The 2026 Major League Soccer season is the ongoing 31stseason of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is also the 48thoverall season of a national first-division men's soccer league in the United States overseen by the United States Soccer Federation. The league has 30clubs that are divided into the Eastern and Western conferences, each with 15teams.
The regular season is scheduled to run from February21 to November7, with 34matches for each team, primarily against opponents in the same conference. A six-week break was taken from May25 to July16 for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which was hosted in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The playoffs are scheduled to be played during an uninterrupted period in November and December culminating in MLS Cup2026, the league's postseason championship, on December 18. The 2026 season will be the final full season played under the spring–autumn format, as MLS plans to transition to a summer–spring format beginning with the 2027–28season; a shortened season with 14matches is scheduled to be played in early 2027.
All MLS matches during the regular season and playoffs are planned to be broadcast on AppleTV, 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 MiamiCF enters the season as reigning MLSCup champions, while the Philadelphia Union enter as holders of the Supporters' Shield.
Teams MLS had been expanding at the rate of nearly one team a year since 2005, when Real Salt Lake joined the league, through 2025, with the introduction of San Diego FC. Commissioner Don Garber stated that the league would put a pause on expansion once reaching thirty teams until after the 2026 FIFA World Cup. As such, the 2026 MLS season represents the first season played without an expansion team added or planned in over twenty years.
Stadiums and locations
Nu Stadium opened on April 4, 2026, as the new home stadium of Inter Miami CF. In addition to their normal home venues, some teams have scheduled matches at other stadiums to increase capacity.
Team Stadium Capacity Atlanta United FC Mercedes-Benz Stadium 42,500 Austin FC Q2 Stadium 20,738 CF Montréal Saputo Stadium 19,619 Charlotte FC Bank of America Stadium 38,000 Chicago Fire FC Soldier Field 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 Nu Stadium 26,700 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 20,000 New York City FC Yankee StadiumCiti Field 28,74341,992 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 37,722 Sporting Kansas City Sporting Park 18,467 St. Louis City SC Energizer Park 22,423 Toronto FC BMO Field 28,351 Vancouver Whitecaps FC BC Place 22,120
Personnel and sponsorships
Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsor Sleeve sponsor Back sponsorAtlanta United FC American Family Insurance Emory Healthcare— Austin FC (interim) Yeti Siete FoodsCharlotte FC Ally Rugs.com FrigidaireChicago Fire FC Carvana Magellan Corporation— FC Cincinnati Mercy Health KrogerColorado Rapids UCHealth KiewitColumbus Crew (interim) Nationwide DHL Supply ChainFC Dallas Children's Health (Home) UT Southwestern (Away)— D.C. United Guidehouse FruitistHouston Dynamo FC MD Anderson— Dude WipesInter Miami CF Royal Caribbean Lowe'sNubankLA Galaxy Herbalife RBC — Los Angeles FC Xavi Tamarit (interim) BMO BankRockstar sponsors training and special event jerseys FordEl MexicanoMinnesota United FC TargetBlue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota sponsors training and special event jerseys NutriSource— CF Montréal (interim) Bank of Montreal TelusNashville SC Renasant BankVanderbilt Health sponsors training and special event jerseys HyundaiNew England Revolution Gillette— New York City FC Etihad AirwaysMontefiore Einstein sponsors training and special event jerseys Judi HealthNew York Red Bulls Red Bull OANDAOrlando City SC (interim) Orlando Health ExploriaPhiladelphia Union (interim) Bimbo Bakeries USA Independence Blue CrossPortland Timbers Bank of AmericaDutch Bros. Coffee sponsors training and special event jerseys TillamookReal Salt Lake Select Health Intermountain HealthSan Diego FC DirecTV Adriana's InsuranceSan Jose Earthquakes El Camino Health ApolloSeattle Sounders FC ProvidenceProvidence Swedish sponsors training and special event jerseys Emerald Queen CasinoSporting Kansas City Compass Minerals Saint Luke'sSt. Louis City SC Purina BJC HealthCareToronto FC Bank of Montreal LGVancouver Whitecaps FC TelusBank of Montreal sponsors training and special event jerseys BLG
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, 2026Orlando City SC Óscar ParejaMutual consentMarch 11, 202615th in East, 30th overall Martín Perelman (interim)March 11, 2026CF Montréal Marco DonadelFiredApril 12, 202615th in East, 29th overall Philippe Eullaffroy (interim)April 12, 2026Inter Miami CF Javier Mascherano ResignedApril 14, 20263rd in East, 10th overall Guillermo Hoyos (interim)April 14, 2026Columbus Crew Henrik Rydström FiredMay 17, 202613th in East, 26th overall Laurent Courtois (interim)May 17, 2026Austin FC Nico Estévez FiredMay 18, 202613th in West, 24th overall Davy Arnaud (interim)May 18, 2026Portland Timbers Phil Neville Mutual consentMay 25, 202613th in West, 23rd overall Jack Cassidy (interim)June 5, 2026Philadelphia Union Mutual consentMay 27, 202615th in East, 30th overall Ryan Richter (interim)May 27, 2026Portland Timbers Jack Cassidy (interim) End of interim periodAugust 11, 20268th in West, 16th overall August 11, 2026Inter Miami CF (interim) End of interim periodSeptember 15, 20262nd in East, 3rd overall September 15, 2026 Los Angeles FC Marc Dos Santos Fired September 27, 20266th in West, 11th overall Xavier Tamarit (interim) October 1, 2026
Regular season
Conference standings
Overall table The leading team in this table wins the Supporters' Shield.
