MLS Season Breakdown: The Exact Number of Games Every Team Battles Through

Major League Soccer features one of the most distinctive formats in global football.

While numerous leagues worldwide employ a conventional single-table format, where each team faces every other team twice annually, MLS adopts a vastly different strategy: two conferences, postseason playoffs, and then a championship match—the MLS Cup—to crown the ultimate winner.

So what's the total number of matches each club plays annually? What are the minimum and maximum fixture counts? Here, Sports Illustrated explains the breakdown.

How Many Games Do MLS Teams Play in a Season?

How Many Games Do MLS Teams Play in a Season?

Different from other prominent European competitions, including the Premier League and La Liga, MLS divides into two conferences—the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference—with 15 teams in each division.

Each club faces every other team within its conference twice throughout the regular campaign, totaling 28 fixtures. Additionally, there are six inter-conference encounters for each team, bringing the complete regular-season match count to 34.

Following the regular season, the top nine clubs from each conference advance to the MLS Cup postseason, which may include up to four elimination rounds.

The playoffs commence with a Wild Card phase, where the lowest two qualifying clubs in each conference battle in a single fixture to secure a Round One position. Subsequently, teams participate in a best-of-three format to progress to the conference semifinals and conference finals, both conducted as single elimination matches.

The conference final victors then clash in the MLS Cup to decide the league title holder.

This format indicates that clubs advancing to the MLS Cup may participate in up to seven postseason fixtures, which, when added to the 34 regular-season encounters, creates a potential maximum of 41 matches per campaign.

Though not an official team fixture, the MLS All-Star Game—uniting the league's elite players for one exhibition match—can provide an additional appearance for chosen standouts.

MLS Eastern Conference Teams

MLS Eastern Conference Teams

Below is a complete list of every Eastern Conference club in MLS for 2026, including their home venues:

MLS Western Conference Teams

MLS Western Conference Teams

Below is a complete list of every Western Conference club in MLS for 2026, including their home venues: