The MLS begins its 2024 season with a one-game match against Inter Miami on February 21 – a game that marks the start of a more than nine-month season, the schedule of which the league announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Here are the key dates you need to know:
A busy start for Messi, Inter Miami
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will play a standalone midweek game to kick off the 2024 MLS season, welcoming Real Salt Lake to South Florida Wednesday, February 21st, 8pm ET. It is the earliest start to an MLS season in the league's 29-year history and comes just six days after the sixth and final international match of the preseason.
Starting January 19, Inter Miami's preseason tour will take in El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Japan. They will play their last friendly match on February 15 in Fort Lauderdale against Messi and Tata Martino's youth club Newell's Old Boys.
For Martino, he will have to carefully manage his squad over the winter, paying particular attention to Messi, Busquets, Alba and Suarez. All four former Barcelona players will be the star attraction during Miami's world tour. But all four players will also be crucial to Inter Miami's hopes of winning multiple trophies in 2024. It will be interesting to see how Miami's busy preseason schedule is viewed toward the end of the season.
“Next year will be much better,” Messi said during a Ballon d'Or ceremony at Inter Miami's DRV Pink Stadium last month. “We will continue to have fun and continue to win titles.”
After Miami and RSL begin the season on Wednesday, the rest of the league gets in on the action with 14 games between Saturday and Sunday, with Miami traveling to Los Angeles to take on the Galaxy.
El Trafico at the Rose Bowl
After an MLS-record crowd of 82,110 fans turned out to watch LA Galaxy take on LAFC in the Rose Bowl on July 4 last year, the league returns with a second edition in 2024: LA Galaxy vs. LAFC on Thursday, July 4th, 10:30 p.m. ET.
The Galaxy will be a much-changed team, with high-profile players Chicharito and Douglas Costa already departing. For LAFC, star Carlos Vela is one of the key players who is no longer under contract.
MLS Cup rematch
LAFC hosts reigning MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew at BMO Stadium on July 13. The Crew defeated LAFC in Columbus to win the MLS Cup 2-1 that year. So this is LAFC's first chance to return the favor.
The League Cup begins shortly after the Copa América final
As in 2023, MLS and Liga MX will complete their respective regular seasons and participate in the second edition of the League Cup in 2024. 47 teams from the USA, Canada and Mexico will again take part in the tournament on July 26th. Just 12 days after the 2024 Copa América final in Miami. The League Cup final will take place on August 25th. Defending champions are Inter Miami and Lionel Messi.
MLS announced Wednesday that there are three spots left for the CONCACAF Champions Cup and that each game will again be decided in regulation time or by penalty shootout. However, changes to the tournament's format are expected to be announced early next year. The Athletic understands that tournament organizers will look to improve the competition based on feedback from key stakeholders, including fans and participating clubs.
However, League Cup matches are unlikely to be played in Mexico. Last summer, several Liga MX teams criticized the format of the tournament, particularly the cross-country travel that Mexican clubs had to endure over the course of the competition, as well as the management. José Antonio Noriega, CF Monterrey's sporting director, was one of the most vocal critics of the inaugural tournament.
“A lot more organization is needed,” Noriega said after Monterrey qualified for the quarter-finals of the League Cup. “Things need to be fairer. There is so much that needs to be improved and hopefully they will do that because this is not good at all.”
GO DEEPER
League Cup: Messi's influence, the controversies and more
Decision day and MLS Cup
The MLS concludes the regular season with the now traditional Decision Day, in which every team in every conference competes at the same time. This will take place on Saturday, October 19th. Then it continues to the playoffs, which culminate in the MLS Cup Saturday December 7th.
(Photo: Logan Riely/Getty Images)