The 29th season of Major League Soccer is set to be one of the most significant in the history of the North American league.
It will be the first of three momentous years when the attention of football fans from around the world will be focused on the continent.
The region will host high-profile international tournaments – the 2024 Copa America, 2025 Club World Cup and 2026 World Cup – and boasts the sport’s preeminent player, Lionel Messi, as well as other familiar names.
MLS and US soccer as a whole will be looking to capitalise.
MLS – Messi League Soccer
While 2023 was all about the fanfare of his arrival, 2024 will be the first full season of Messi in MLS.
Given he played just a handful of league games after moving to the David Beckham-owned franchise Inter Miami midway through last year, this feels very much like a debut MLS season for the Argentine magician.
He’ll be joined at Miami this year by former Barcelona team-mate Luis Suarez, as well as Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, who arrived with Messi last July.
Suarez thinks Inter Miami should be aiming to win everything. The ex-Liverpool striker posed the question during the off-season: “Why wouldn’t we dream of winning all four titles this year?”
In reality, there are five titles on offer and plenty of competition for each.
Ticket resale company Viagogo have found:
- Ticket sales for each of the top 10 teams have more than quadrupled since 2023
- All MLS teams have seen a growth in sales since Messi’s arrival to the league
- The 2024 season has attracted sales from 44 different countries, up from nine countries at the start of last season
- Argentina is second for driving most sales
- Inter Miami are playing in all 10 of the top 10 in-demand MLS games
Multiple titles are available
The two up for grabs in MLS are the Supporters’ Shield, awarded to the overall league leader across the Eastern and Western conferences combined, and the MLS Cup, awarded to the winner of the post-season play-offs.
The league will have to start the season with replacement referees after the Professional Soccer Referees Association voted to reject a new pay agreement.
A third tournament Inter Miami will enter is the Concacaf Champions Cup, the region’s equivalent to the Champions League or Copa Libertadores. They enter at the last-16 stage next month.
It will be a tough ask against some strong Mexican clubs and fellow MLS opposition but winning the Champions Cup would secure a place for Miami and Messi at the 2025 Club World Cup.
But how did Inter Miami, a team that finished 27th out of 29 teams in MLS last season, qualify for the Champions Cup in the first place?
They managed it by winning the first edition of a revamped Leagues Cup, a mid-season competition invented in 2019 that in 2023 included every team from MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX rather than the smattering of teams in previous editions. This competition, not MLS, was the scene for Messi’s triumphant arrival on American shores in 2023.
A successful defence of their Leagues Cup crown would be a fourth possible title, but there is a fifth – the US Open Cup – won last season by Houston Dynamo, who defeated Miami in the final.
This is the United States’ version of the FA Cup and the only competition in the top five US professional men’s sports (NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and MLS) that is open to teams outside the closed league, franchised systems.
Other teams are available
While many still pinch themselves to check that Messi being in MLS is not a dream, others are not so enthused.
Some fans of the other 28 MLS teams are beginning to tire of the constant focus on Messi and Miami at the expense of their sides.
Some even went as far as selling their tickets for their team’s game against Messi’s Miami at the end of last season. The prices fetched on the secondary ticket market, sometimes in the thousands of dollars, could pay for a season ticket for a whole season.
Their frustrations are understandable. Inter Miami were one of the worst teams in MLS in 2023, yet coverage of them often overshadowed that of better teams including Supporters’ Shield winners FC Cincinnati and MLS Cup winners Columbus Crew.
These two title winners showed the merits of having a post-season play-off as well as a league champion. Cincinnati and their own Argentine number 10, 2023 MLS MVP (most valuable player) Luciano Acosta, were deservedly crowned the best in the league.
Columbus Crew, meanwhile, played some of the best, most inventive attacking football seen in MLS in recent times. They came into their own during the play-offs with former Watford striker Cucho Hernandez leading the line.
Plenty of familiar faces
A total of 29 teams spread across the US and Canada will compete in MLS this season. It is the first since 2016 that the league has not added a new expansion franchise, though there will be one in 2025 when San Diego FC are welcomed into the fold.
There are plenty of familiar faces across MLS including Phil Neville, who is now coaching Portland Timbers after leaving Inter Miami before Messi’s arrival to be replaced by Gerardo Martino, and former Aston Villa manager Dean Smith, who coaches Charlotte FC.
Former Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris joined Western Conference challengers Los Angeles FC while Ryan Gauld, a player once dubbed the Scottish Messi as a youth at Dundee United, has found his feet in Canada as a key player with Vancouver Whitecaps.
Messi isn’t the only Argentine World Cup winner in the league. Highly-rated 22-year-old Thiago Almada stars for Atlanta United and continues to attract interest from European clubs.
Some of the highest paid MLS players include familiar names such as Lorenzo Insigne (Toronto FC), Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire), Christian Benteke (DC United) and Teemu Pukki (Minnesota United).
Along with Designated Players, salary caps and countless unique rules and regulations, one of the many quirks of MLS is that its Players Association publishes players’ salaries each year.
Fans know if they’re getting their money’s worth!