Everything you need to know ahead of the new MLS season

Major League Soccer is back this week and it looks set to provide another thrilling season of action.

New York City are the defending champions with the chasing pack recruiting plenty of familiar faces to aid their attempts to wrestle the cup from the Big Apple.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of the new campaign.

Key dates

The 2022 MLS season will kick off on Saturday, February 26.

This is an earlier start than usual as the league have taken the World Cup in Qatar into consideration which starts on November 21.

The key dates for this season to keep an eye out for are…

Season start: Saturday, February 26
End of Regular Season: Sunday, October 9
MLS Cup Final: Saturday, November 5

Participating teams

There will be 28 teams competing for the 2022 title, with Charlotte FC the league’s new franchise.

The brainchild of billionaire owner David Tepper, who also owns the Carolina Panthers in the NFL, Charlotte’s inclusion was originally scheduled for 2021 but was pushed back a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Last term’s regular season champions New England Revolution are heavily tipped to run New York City close with Seattle Sounders, Los Angeles FC and Bruce Arena’s New England Revolution all in with a shot of the title.

Format

The 28 sides will be split into two conferences, Eastern and Western.

All participating clubs will play 34 games in the regular season, split evenly between 17 away and 17 home fixtures.

All teams will face each of their conference opponents twice and play eight non-conference opponents once.

Then 14 teams will advance to the playoffs, before the championship game takes place at the start of November.

Players to watch

Carlos Vela

A former MLS Golden Boot and Most Valuable Player award recipient, Mexican international Carlos Vela, 32, is yet to win the league trophy during his time in the United States.

The ex-Arsenal forward will captain Steve Cherundolo’s side and will be hoping to bounce back from a troubled campaign in 2021, plagued by a hamstring problem.

Adam Buska

New England Revolution’s No9 Adam Buska, 25, has caught the eye of a number of European clubs with his goalscoring exploits in Massachusetts.

The Polish striker netted 16 times last term and is a strong candidate for this season’s Golden Boot.

Xherdan Shaqiri

Former Liverpool and Bayern Munich midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri, 30, made the switch from Lyon to Chicago Fire this month for a club record fee of around £5.5million.

Shaqiri will hope to improve the fortunes of the Illinois club which failed to make the playoffs last season, winning just nine regular season games.

Lorenzo Insigne

Although not eligible to feature until July, Napoli forward Lorenzo Insigne, 30, is arguably one of the most significant signings in MLS history.

The Euro 2020 winner will be one of the league’s marquee players when he makes the summer move to Canada to join up with his Toronto FC team-mates.

Famous faces

Many are aware of Manchester United icon David Beckham’s venture into the league as co-owner of Inter Miami, but there are a number of other celebrities with notable involvement.

Texas native Matthew McConaughey became affiliated with Austin FC as a co-owner in 2019.

The team finished second-bottom of the Western Conference in their debut MLS season last term and will be hoping for better this year.

Los Angeles FC meanwhile count Hollywood actor Will Ferrell and NBA legend Magic Johnson among their ownership group.