Competition: | Major League Soccer |
Season: | 2024 |
Continentalcup2: | Champions Cup (Canada) |
Matches: | 361 |
Total Goals: | 1123 |
League Topscorer: | Cristian Arango (17 goals) |
Biggest Home Win: | Miami 5–0 Orlando (March 2) LAFC 5–0 Nashville (March 23) Seattle 5–0 Montréal (April 6) Cincinnati 6–1 Miami (July 6) Orlando 5–0 D.C. (July 6) |
Biggest Away Win: | Chicago 0–4 Salt Lake (April 20) New England 1–5 Columbus (June 29) LAFC 1–5 Columbus (July 13) |
Highest Scoring: | 8 goals: Miami 6–2 RBNY (May 4) Salt Lake 5–3 Colorado (May 18) Dallas 5–3 Minnesota (June 19) LAFC 6–2 San Jose (June 22) |
Longest Wins: | 7 matches: Cincinnati (April 20 – May 25) |
Longest Unbeaten: | 15 matches: Salt Lake (March 23 – June 19) |
Longest Winless: | 11 matches: D.C. (May 15 – July 6) |
Longest Losses: | 7 matches: Kansas City (April 27 – June 1) |
Highest Attendance: | 72,610 SKC 2–3 MIA (April 13) |
Lowest Attendance: | 7,492 COL 2–1 DAL (April 20) |
Average Attendance: | 25,805 |
Prevseason: | 2023 |
Nextseason: | 2025 |
Updated: | March 9, 2024 |
The 2024 Major League Soccer season is the ongoing 29th season of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada, and the 46th season overall of a national first-division league in the United States.
The league's 29 teams are divided into the Eastern and Western conferences. This is the first season since the 2016 season to have no new expansion teams joining MLS; San Diego FC is scheduled to join the league in 2025.[1] FC Cincinnati are the reigning Supporters' Shield holders; the Columbus Crew are the reigning MLS Cup champions.[2]
Pre-season matches ran from January 19 through February 17.[3] The regular season began on February 21 and is scheduled to end on October 19, with a pause from late July to late August for the 2024 Leagues Cup, which comprises all MLS and Liga MX teams. The 2024 MLS Cup playoffs are scheduled to begin in October and conclude with MLS Cup 2024 on December 7.[4] MLS will only send 8 senior squads to the 2024 U.S. Open Cup as part of a compromise with the USSF that allows most teams to be represented by MLS Next Pro teams.[5]
This is the second season that Apple and MLS will be part of a ten-year partnership for the broadcast and streaming rights to all MLS and Leagues Cup games, as well as select MLS Next and MLS Next Pro games, on the MLS Season Pass service within the Apple TV app.[6]
See main article: List of Major League Soccer stadiums.
Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming coach | Date of appointment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Portland Timbers | Miles Joseph (interim) | End of interim period | November 6, 2023 | Pre-season | Phil Neville | November 6, 2023[17] | |
Charlotte FC | Christian Lattanzio | Mutual consent | November 8, 2023[18] | Dean Smith | December 12, 2023[19] | ||
CF Montréal | Hernán Losada | November 9, 2023[20] | Laurent Courtois | January 8, 2024[21] | |||
New York Red Bulls | Troy Lesesne | End of contract | November 14, 2023[22] | Sandro Schwarz | December 14, 2023[23] | ||
Colorado Rapids | Chris Little (interim) | End of interim period | November 17, 2023 | Chris Armas | November 17, 2023[24] | ||
Chicago Fire FC | Frank Klopas (interim) | December 5, 2023 | Frank Klopas | December 5, 2023[25] | |||
Minnesota United FC | Sean McAuley (interim) | January 5, 2024 | Cameron Knowles (interim) | January 5, 2024[26] | |||
D.C. United | Frédéric Brillant (interim) | January 10, 2024 | Troy Lesesne | January 10, 2024[27] | |||
New England Revolution | Clint Peay (interim) | December 19, 2023 | Caleb Porter | December 19, 2023[28] | |||
Minnesota United FC | Cameron Knowles (interim) | March 13, 2024 | 2nd in West, 3rd Overall | Eric Ramsay | March 13, 2024[29] | ||