Results table
MLS All-Star Game
Attendance
Average home attendances
RankTeam 1 Atlanta United FC 13 53,862 30,306 2 Seattle Sounders FC 14 38,287 28,587 3 Charlotte FC 14 35,611 23,903 4 Nashville SC 14 30,109 24,387 5 Inter Miami CF 13 26,715 25,123 6 Los Angeles FC 13 75,673 21,531 7 Chicago Fire FC 13 63,094 15,845 8 FC Cincinnati 12 25,513 23,717 9 15 40,086 20,947 10 San Diego FC 14 28,459 18,799 11 New York City FC 14 45,845 17,197 12 St. Louis City SC 13 22,423 22,423 13 Portland Timbers 14 24,686 19,351 14 New England Revolution 13 34,428 14,287 15 Austin FC 13 20,738 20,738 16 Real Salt Lake 14 21,512 20,119 17 Colorado Rapids 13 75,824 14,568 18 LA Galaxy 14 25,025 15,435 19 D.C. United 14 72,026 10,115 20 Toronto FC 14 44,828 13,754 21 Orlando City SC 13 24,453 15,656 22 San Jose Earthquakes 14 43,026 12,276 23 Columbus Crew 14 20,307 17,039 24 Minnesota United FC 13 19,710 18,109 25 Houston Dynamo FC 14 21,063 14,742 26 New York Red Bulls 13 25,219 13,309 27 Philadelphia Union 13 19,778 17,410 28 Sporting Kansas City 13 18,522 14,188 29 CF Montréal 14 19,619 12,251 30 FC Dallas 13 11,004 10,925 Total 405 8,964,335 75,824 10,115
Player statistics
Goals RankPlayerClubGoals1 Lionel MessiInter Miami CF212 Petar MusaFC Dallas183 Brian WhiteVancouver Whitecaps FC174 Milan IloskiPhiladelphia Union16 Sam SurridgeNashville SC6 Nicolás FernándezNew York City FC15 Preston JuddSan Jose Earthquakes Rafael NavarroColorado Rapids/St. Louis City SC Prince OwusuCF Montréal10 Tai BariboD.C. United14 Denis BouangaLos Angeles FC Kévin DenkeyFC Cincinnati GuilhermeHouston Dynamo FC Kelvin YeboahMinnesota United FC
Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstScoreDate Petar MusaFC DallasSan Diego FC3–3 (H)March 14 Sam SurridgeNashville SCOrlando City SC5–0 (H)March 21 Denis BouangaLos Angeles FCOrlando City SC6–0 (H)April 4 Tai BariboD.C. UnitedNew York Red Bulls4–4 (A)April 22 Martín OjedaOrlando City SCInter Miami CF4–3 (A)May 2 EvanderFC CincinnatiChicago Fire FC3–2 (A)May 2 Hannes WolfNew York City FCColumbus Crew3–0 (H)May 10 Julian HallNew York Red BullsColumbus Crew3–2 (H)May 13 Hany MukhtarNashville SCLos Angeles FC3–2 (H)May 17 Prince OwusuCF MontréalD.C. United4–4 (A)May 23 Milan IloskiPhiladelphia UnionInter Miami CF4–6 (A)May 24 Luis SuárezInter Miami CFPhiladelphia Union6–4 (H)May 24 Alhassan YusufNew England RevolutionD.C. United3–0 (A)August 20 Lionel Messi4Inter Miami CFCF Montréal7–1 (H)August 29 Josh SargentToronto FCChicago Fire FC4–4 (H)September 5 Vincent JanssenPortland TimbersMinnesota United FC5–4 (H)September 5 Bruno DamianiPhiladelphia UnionFC Cincinnati5–0 (H)September 9 Milan IloskiPhiladelphia UnionOrlando City SC4–2 (H)September 26 Notes (H) – Home team(A) – Away team 4 Scored 4 goals
Assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Cristian EspinozaNashville SC13 EvanderFC Cincinnati Lionel MessiInter Miami CF Son Heung-minLos Angeles FC Joaquín ValienteFC Dallas6 Rodrigo De PaulInter Miami CF12 Anders DreyerSan Diego FC Joaquín PereyraMinnesota United FC Albert RusnákSeattle Sounders FC Cavan SullivanPhiladelphia Union
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Hugo LlorisLos Angeles FC12 Brian SchwakeNashville SC Yohei TakaokaVancouver Whitecaps FC4 Jonathan BondHouston Dynamo FC115 DanielSan Jose Earthquakes/FC Dallas7 Andrew ThomasSeattle Sounders FC7 Andre BlakePhiladelphia Union6 Chris BradyChicago Fire FC Nicolas HansenColorado Rapids Sean JohnsonD.C. United
Awards Team/Player of the Matchday Bold denotes the Player of the Matchday.