PBP: 2026 MLS Season Week 1 PBP Thread February 21-22 {R}

Let the MLS Messi-lovefest resume.

 

Here are PRO's Assignments for Matchday 01.
Here is the Disciplinary Summary Report for Matchday 01. (There are three carry-over suspensions from last season and the playoffs.)
Here are the MLS Game Guides for Matchday 01.

The player availability report will be available Friday evening-ish.

Here are some additional useful URLs for this season:
Here's the PDF of the MLS 2026 Record and Fact Book.
Here are the 2026 MLS Roster Rules and Regulations and the page with the MLS-MLSPA CBAs (all versions).
Here are the two MLS links for the full season MLS Game Guides and the continually revised Disciplinary Summary Reports. The week-specific game guides are a bit of a scavenger hunt through layers of folders, depending on whether you are looking for week-specific or team-specific reports. MLS doesn't have a specific home for page for the player availability reports. Here is the URL for the whole-season of PRO's MLS assignments. The weekly assignments for MLS, NextPro, and other matches (like the All-Star Game and playoffs) will be linked on this page,

 

After a relatively short off-season, MLS season 31 is back! I've gleaned series record information from Transfermarkt, which I found to be the easiest place to find this stuff. One thing about the records Transfermarkt uses, is that PK shootouts for playoffs or in-season cup competitions are given as a Win or a Loss to teams, rather than a Draw after regulation time. Some would say that's erroneous, and I get it, but this is mostly for fun and not as serious as a root canal.

--St. Louis lead Charlotte, 1-0, with no draws.
--Atlanta lead Cincinnati 6-4, with 6 draws.
--Philadelphia lead DC United 25-11, with 7 draws.
--New York Red Bulls lead Orlando 11-9, with 5 draws.
--Vancouver and Real Salt Lake are tied 15-15, with 5 draws.
--New England lead Nashville 4-3, with 3 draws.
--Dallas lead Toronto 12-4, with 6 draws.
--Houston lead Chicago 13-9, with 8 draws.
--Austin lead Minnesota 6-5, with 1 draw.
--Los Angeles FC lead Miami 3-2, with no draws.
--San Diego and Montreal are meeting for the first time.
--Kansas City lead San Jose 37-29, with 10 draws.
--Portland lead Columbus 7-3, with 4 draws.
--New York City lead Los Angeles Galaxy 4-3, with no draws.
--Seattle lead Colorado 26-8, with 7 draws.

 

Sounders fan. Check.

 

I can't speak from personal experience, but I would reckon lots of people who aren't Sounders fans have heard Jake Zivin shouting "Messiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" a sufficient number of times by now. But it's still good to have the GOAT in the league.

 

If all of their whining ended with this disclaimer then the rest of us might pass on the opportunity for snark.

 

https://bsky.app/profile/mls-pr.bsky.social/post/3mfd6fek3hk2o

Can you embed Bluesky posts?


Anyway here is the complete injury lists for Saturday’s games.

Messi not listed so I guess he’s healthy to play?

 

This needed the crawl

https://starwarsintrogenerator.com/scroller?u=272qovbu

 

They really do love Atlanta for the Fox games, last season it seemed like they were on every other week.

 

******** it all.

 

********. They're really doing this again. A game has begun.

 

With the kickoff, St. Louis CITY SC and Charlotte FC are tied for the Supporters Shield. As a St. Louis CITY fan, I know this irrational momentary exuberance won’t last. After spending all of last season feeling like an emo kid on Valentine’s Day, and before we CITY fans start drowning in the Endless Sea of Perpetual Despair, I want to enjoy this brief moment.

 

And away we go!

 

The announcers are roboting a bit for me.

 

Weird decision on a packed stadium with a sea of red to wear yellow.

I understand promotion third jerseys in the quiet summer months but in the opener!

 

New pbp commentator for this season? The color guy sounds familiar. I’m enjoying their call so far.

 

Ian Joy. Used to cover NYC.

 

Jessica Charman is new. Formerly a radio commentator for Charlotte FC.

 

A goal has not happened.

 

Captions say "searching for Valium" are fun.

 

Apparently she did.

I was looking for the list of Apple TV MLS commentators this season and one article from earlier this month indicated that she is new. Maybe that means it's her first season on the regular roster after filling in sometimes last season?