MLS NEXT Pro announced today its 2026 regular season schedule. The League’s fifth season will commence on Friday, February 27, the earliest start in its history. The 2026 season will feature the addition of MLS NEXT Pro’s 30th club, Connecticut United FC – the third independent team competing in the League, joining Carolina Core FC and Chattanooga FC.
The 2026 regular season will consist of 420 matches, with each club playing 28 matches; 14 at home and 14 on the road over a 30-week span. Clubs will face each divisional opponent a maximum of three times as well as other intraconference rivals to round out the schedule. The MLS NEXT Pro regular season will continue throughout the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Decision Day will be Sunday, September 20, with all 30 clubs competing on the last day of the season to determine the final seeding for the 2026 MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs.
The 2026 season will see an adjustment in division alignment in the Eastern Conference as CT United FC joins the Northeast Division as the Conference’s 16th team, while Chicago Fire FC II moves to the Southeast Division. Fourteen teams remain in the Western Conference.
The 2026 season kicks off with an opening weekend featuring 15 matches. The action begins on Friday, February 27 as Inter Miami CF II hosts Chicago Fire FC II.
Saturday’s triple-header features Eastern Conference showdowns as New York City FC II hosts Carolina Core FC and Philadelphia Union II hosts Toronto FC II. The 2025 Western Conference runners-up, St Louis CITY2, hosts Sporting Kansas City II to round out Saturday’s matches.
Sunday’s full 10-match slate is highlighted by reigning MLS NEXT Pro Champions, Red Bull New York II, hosting 2022 Champions Columbus Crew 2; 2025 MLS NEXT Pro Cup runners-up Colorado Rapids 2 going on the road against Houston Dynamo 2, and FC Cincinnati 2 hosting CT United FC in Connecticut’s MLS NEXT Pro debut match. Monday’s sole match closes out a weekend of action, as Eastern Conference contenders face off when Orlando City B hosts Huntsville City FC.
Details on the broadcast schedule for Opening Weekend and the rest of the 2026 season will be announced at a later date.
Announced as a new League member in January 2024, CT United FC will begin competing in 2026. Led by principal owners André and Michelle Swanston, CT United FC’s ownership group Connecticut Sports Group (CTSG) includes investment from reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, among others. CT United FC will play its first four matches on the road before making its home debut on April 11, hosting Columbus Crew 2. The team will play its home matches in venues across Connecticut in 2026, bringing the club directly to fans statewide throughout its inaugural season.
CT United FC will be led by Shavar Thomas, former MLS veteran and Jamaican National Team captain, as its inaugural head coach. As a player, Thomas was selected 10th overall in the MLS SuperDraft and accrued nearly 200 appearances in the League, including helping the Kansas City Wizards win the 2004 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. As a coach, Thomas most recently served on the staff of FC Cincinnati 2 in MLS NEXT Pro, who CT United FC will face in its season opener on the road on Sunday, March 1. Thomas joins CT United FC Sporting Director Denis Hamlett, who brings over two decades of MLS experience as a player, coach and executive.
CT United FC, Carolina Core FC and Chattanooga FC will be joined by additional independent teams in the coming seasons: Cleveland, Jacksonville Armada FC, AC Grand Rapids, and The Island F.C.
The 2025 MLS NEXT Pro Champions, Red Bull New York II, begin its title defense at home, welcoming 2022 Champions Columbus Crew 2 to MSU Soccer Park on Opening Weekend (Sunday, March 1).
The Champions will enter the new season with a new head coach; U.S. Soccer legend Michael Bradley, who took over midway through the 2025 season and led the club to its first MLS NEXT Pro title, was named head coach of Red Bull New York’s first team on December 15, 2025. The club named former first team assistant coach Dominik Wohlert as his successor.
Red Bull II capped off its 2025 season with a comeback victory against Colorado Rapids 2 in front of an MLS NEXT Pro Cup record breaking crowd of over 9,000 fans at Sports Illustrated Stadium on November 8, 2025. The historic match saw Red Bull II erase a two-goal deficit and force the first extra time in Cup history, leading to a 3-3 stalemate that resulted in the championship match being decided by a shootout for the first time.
The 2026 MLS NEXT Pro season will provide another opportunity for the soccer stars of tomorrow to advance their careers, joining the ranks of more than 230 players to date who have signed MLS first team contracts after spending time in MLS NEXT Pro.
Recent first team signings include 2025 MLS NEXT Pro Cup winner Nehuén Benedetti of Red Bull New York II, U.S. U-17 Youth National Team standout Chase Adams of Columbus Crew 2, and 2025 MLS NEXT Pro Golden Boot winner Jason Shokalook from Chicago Fire FC II.
Eleven clubs will have new head coaches in 2026, with six clubs having already filled those roles: Fanendo Adi (MIN), Sammy Castellanos (CIN), Pablo Moreira (NER), Jose Silva (ATL), Jason Shackell (ATX), and Dominik Wohlert (RBNY).
The following clubs are expected to name head coaches in the coming weeks: LAFC 2, Portland Timbers2, Sporting Kansas City II, Tacoma Defiance and Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2.
Multiple former MLS NEXT Pro head coaches advanced their careers after the 2025 season, including:
- 2025 MLS NEXT Pro Cup winner Michael Bradley (RBNY) was appointed head coach of the Red Bulls first team
- At Minnesota United FC, Cameron Knowles was promoted to first team head coach after serving as assistant coach and was previously MNUFC2’s first-ever head coach; while second team head coach Jeremy Hall was appointed as the United States U-18 Youth National Team head coach
- 2023 MLS NEXT Pro Cup winning head coach Brett Uttley (ATX) joined the FC Cincinnati first team coaching staff as an assistant coach
- Ricardo Clark joined the Seattle Sounders FC first team as an assistant coach after spending five seasons with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC organization, including serving as head coach of Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 (2023-2025)
For the first time ever, MLS NEXT Pro will host a regular season match at MLS NEXT Cup, the culminating event of the 2026 MLS NEXT season. The May 29 match at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah will showcase a professional match in front of the nation’s best youth teams, when Real Monarchs hosts Sporting Kansas City II.
The League previously hosted a regular season match at Generation adidas Cup the last two years. These MLS NEXT Pro matches provide the younger players in attendance with a preview of future steps along the pro player pathway: to date more than 1,300 MLS NEXT Academy players have appeared in MLS NEXT Pro since the League’s inception in 2022.
North Texas SC’s new home in Mansfield, Texas is expected to open in Summer 2026.
North Texas SC, 2024 MLS NEXT Pro Champions, will begin the season at its previous home, Choctaw Stadium. The team will play five home matches there before debuting at Mansfield Stadium on July 4th against St Louis CITY2.
The 7,500-seat stadium is one of the designated base camp options for national teams participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
North Texas SC will serve as the primary tenant of the stadium, which will anchor a new 250-acre mixed-use development, Staybolt Street Entertainment District. The development will include residential, retail, family entertainment, hotel, conference center and entertainment spaces.
San Jose Earthquakes’ MLS NEXT Pro team will return to its original Quakes II identity in 2026, following the conclusion of its two-year pilot commercial partnership with The Town FC. Led by head coach Dan DeGeer, a finalist for the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro Coach of the Year award who has guided the team in more than 100 matches, the club has consistently competed among the top teams in the Western Conference. The team has secured postseason berths in three consecutive seasons, including finishing as the No. 2 seed in 2025, when it amassed 14 wins and 52 points to surpass its previous season’s total, while capturing back-to-back Pacific Division titles (2024-2025).
