The first international break of the 2026 MLS season is in the books, and it didn’t offer much rest for the over 150 players who got called up to represent their nations.
For some, that meant missing Matchday 6 action, while others thrived despite the many miles traveled, such as Son Heung-min, who posted a record-matching four assists on Saturday despite last week’s journey to England and Austria to play for South Korea.
Outside of the quick turnaround, the weekend saw two incredible comebacks and the opening of a brand-new stadium in Miami, where, amid the excitement, Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez still couldn't lead their Herons to a perfect day.
Here’s how the teams stack up in the latest editions of Sports Illustrated’s MLS Power Rankings after Matchday 6.
MLS Power Rankings Matchday 6: Clubs 30–11
30. Sporting Kansas City (Previous: 30)
29. CF Montréal (Previous: 29)
28. Atlanta United (Previous: 27)
27. Philadelphia Union (Previous: 18)
26. New England Revolution (Previous: 28)
25. Orlando City (Previous: 22)
24. D.C. United (Previous: 25)
23. Colorado Rapids (Previous: 25)
22. St. Louis CITY SC (Previous: 26)
21. Portland Timbers (Previous: 21)
20. Austin FC (Previous: 23)
19. Toronto FC (Previous: 20)
18. LA Galaxy (Previous: 15)
17. Minnesota United (Previous: 19)
16. FC Dallas (Previous: 17)
15. Columbus Crew (Previous: 16)
14. Houston Dynamo (Previous: 12)
13. FC Cincinnati (Previous: 9)
12. Red Bull New York (Previous: 13)
11. Charlotte FC (10)
10. Real Salt Lake 🆕 (Previous: 14)
Fresh off missing the roster for the USMNT in March, Diego Luna made his first start of the season and marked a sign of good things to come, helping his side to a 3–1 win over Sporting Kansas City.
The 22-year-old bagged his first goal of the campaign with a clinical left-footed finish and promptly celebrated with his son, instantly putting himself back in contention for Mauricio Pochettino’s USMNT roster.
Yet, even at 22, he was the old guy. Zavier Gozo, the 19-year-old homegrown phenom, turned heads when he flicked the ball up to himself before smashing home a right-footed missile past SKC’s John Pulskamp.
With the American pair—both borderline World Cup hopefuls—and standout play from Spanish center forward Sergi Solans, RSL were dominant throughout and continued to build the blueprint that could push them into challenging MLS’s elite class.
9. Chicago Fire 🆕 (Previous: 11)
Chicago Fire FC pulled off the borderline unthinkable with a 1–0 win over Nashville SC, shutting down the potent attacking trio of Cristian Espinoza, Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar that has torched some of the best sides in MLS this season.
The center back pairing of Jack Elliott and South Africa international Mbekezeli Mbokazi was critical in the defensive effort, and while it is still early in the season, their chemistry is doing wonders for Chicago’s system.
While former USMNT boss, now Fire manager, Gregg Berhalter will proudly hold the victory over his former assistant, B.J. Callaghan, there are still some concerns moving forward. Chicago, quite literally, defended for 89 minutes after Philip Zinckernagel’s goal in the opening seconds, and they will want to generate more overall possession moving forward, even if they had garnered a match-leading 1.18 xG to Nashville’s 0.79.
8. New York City FC 📉 (Previous: 7)
Something was up with MLS this week. Teams in winning positions just seemed to really enjoy giving up late goals to surrender points in the final seconds. That’s exactly what New York City FC did, conceding in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time to settle for a draw with St. Louis CITY SC.
While NYCFC has shown immense play through Nicolás Fernández, Keaton Parks, Maxi Moralez and Matt Freese this season, their inability to put away a lowly opponent like St. Louis keeps them well off the true top class of MLS. Once they get Alonso Martínez back up front and maybe a new DP, there could be further potential in this group.
7. Seattle Sounders 🆙 (Previous: 8)
Paul Rothrock, baby!
The Seattle Sounders’ homegrown hero struck once again with a big goal, scoring in the 83rd minute to help the Rave Green to a 1–0 road win against the Houston Dynamo, bringing them to four games undefeated and four straight clean sheets.
As much as Rothrock’s cool finish for his third goal of the season stands out, the attacking movements from Jesús Ferreira, Paul Arriola and Albert Rusnák are finally paying off in the way that Seattle had hoped to see in 2025, before injuries derailed those plans.
At the back, having both Andrew Thomas, who made three saves in the win, and the veteran Stefan Frei gives the Sounders the rare and incredible advantage of having two legitimate starting options.
They won’t have much time off, now eyeing a midweek clash with Liga MX powerhouse, Tigres UANL, in the first leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal—no doubt, a more challenging game than Houston.
6. San Diego FC 📉 (Previous: 3)
A challenging situation went from bad to worse for San Diego FC when Manu Duah received a red card in the 32nd minute, after Niko Tsakaris had already put the San Jose Earthquakes up 1–0.
With 10 men, San Diego were unable to battle as they had hoped, eventually falling 3–0 to their California rivals, suffering a first loss of the season and third straight match without a win.
While Anders Dreyer created a chance in a tough day overall, it was another performance where it was clear that San Diego needed at least one more high-end DP talent. When teams were unfamiliar with Dreyer’s sleek runs last season, it was no problem — this year, there’s plenty of scouting on him, and while he still has three goals and three assists in six games, he can’t match his danger potential due to better preparation from his opponents.
San Diego wasn’t up for this one, and they didn’t have the talent to soften that blow.
5. Inter Miami 🤝 (Previous: 5)
Don’t be deceived by what social media may tell you. Lionel Messi did not score the first goal at Nu Stadium—that honor falls to Guilherme Biro, as Inter Miami lost out on their dream moment due to poor defensive marking on corner kick, allowing Austin FC to take the early lead.
