MLS to go on hiatus throughout 2026 World Cup

Major League Soccer will go on break during the entirety of the 2026 World Cup.

That’s according to commissioner Don Garber, who made the declaration Friday in Carson, Calif., the site of Saturday’s MLS Cup final.

He said the league also will pause during part of the Club World Cup in 2025, which will be played in the United States from June 15 to July 13, 2025. The Seattle Sounders and Inter Miami are among the teams that will play in the event.

The MLS board of governors must approve any schedule change.

The 48-team 2026 World Cup will be played from June 11 through July 19 in 16 cities across the U.S, Mexico and Canada.

Garber said MLS officials also could consider overhauling the entire annual spring-to-fall schedule to better align with other leagues — not just during the World Cup year.

“It’s important to point out that the league, in 2004 and 2005, and then again in 2014 and 2015, looked at a schedule change,” Garber said, per The Athletic. “I think now we could be the only league, or one of only two leagues in the world that works on our schedule. But it’s complicated. We’re across three time zones, multiple weather factors, we’re traveling across a continent, and making those changes is something we’ve got to be very, very thoughtful about. I do think that we are considering, more than ever before, this opportunity to change, but it’s not something that we’re ready to talk about right now.”

–Field Level Media