Major League Soccer revealed its full 2021 regular-season schedule on Wednesday afternoon with expansion side Austin FC included for its debut campaign.
The party starts on Friday, April 16 with a pair of Western Conference matches, highlighted by a rematch of last season’s Conference Final. Brian Schmetzer’s Seattle Sounders host Minnesota United in the second of two matches on Friday, with the Houston Dynamo facing off with the San Jose Earthquakes in the earlier fixture.
Saturday’s headlining match sees Austin FC visit Bob Bradley’s LAFC at Banc of California Stadium, a sturdy first test for Josh Wolff’s squad. A pair of Canadian rivals will also meet on April 17th with Toronto FC taking on the Montreal Impact in Florida.
Sunday will see defending champions Columbus Crew take on the Philadelphia Union in one of three matches on the schedule that day.
Three stadiums will open in 2021 with FC Cincinnati, Austin FC, and the Columbus Crew all playing in new venues later this season. FC Cincy’s West End Stadium is slated to open on May 16th while Austin’s Q2 Stadium will open its doors on June 19th.
Columbus’ New Crew Stadium will play host to its first match on July 3rd against the New England Revolution.
Rivalry Week will take place from August 20-29, with several of the league’s top derbies on display. The Hudson River Derby between NYCFC and the New York Red Bulls is slated for August 21st on Fox Sports 1, while El Trafico is slated seven days later on August 28th.
The Columbus Crew and Seattle Sounders will meet in a 2020 MLS Cup rematch on August 21 at 5:30 p.m. ET.
The season comes to an end on November 7th, with 13 matches taking place at separate time slots. Each conference will see the top seven teams clinch berths to the playoffs, a new change in 2021.
Each club will play 34 games, with 17 being at home and 17 being on the road. A full breakdown of the Conference realignment and schedule breakdown can be found here.
The 2021 MLS Cup is set for December 11th at 3 p.m. ET on ABC, UniMás, TSN and TVA Sports.
“This will be now and forever known as QTip Stadium”
– Anthony Precourt
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Heinekin”Rivalry Week” that is 10 days long, and no Red Bull vs DC United anywhere on the schedule. The Atlantic Cup was one of the first and most organic rivalries in MLS, and the marketing geniuses have been actively trying to kill it because…reasons. Do Red Bull fans really hate City more than DCU these days? Do DCU fans really hate Philly that much?