Major League Soccer opens 28th season, preparations for the 2026 World Cup begin

The quest for a World Cup in 2026 starts now for Major League Soccer.

The league, entering its 28th season this year, has a new team at St. Louis City SC and a new media deal with Apple TV. This season will also feature an expanded League Cup that will feature all MLS and Liga MX teams for the first time.

The tournament is part of an ever-growing collaboration between MLS and Liga MX, and both professional leagues are looking forward to the attention they will see ahead of the World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has already set a record, with 36 MLS players named to the national team — twice as many league players as in Russia in 2018.

LAFC is the reigning MLS Cup champion and winner of the Supporters Shield. The Western Conference team is full of talent, including Carlos Vela, Kellin Acosta and Giorgio Chiellini, but top scorer Cristian “Chicho” Arango was traded to Pachuca for Mexico.

Wales legend Gareth Bale, a brilliant LAFC signer last June, retired in the off-season, but not before he secured a memorable moment in championship play by equalizing at the end of extra time, leading to a penalty kick and victory over the Philadelphia Union .

“I think our first 11th squad is still pretty good and we are very happy with it. And we have some very good players on the bench, we just don’t have the deep bench we had last season. focusing on staying healthy and trying to play a lot of games on a busy schedule this year,” said LAFC 2nd Year Coach Steve Cherundolo.

Philadelphia, the best player in the Eastern Conference last season, didn’t make many big moves in the offseason, but lost key spare Cory Burke at large. Union scored 72 goals and conceded just 26, the lowest in MLS last season and the most in a 34-game season.

“It will be difficult to repeat what we did defensively last year, setting a record for goals-against and then scoring as many goals as we scored will definitely be a challenge, but this group will fight like hell for our fans. and try to get back in time for the MLS Cup final,” Union coach Jim Curtin said.

MLS season 28 kicks off this Saturday.

How about them apple(s)

MLS began a 10-year partnership with Apple by launching a season pass on Apple TV+ this season. Apple has made forays into sports streaming before, but this is its first major involvement in the league.

MLS will receive at least $250 million per season from Apple. Under previous eight-year deals with Fox, ESPN, and Univision, the league averaged $90 million per season.

Oh, and for those who prefer to watch games at their local pub or diner, the league has a “commercial venue” agreement with DirectTV.

New kids in the area

St. Louis City join MLS this season as the 29th club. City open the season on the road in Austin but return home to take on Charlotte on March 4 at Team CITYPARK Football Stadium. The first home match of the team will be played in front of a sold out crowd of 22,500 spectators.

City have appointed goalkeeper Roman Burka, who joined from Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga, as their captain for the first season. Defenseman Tim Parker was named vice-captain.

“We want to play a dynamic game. We want it to be dynamic, we want to really work through the transition, we want to work on the front lines, really bringing a lot of energy to the fans, hoping they sit on the edge of their seats and don’t feel too comfortable, right?” said coach Bradley Carnell.

The league plans to add a 30th team, possibly announcing it in the first half of this year.

New (similar) trainers

One of the most significant coaching moves of the offseason came from Wilfrid Nancy, who left Montreal last season to take over the Columbus Crew following the sacking of Caleb Porter. Hernan Lozada, who was DC United’s manager in 2021 and part of 2022, has taken Nancy’s place at Montreal.

Rays Gonzalez returned from his duties as US assistant at the World Championships to join the San Jose Earthquakes. Gonzalez also coached Dallas from 2018–21. Ben Olsen is another former MLS coach with a new team this season. Olsen, a former DC United coach, now works for Houston.

Bowling

The opening day of the season will feature an El Trafico rivalry matchup between reigning MLS Cup champion LAFC and LA Galaxy at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

The game could break the league attendance record for a single game set last year, when Charlotte drew 74,479 fans to open the season.

“We look forward to these games, they are always fun, always exciting, quite tense. And I know our players, I know our group, and they will be ready,” said LAFC coach Cherundolo.

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AP Sports journalist Joe Ready from Los Angeles contributed to this report.