Major League Soccer’s return got confirmed earlier this week, when the league announced the aptly-named “MLS is Back Tournament” for July 8. All 26 of the league’s squads will head to Orlando for an event at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex, with clubs participating in group play before moving onto a knockout tournament.
Of course, in order to put on a tournament that features group play, you need teams separated into groups. That occurred on Thursday afternoon, when the clubs were broken up into six groups based on their conferences — all but one have four teams, with Group A including six Eastern Conference clubs. Here’s how it all breaks down, via ESPN:
GROUP A
1. Orlando City SC
2. Inter Miami CF
3. New York City FC
4. Philadelphia Union
5. Chicago Fire
6. Nashville SC
GROUP B
1. Seattle Sounders
2. FC Dallas
3. Vancouver Whitecaps
4. San Jose Earthquakes
GROUP C
1. Toronto FC
2. New England Revolution
3. Montreal Impact
4. D.C. United
GROUP D
1. Real Salt Lake
2. Sporting Kansas City
3. Colorado Rapids
4. Minnesota United
GROUP E
1. Atlanta United
2. FC Cincinnati
3. New York Red Bulls
4. Columbus Crew SC
GROUP F
1. LAFC
2. LA Galaxy
3. Houston Dynamo
4. Portland Timbers
The MLS season came to an abrupt halt in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic after only two weeks worth of games. As such, these matches will contribute to regular season records, with the tournament’s winner automatically earning a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League. Group play will begin on July 8, the knockout rounds will kick off on July 25, and the tournament’s final will occur on August 11.
