World Cup 2026: What’s next for Major League Soccer?

In some ways, MLS is already on par with major leagues around the world.

45 MLS players were represented at the 2026 World Cup – including two of Argentina’s finalists, Messi and Rodrigo de Paul.

MLS has a reputation for being almost a retirement home for superstars – a lucrative place for legends like Beckham and Messi to play after illustrious careers in Europe.

But that reputation is outdated, Courtemanche said, with the average age of new international players in the league now being 23.8 years. Although many of them have dreams of playing in Europe after their MLS experience.

MLS is changing its calendar to adopt a summer-to-spring season in 2027, more aligned with Europe to make it easier for players to move between leagues.

And competition leaders are investing in the Youth Development League.

All MLS teams run youth academies. When the LA Galaxy hosted a viewing party for the U.S.’s victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina on a big screen, dozens of children ignored the match, instead battling each other on three separate pitches, occasionally running to the big screen when the sound of a goal echoed through the crowd.

These were rare pick-up games in a culture full of highly determined children – and the skill level was high. Some kids have played for MLS youth teams.

Eight-year-old Landon – named after US star Landon Donovan – was more skilful, happy to go forward than goalkeeper. His mother, Jane Wing, is a coach and said her children have attended MLS camps and played on travel teams at their home in New Jersey.

Landon dreams of one day becoming a professional soccer player in the MLS.

“LAFC,” he says, referring to his dream team.

But critics say MLS will never compete with Europe until it embraces a “pay-to-play” culture of youth development.

At the top level, MLS academies train and develop youth players for free like their European counterparts.

But to get to the level where an MLS academy team would target a teenage player, families typically pay thousands of dollars for private lessons and access to travel teams, a common practice in U.S. sports.

MLS officials say development leagues are constantly evolving and improving when it comes to developing young talent, and each team has scholarships available for talented players.

Commissioner Gerber said the league is always improving and is determined to do better in developing young players so that they “make the men’s national team more and better, bigger, stronger, faster, all those things that give you the strength to think about a better future”.

When it comes to attracting visitors, the biggest draw in the league is Messi.

But the cult of celebrity runs throughout the league. More than two dozen entertainers and athletes own MLS clubs, including Will Ferrell (LAFC), Reese Witherspoon (Nashville SC), Matthew McConaughey (Austin FC) and Magic Johnson (LAFC).

And it is a profitable business.

Drew Carey was an original Seattle Sounders owner when the club joined MLS in 2009 for a $30m (£22m) expansion fee. The Sounders are now worth more than $900m (£668m). David Beckham’s 2007 LA Galaxy contract included an option to purchase an MLS expansion team for $25 million. He now owns Inter Miami CF, a club valued by experts at over a billion dollars.