MLS announces 2026 regular season schedule

Major League Soccer announced today Sporting Kansas City’s full 34-match schedule for the 2026 regular season, which will kick off in San Jose with the earliest regular season match in club history on Saturday, Feb. 21 during the league’s opening weekend and will conclude 37 weeks later on Saturday, Nov. 7 back in California against San Diego FC on Decision Day 2026.

Sporting Kansas City’s 2026 schedule is highlighted by a pair of matches against rivals St. Louis CITY SC – away on Thursday, July 16 in the return from an extended break for FIFA World Cup 26 and home on Wednesday, Aug. 19 in a nationally televised match-up on FS1 and FOX Deportes – and 2026 will mark the first time SKC has played the reigning Supporters’ Shield winner (Philadelphia), U.S. Open Cup champion (Nashville) and Leagues Cup champion (Seattle) in the same season.

Sporting Kansas City's regular season home schedule in 2026 features 17 MLS matches, highlighted by 14 Saturday dates and three games set for Wednesday kickoffs (May 13 vs. LA, July 22 vs. Minnesota and Aug. 19 vs. St. Louis). All home games will be held at 7:30 p.m. CT with the exception of two nationally-televised matches: Saturday, May 2 (1:30 p.m. on FOX and FOX Deportes) against Leagues Cup champions Seattle and Wednesday, Aug. 19 (7 p.m. on FS1 and FOX Deportes) against regional rivals St. Louis.

Sporting Kansas City’s Home Schedule in 2026

• Saturday, Feb. 28 vs. Columbus in first MLS home match in February
• Saturday, March 7 vs. San Diego, who finished best in the West in 2025
• Saturday, March 21 vs. Colorado in historic fixture from inaugural game
• Saturday, April 11 vs. San Jose in rematch from 2026 season opener
• Saturday, May 2 vs. Seattle in test versus Leagues Cup champs on FOX
• Wednesday, May 13 vs. LA Galaxy in battle with 2024 MLS champs
• Saturday, May 23 vs. New York in rematch of 2017 U.S. Open Cup Final
• Wednesday, July 22 vs. Minnesota in return home after World Cup
• Saturday, Aug. 1 vs. Houston following MLS All-Star Game on July 29
• Wednesday, Aug. 19 vs. St. Louis in home leg of rivalry series on FS1
• Saturday, Aug. 29 vs. Vancouver, Canadian champs in past four years
• Saturday, Sept. 12 vs. LAFC in rematch of 2024 U.S. Open Cup Final
• Saturday, Sept. 19 vs. Philadelphia, 2025 Supporters’ Shield winners
• Saturday, Oct. 10 vs. Portland in first of four straight Saturdays at home
• Saturday, Oct. 17 vs. Real Salt Lake in rematch of 2013 MLS Cup
• Saturday, Oct. 24 vs. Austin, 2025 U.S. Open Cup runners-up
• Saturday, Oct. 31 vs. Dallas in club’s first-ever home game on Halloween

Season tickets for Sporting’s 2026 campaign – including the Sporting U Pass for college students and Kids Chant Free option for families – are available by calling 888-4KC-GOAL and feature exclusive benefits, including a subscription to Apple TV and complimentary away match tickets. Sporting Kansas City Season Ticket Members will also have access to an exclusive pre-sale opportunity beginning on Friday for discounted tickets to the team’s home opener against Columbus on Feb. 28.

Sporting has also launched the Blue Hell Pack – featuring tickets to the home opener as well as the highly anticipated home match-ups with St. Louis on Aug. 19 and LAFC on Sept. 12 – along with the My 5 ticket contest for fans to enter to win a ticket package to the five home matches they are most excited to attend in 2026. In addition, Sporting KC will have a special sale from Black Friday on Nov. 28 through Cyber Monday on Dec. 1 for fans to secure seats to the 2026 home opener.

Sporting Kansas City’s promotional schedule – featuring theme nights and ticket packages – will be released in mid-December along with single-game tickets for select home matches during the 2026 Major League Soccer season.

Led by Designated Players Dejan Joveljic and Manu Garcia, Sporting KC will face all 14 opponents in the Western Conference twice – once home and once away – in addition to six fixtures against the Eastern Conference with single match-ups against Columbus Crew, Chicago Fire FC, Red Bull New York, Atlanta United FC, Philadelphia Union and Nashville SC. The Aug. 23 visit to Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta – site of a FIFA World Cup 26 semifinal – is slated for an enhanced production on Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire and is Sporting’s only Sunday fixture of the season.

All 510 MLS regular season matches in 2026 will be available to watch with an Apple TV subscription. Accessible in more than 100 countries and regions, Apple TV’s live broadcasts of MLS matches will be complemented by studio programming and a wide range of on-demand content.

Beyond the regular season, the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge presented by AT&T is scheduled for Tuesday, July 28 followed by the MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday, July 29 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. The Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs will begin following the FIFA international match window from Nov. 9-17 and the month of uninterrupted postseason action will culminate with 2026 MLS Cup presented by Audi.

Sporting KC will also return to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2026, competing in the 111^th edition of U.S. Soccer’s club championship after reaching the final in 2024 and winning the tournament an MLS-best four times (2004, 2012, 2015, 2017).

In preparation for the 2026 campaign, Sporting KC will begin the club’s preseason on Jan. 10 when players report to Kansas City for entrance physicals. The team will then travel to Palm Beach, Fla., from Jan. 11-31 – with preseason matches scheduled against Florida International University (9 a.m. CT on Jan. 17), Chicago Fire FC (9 a.m. CT on Jan. 24) and Charlotte FC (10 a.m. CT on Jan. 31) – before concluding preseason in Palm Springs, Calif., from Feb. 3-14 as part of the 2026 Coachella Valley Invitational.