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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Ben Steiner

The Top Five 2026 MLS Cup Contenders—Ranked

MLS Lionel Messi MLS Cup LAFC Gregg Berhalter Hany Mukhtar Sam Surridge Sebastian Berhalter Son HeungMin Thomas Müller

As Major League Soccer enters the second half of the 2026 season and continues to enjoy the post-World Cup excitement, teams are beginning to dream of a long winter run and ultimately hoisting the MLS Cup.

With the lengthy pause for the World Cup this summer, the 2026 MLS Cup will be played later into December than past iterations, with the championship date set for December 18 and hosted by the highest-remaining team in the Supporters’ Shield standings. It will mark the last MLS Cup hosted in December, with the league set to adopt a European-style soccer calendar and flip the MLS Cup playoffs to the spring, starting in the 14-game 2027 sprint season.

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