Nashville SC | Gary Smith | Mutual consent | May 16, 2024 | 10th in East, 19th Overall | Rumba Munthali (interim) | May 16, 2024[30] | |
Atlanta United FC | Gonzalo Pineda | Fired | June 3, 2024 | 13th in East, 24th Overall | Rob Valentino (interim) | June 3, 2024[31] | |
FC Dallas | Nico Estévez | June 9, 2024 | 13th in West, 27th Overall | Peter Luccin (interim) | June 9, 2024[32] | ||
San Jose Earthquakes | Luchi Gonzalez | June 24, 2024 | 14th in West, 29th Overall | Ian Russell (interim) | June 24, 2024[33] | ||
St. Louis City SC | Bradley Carnell | July 1, 2024 | 12th in West, 26th Overall | John Hackworth (interim) | July 1, 2024[34] | ||
Nashville SC | Rumba Munthali (interim) | End of interim period | July 22, 2024 | 12th in East, 23rd Overall | B.J. Callaghan | July 31, 2024[35] |
The regular season consists of 34 matches for each team, split evenly between home and away games. The opening match was played on February 21, the earliest in league history; the regular season will end with Decision Day on October 19, which will comprise simultaneous intra-conference matches. Matches will be paused from July 25 to August 23 for the 2024 Leagues Cup, a knockout tournament that includes teams from MLS and Liga MX. The league did not pause matches for the 2024 Copa América, which was played in the United States from June to July. Most regular season matches will be played on Saturdays and Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. local time.[36] [37]
The 29 teams are divided into two conferences: the Eastern and Western. The 15 teams in the East will play a round-robin format with intra-conference teams and six matches against six opponents from the West. The 14 teams in the West will play a round-robin with intra-conference teams, an additional one or two intra-conference matches, and six to seven matches against opponents from the East.[38] The top nine teams in each conference will advance to the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs, which begin with a wild card round for the eighth and ninth placed teams and is followed by a best-of-three series that was introduced in 2023. The remaining matches are single-elimination and culminate with the MLS Cup final on December 7.[39]
Several new rules were scheduled to be introduced for the 2024 season following trials in MLS Next Pro, including in-stadium announcements of video assistant referee decisions, a time limit for substitutions, and mandatory off-field checks for injured players.[40] These initiatives were postponed by MLS due to an ongoing labor dispute with the Professional Soccer Referees Association, who organized a lockout of their referees.[41] [42] Replacement referees from outside the union, including former officials and those from lower level leagues other than USL, were called in to officiate MLS matches.[43] [44] The referees' union and MLS reached an agreement in time for the regular referees to return to the field for Matchday 7, on March 30.[45]
The 2024 MLS All-Star Game was played between the MLS All-Stars and the Liga MX All-Stars on July 24.[46]
The leading team in this table will win the Supporters' Shield.
See main article: 2024 MLS All-Star Game.
The United States will be the host country for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. MLS clubs can qualify as a host nation club; however, the criteria for selection has not been announced. MLS clubs have also been able to qualify through the 2021–2024 editions of the CONCACAF Champions Cup/CONCACAF Champions League.
Seattle Sounders FC have qualified as the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League winners.[47]
See also: Major League Soccer attendance.
