Aaron Long BMO Bank [t 1] Ford
Minnesota United FC Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Eric Ramsay Flag of New Zealand.svg Michael Boxall Target [t 2] NutriSource
CF Montréal Flag of Italy.svg Marco Donadel Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Samuel Piette Bank of Montreal Telus
Nashville SC Flag of the United States.svg B.J. Callaghan Flag of the United States.svg Walker Zimmerman Renasant Bank [t 3] Hyundai
New England Revolution Flag of Serbia.svg Marko Mitrović Flag of Spain.svg Carles Gil Gillette Santander
New York City FC Flag of the Netherlands.svg Pascal Jansen Flag of Brazil.svg Thiago Martins Etihad Airways [t 4] Judi Health
New York Red Bulls Flag of Germany.svg Sandro Schwarz Flag of Sweden.svg Emil Forsberg Red Bull OANDA
Orlando City SC Flag of Colombia.svg Óscar Pareja Flag of Sweden.svg Robin Jansson Orlando Health Exploria
Philadelphia Union Flag of South Africa.svg Bradley Carnell Flag of the United States.svg Alejandro Bedoya Bimbo Bakeries USA Independence Blue Cross
Portland Timbers Flag of England.svg Phil Neville Flag of Colombia.svg Diego Chará Tillamook [8] [t 5] —
Real Salt Lake Flag of the United States.svg Pablo Mastroeni Flag of Brazil.svg Rafael Cabral Select Health Intermountain Health
San Diego FC Flag of the United States.svg Mikey Varas Flag of Denmark.svg Jeppe Tverskov DirecTV [9] —
San Jose Earthquakes Flag of the United States.svg Bruce Arena Flag of Argentina.svg Cristian Espinoza El Camino Health Habbas Law
Seattle Sounders FC Flag of the United States.svg Brian Schmetzer Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Stefan Frei Providence [t 6] Emerald Queen Casino
Sporting Kansas City Flag of the United States.svg Kerry Zavagnin (interim) Flag of Germany.svg Erik Thommy Compass Minerals —
St. Louis City SC Flag of the United States.svg David Critchley (interim) Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Roman Bürki Purina BJC HealthCare
Toronto FC Flag of the United States.svg Robin Fraser Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Jonathan Osorio Bank of Montreal LG
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Flag of Denmark.svg Jesper Sørensen Flag of Scotland.svg 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

TeamOutgoing coachManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming coachDate of appointment
Los Angeles FC Flag of the United States.svg Steve Cherundolo Mutual consent [a] November 22, 2025Pre-seasonTBATBA
Atlanta United FC Flag of Norway.svg Ronny Deila Fired [10] October 19, 2025 Flag of Argentina.svg Gerardo Martino November 6, 2025 [11]
Colorado Rapids Flag of the United States.svg Chris Armas End of contract [12] October 27, 2025TBATBA
New York Red Bulls Flag of Germany.svg Sandro Schwarz Mutual consent [13] TBATBA
New England Revolution Flag of Uruguay.svg Pablo Moreira (interim)End of interim periodNovember 7, 2025 Flag of Serbia.svg Marko Mitrović November 7, 2025 [14]
  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 unveil Tillamook as jersey partner". Portland Timbers . May 12, 2024. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  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. ↑ "New England Revolution hire Marko Mitrović as club's 10th head coach". New England Revolution. November 7, 2025. Retrieved November 24, 2025.
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