It started as a dream. In 1994, the United States hosted the World Cup for the first and only time, and now a new generation has watched tournament after tournament, hoping that one day it would be in their backyard, where they could wear their nation’s kit, sing the national anthem and live out the chance to watch the World Cup on home soil.
We are now just a few months away from the greatest sporting event on the planet, the FIFA 2026 World Cup, hosted for the first time in its history by three countries: the United States, Mexico, and Canada. With the World Cup coming, it makes the Major League Soccer (MLS) season all the more important, as the league not only sets the stage for the tournament, but gives fans the chance to see the venues, the players, and build the excitement before the biggest show on earth arrives.
MLS is growing at a rapid rate, with teams in almost every major city in the United States. When the league was founded in 1996, there were just 10 teams and it has since grown to 30, and according to footballbusinessjournal.com, MLS now carries a valuation of $23 billion with five teams worth over $1 billion individually. MLS has put that money back into the league, investing $11 billion over the past two decades in facilities and infrastructure to make it an attractive destination for the world’s best players.
That attraction brought the greatest soccer player of this generation to North American shores. In July 2023, Lionel Messi left Europe and signed with Inter Miami, and the impact was immediate. According to the Football Business Journal, MLS has seen an increase of 12 million in fan attendance and 3.7 million viewers worldwide, a 29% increase.
Soccer in America is on the rise, and MLS has a big piece of that and will play a significant role in the World Cup this summer.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber has been vocal about this, and in an interview with Reuters he spoke about what the World Cup can do for the league long term.
“While everybody is going to be paying attention to what is going to be the biggest sporting event in the history of this country, we hope that some of that drama, some of that appeal, some of that history, could rub off and create a lasting legacy,” Garber told Reuters.
“This is about taking the great game, the beautiful game of soccer and putting a bunch of energy behind it so that we can continue to do our part in helping to lead the game.”
MLS kicked off this past weekend and the buzz was unlike anything before it. The excitement reached new heights as the two presumed favorites, Inter Miami led by Messi and Los Angeles Football Club led by Son Heung-min, faced off at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in front of 75,673 fans.
As David Martinez ran down the field on a breakaway, Son found him and Martinez curled in a beautiful opening goal, the crowd roared and a new MLS season was officially underway.
According to World Soccer Talk, Matchday One of the 2026 season drew a combined 387,271 fans across all 15 games, the most attended opening weekend in MLS history and a 17% jump compared to the 2025 regular season average.
For too long in the United States, soccer has been overlooked and undervalued. But the beautiful game is on the rise, and when the first match of the 2026 World Cup kicks off on June 11, it will be met by a nation and a fanbase that grew up dreaming of this moment, sitting in the stands, whether in the front row or the nosebleeds, wearing their country’s jersey and watching it all unfold on American soil.