While most of the world’s leagues are paused to focus on the international game this summer, there will be one notable exception: Major League Soccer.
The North American top flight won’t take a break while much of the soccer world’s attention will be focused on Euro 2024 and the Copa América, which takes place in the United States.
The majority of MLS clubs will be playing shorthanded over the next few weeks, as 21 of the league’s 29 teams will lose at least one player for the Copa América. In total, 40 MLS players were called up for the tournament, with eight MLS players on Euro 2024 rosters as well.
Some of the league’s biggest names like Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez will be missing, raising a big question: Why is MLS playing through the Copa América?
Commissioner Don Garber addressed that question last year during his state of the league press conference.
“We can’t afford [to shut the league down for Copa América],” Garber stated. “If we have to shut the league down [and] lose games, it impacts our players, it impacts our partners, it impacts our fans, it impacts everything that MLS has to deliver for all of our stakeholders.
“That being said, we’ve got to manage through that process and be clever and creative and figure out, how do we reconfigure the schedule with all these different events so that we could make it work?”
MLS could theoretically budget a shutdown for the Copa were it not for a different tournament that actually will see the league take a monthlong pause.
The Leagues Cup will return for its second annual edition in 2024, with every team from MLS and Liga MX participating.
The competition will run from July 26 to August 25, with regular season play in MLS grinding to a halt on July 20.
The MLS season already runs from mid-February through MLS Cup on December 7. With a pause in place for the Leagues Cup, any further breaks could risk pushing MLS Cup past the holidays and into January.
In other words, that’s a non-starter.
Garber did admit that when it comes to the 2026 World Cup in North America, his league would have to take a different approach.
“Clearly, the World Cup in ’26 is an entirely different animal, and I can’t imagine we’re going to be playing games during the World Cup,” Garber said.
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