width=25 | Rank | width=170 | Team | width=45 | width=45 | width=45 | width=45 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Atlanta United FC | 10 | 67,727 | 42,525 | ||||||||
2 | Charlotte FC | 10 | 62,291 | 27,021 | ||||||||
3 | Seattle Sounders FC | 8 | 31,102 | 29,244 | ||||||||
4 | New England Revolution | 9 | 65,612 | 14,557 | ||||||||
5 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 8 | 51,035 | 22,178 | ||||||||
6 | Nashville SC | 10 | 30,109 | 26,842 | ||||||||
7 | Toronto FC | 9 | 28,303 | 24,108 | ||||||||
8 | Orlando City SC | 9 | 25,046 | 20,985 | ||||||||
9 | FC Cincinnati | 8 | 25,513 | 24,282 | ||||||||
10 | Sporting Kansas City | 9 | 72,610 | 17,046 | ||||||||
11 | LA Galaxy | 8 | 27,642 | 19,505 | ||||||||
12 | St. Louis City SC | 9 | 22,500 | 22,423 | ||||||||
13 | Los Angeles FC | 9 | 22,321 | 22,010 | ||||||||
14 | Portland Timbers | 8 | 25,218 | 19,113 | ||||||||
15 | New York City FC | 10 | 30,731 | 18,623 | ||||||||
16 | Inter Miami CF | 10 | 21,550 | 20,793 | ||||||||
17 | Austin FC | 9 | 20,738 | 20,738 | ||||||||
18 | Columbus Crew | 7 | 20,927 | 20,314 | ||||||||
19 | Real Salt Lake | 8 | 21,078 | 19,357 | ||||||||
20 | New York Red Bulls | 8 | 25,219 | 17,501 | ||||||||
21 | CF Montréal | 7 | 19,619 | 19,619 | ||||||||
22 | Minnesota United FC | 9 | 19,906 | 18,652 | ||||||||
23 | FC Dallas | 8 | 19,096 | 19,069 | ||||||||
24 | Philadelphia Union | 9 | 19,048 | 18,525 | ||||||||
25 | San Jose Earthquakes | 8 | 43,774 | 13,744 | ||||||||
26 | D.C. United | 9 | 19,365 | 17,237 | ||||||||
27 | Chicago Fire FC | 10 | 26,592 | 11,372 | ||||||||
28 | Houston Dynamo FC | 8 | 22,039 | 15,237 | ||||||||
29 | Colorado Rapids | 8 | 17,433 | 7,492 | ||||||||
Total | 252 | 5,783,826 | 72,610 | 7,492 |
Regular season
Rank | Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance | Date | Matchday | Stadium | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sporting Kansas City | 2–3 | Inter Miami CF | 72,610 | 9 | [48] | |||
2 | LA Galaxy | 1–2 | Los Angeles FC | 70,076 | 24 | [49] | |||
3 | Atlanta United FC | 4–1 | New England Revolution | 67,727 | 4 | [50] | |||
4 | New England Revolution | 1–4 | Inter Miami CF | 65,612 | 11 | [51] | |||
5 | Charlotte FC | 1–0 | New York City FC | 62,291 | 2 | [52] | |||
6 | Atlanta United FC | 2–3 | Charlotte FC | 61,209 | 18 | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | [53] | ||
7 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 1–2 | Inter Miami CF | 51,035 | 16 | [54] | |||
8 | Charlotte FC | 1–2 | Inter Miami CF | 47,218 | 24 | Bank of America Stadium | [55] | ||
9 | San Jose Earthquakes | 3–1 | Los Angeles FC | 43,774 | 12 | [56] | |||
10 | Atlanta United FC | 1–2 | Minnesota United FC | 43,338 | 12 | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | [57] |
Source:[58]
See main article: List of Major League Soccer hat-tricks.
See main article: MLS Player of the Month.
Month | Player | Club | Stats | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
February/March | Luis Suárez | Inter Miami CF | 7 matches played, 5 goals, 3 assists | [141] | |
April | Lionel Messi | Inter Miami CF | 4 matches played, 6 goals, 4 assists | [142] | |
May | Luciano Acosta | FC Cincinnati | 6 matches played, 3 goals, 5 assists | [143] | |
June | Mateusz Bogusz | Los Angeles FC | 5 matches played, 6 goals, 3 assists | [144] | |
July | Cucho Hernández | Columbus Crew | 5 matches played, 3 goals, 4 assists | [145] |