MLS will begin his 2024 season with one Inter Miami independent game on Feb. 21 — a game that will kick off a more than nine-month season, the league announced Wednesday afternoon.
Here are the key dates you need to know:
A busy start for Messi, Inter Miami
Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will have a midweek independent match to kick off the 2024 MLS season, welcoming Real Salt Lake to South Florida on Wednesday, February 21 at 8:00 PM ET. It’s the earliest start to an MLS season in the league’s 29-year history and comes just six days after their sixth and final international preseason friendly.
Beginning on January 19, Inter Miami’s preseason tour will take them to El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Japan. They will play their final friendly against Messi and Tata Martino’s boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys on February 15 in Fort Lauderdale.
For Martino, he will have to manage his roster carefully over the winter, paying particular attention to Messi, Busquets, Alba and Suarez. All four former Barcelona players will be the main attraction during the Miami Global Tour. But all four players will also be key to Inter Miami’s hopes of winning multiple trophies in 2024. It will be interesting to see how Miami’s busy preseason schedule will look at the end of the season.
“Next year will be much better,” Messi said last month, during the Ballon d’Or ceremony at Inter Miami’s DRV Pink stadium. “We’re going to keep having fun, keep winning titles.”
After Miami and RSL kick off the season on Wednesday, the rest of the league joins the action with 14 games between Saturday and Sunday, capped by Miami traveling to Los Angeles to face Galaxy.
El Trafico at the Rose Bowl
After an all-time MLS record crowd of 82,110 fans turned out to watch the LA Galaxy take on LAFC at the Rose Bowl on July 4 last year, the league will bring it back in 2024 with the second iteration: LA Galaxy vs LAFC Thursday, July 4 10:30 PM ET.
The Galaxy will be a much-changed team, with high-profile players Chicharito and Douglas Costa already out. For LAFC, star Carlos Vela is among the cadre of key players without a contract.
MLS Cup Rematch
LAFC hosts the reigning MLS Cup champions The crew of Columbus on July 13 at BMO Stadium. The Crew beat LAFC in Columbus to win the MLS Cup 2-1 this year, so this will be LAFC’s first chance for revenge.
The League Cup will begin immediately after the Copa América final
As they did in 2023, MLS and Liga MX will stop their regular seasons and participate in the second edition of the League Cup in 2024. The tournament will again feature 47 teams from the USA, Canada and Mexico, started on July 26. just 12 days after the Copa América 2024 final in Miami. The League Cup final will take place on August 25. Inter Miami and Lionel Messi are the reigning champions.
MLS announced on Wednesday that three spots in the CONCACAF Champions Cup will remain up for grabs and that every match will be decided again in regular time or penalty kicks. However, changes to the format of the tournament are likely to be announced early next year. Athletics understands that tournament organizers will strive to improve the competition based on feedback from key stakeholders, including fans and participating clubs.
However, it is unlikely that the League Cup matches will be played in Mexico. Last summer, several Liga MX teams criticized the format of the tournament, namely the cross-country travel Mexican clubs endured during the course of the competition, as well as the referees. CF Monterrey sporting director José Antonio Noriega was among the most vocal critics of the inaugural tournament.
“A lot more organization is needed,” said Noriega, after Monterrey had qualified for the quarter-finals of the League Cup. “Things should be fairer. There are a lot of things that need to be improved and we hope they do, because this is not good at all.”
GO DEEPER
League Cup: Messi’s impact, controversy and more
Decision Day and the MLS Cup
MLS will wrap up the regular season with its now-traditional Decision Day, which sees every team in every conference kick off simultaneously. This will happen again Saturday, October 19. After that, it moves on to the playoffs, culminating in the MLS Cup Saturday, December 7.
(Photo: Logan Riely/Getty Images)