It was a landmark weekend for Miami, and Messi did score the first Inter Miami goal at the stadium, leveling the match at 1–1 en route to an eventual 2–2 draw. Yet, as great as the atmosphere and the event were, the match offered some reiteration of some worrying truths for Miami, especially against a side nobody expects to contend among the MLS elite.
Firstly, the defensive issues are more relevant than ever. Nobody was within arm’s length of Biro on the opening goal, and overcommitted defenders to wide areas allowed Jayden Nelson to slice through for the 2–1 goal, nearly spoiling the new stadium party.
And then, how about the strikers? Left out of the starting lineup for the second game in a row, the $15 million offseason acquisition, Germán Berterame, failed to score for the eighth game, this time off the bench. Tadeo Allende didn’t offer sharpness as a No. 9. So, as has happened throughout Messi’s career, it was Luis Suárez saving the day with a big goal.
That’s two goals in two games for the 39-year-old Uruguayan, who evidently struggles to move around this pitch in the twilight of his career. Is he really the only striker who can score big goals? If so, that’s a key problem, arguably bigger than the defensive issues. Messi, as good as he is, can’t do everything.
4. San Jose Earthquakes 🆙 (Previous: 6)
Come for the Preston Judd goal, stay for the celly. 😅
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 5, 2026
San Jose leads 3-0. pic.twitter.com/VJjH0mFkHf
It’s pretty exciting what the San Jose Earthquakes are doing this year, as the signing of former German national team striker Timo Werner and the second year of Bruce Arena’s tutelage have brought the club to the upper echelon of MLS.
This weekend, though, it was all about 20-year-old U.S. midfielder Niko Tsakiris. The native of Saratoga, Calif. scored a brace, including a missile-like finish into the top corner, taking full advantage of San Jose’s advantage following Duah’s first-half red card, which dropped San Diego FC to 10 men.
Outside of the two goals, Tskaris put all five of his attempted shots on target, created six chances and delivered five successful long balls, highlighting the best performance of his young career so far and offering another hopeful prospect to the Earthquakes’ pipeline.
Yet, we can’t talk about San Jose without mentioning Preston Judd’s 3–0 goal in first-half stoppage time, which he celebrated by crawling like a dog, before lifting his leg and appearing to pee on the corner flag in an effort to help fundraise for his dog, Poppy’s, major surgeries.
Looking ahead, the win has San Jose tied for second in the Western Conference, and they take on a struggling Sporting Kansas City next weekend.
3. Vancouver Whitecaps 🆙 (Previous: 4)
BERHALTER TAKES US HOME 🤯#VANvPOR | 🏔️ 3 - 2 🪵 pic.twitter.com/wc7mwbcVE9
— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) April 5, 2026
In the Vancouver Whitecaps’ run to the 2025 MLS Cup final, late comebacks defined some of the biggest wins. Early in 2026, they hadn’t had that same vigor—until this weekend, securing a 3–2 win over Cascadia Cup rivals, Portland Timbers, after trailing 2–1 in the 90th minute.
Having surrendered an early 1–0 lead on two stellar strikes from the Timbers, the Whitecaps dominated the run of play, but struggled to find connections on crosses and couldn’t make the most of electrifying runs from Bruno Caicedo’s debut effort. Yet the push eventually paid off, drawing a controversial handball in the 90th minute, which allowed Thomas Müller to score his third goal of the campaign from the penalty spot.
With momentum in their favor, the Whitecaps leaned on a crunching tackle from USMNT World Cup hopeful Sebastian Berhalter, before working the ball up the field in the final seconds and eventually finding Berhalter once again for a perfectly-placed finish in the 96th minute.
For a team that hasn’t looked quite to its potential in 2026 so far, such a win could prove to be the vital catalyst they need to go on another extended run, after losing to San Jose heading into the international window.
2. Nashville SC 📉 (Previous: 1)
Nothing in this world can last forever, and that’s what Nashville SC learned this week, as they mourned their undefeated season with a 1–0 loss to the Chicago Fire after conceding in the first minute.
While none of the thrilling trio of Cristian Espinoza, Sam Surridge or Hany Mukhtar were able to find their way through the Fire, it was an all-around solid performance from the Coyotes. They held the majority of the ball, managed four shots on target and had opportunities late into the game. It just simply wasn’t a day where they were as clinical as they needed to be.
It marked their first loss in 10 games across all competitions this season, and they won’t have much time to dissect it, as focus instantly turns to the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday, where they will play Club América at home in the first leg, before eyeing next week’s clash at the newly renovated and reopened Estadio Azteca.
1. LAFC 🆙 (Previous: 2)
The bromance is back!
For the first time in 2026, Son Heung-min and Denis Bouanga were in their peak form, as they were through the tail end of the 2025 season, following Son’s record-breaking transfer from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer. This weekend, Son became the second player in MLS history to post four assists in a single half, while Bouanga scored the third fastest hat trick in the league’s 31 seasons, as the Black and Gold trounced Orlando City 6–0.
With the performance, which manager Marc Dos Santos called “savage,” the club earned the honor of being the last undefeated team in MLS and now holds sole possession of the Western Conference and Supporters’ Shield tables.
Their clean-sheet streak, which already holds the record for the longest one to start a season, also improved to 540 minutes over six games. They will have a chance to break their club record of 549 minutes from 2024 when they face the Portland Timbers next week.
Before then, they’re hoping to get things off on the right foot in the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals, facing last year’s champions, Cruz Azul, in the first leg on Tuesday.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as MLS Power Rankings: Wicked Comebacks, Nu Stadium Spoiled and More From Matchday 6.
