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The 2026 World Cup will reach its grand finale on Sunday, July 19, with the championship match scheduled at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Once the tournament wraps up, supporters will need to wait several more weeks before the majority of Europe's top leagues kick off their new campaigns.
Major League Soccer, however, is set to return before the World Cup has even wrapped up. The league is getting back underway now that the semifinals have concluded, bringing an end to a nearly two-month hiatus taken specifically to accommodate the tournament.
The move has drawn considerable scrutiny, particularly given that some MLS players could still be competing at the World Cup when league play resumes.
So what's behind MLS's decision to come back while the world's greatest soccer tournament is still ongoing?
When Does MLS Resume?
Major League Soccer makes its return on July 16 and 17, 2026—though fans shouldn't anticipate a complete Matchday 16 schedule right off the bat.
Rather, the league will kick things off with a specially curated lineup of six rivalry clashes during the window between the World Cup semifinals and the final. The matchups include CF Montréal vs. Toronto FC, Chicago Fire vs. Vancouver Whitecaps, St. Louis CITY SC vs. Sporting Kansas City, and Seattle Sounders vs. Portland Timbers on July 16, followed by Nashville SC vs. Atlanta United and LA Galaxy vs. LAFC on July 17.
The restart is set to deliver significant star appeal, with former Barcelona legend Robert Lewandowski anticipated to make his Chicago Fire debut, while a number of World Cup participants could also appear after returning from international competition.
The league will then shift back to its regular schedule with Matchday 17 on Thursday, July 23, when all 30 clubs are expected to be in action, including defending MLS Cup holders Inter Miami.
Why Does MLS Resume During the World Cup?
With only a handful of days between the MLS restart and the World Cup final, many supporters may question why the league didn't simply hold off until after the tournament had finished.
The answer comes down to timing and opportunity. MLS is looking to capitalize on the massive wave of soccer enthusiasm that will sweep across North America during the 2026 World Cup.
By relaunching with high-profile rivalry fixtures, devoted fan bases, and matches held at some of the very venues used during the tournament, the league aims to draw in new supporters hungry for more soccer once the World Cup is over.
READ THE LATEST WORLD CUP NEWS, PREVIEWS & ANALYSIS HERE
Barnaby Lane, widely known as Barney, is a soccer journalist for SI FC. Boasting nearly ten years of experience in the field, he has contributed to a variety of well-known publications across both the United States and the United Kingdom, and has sat down with some of the globe's most prominent athletes—from Usain Bolt and Rafael Nadal to Christian Pulisic (though his most cherished interview to date remains Adebayo Akinfenwa). Barney's area of expertise is Premier League soccer, covering everything from the nostalgia of bygone eras to the modern, dramatically transformed nature of today's game. He also brings reporting experience in La Liga and Major League Soccer, the latter of which he developed a strong personal connection to during his university years at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.