2026 Seattle Sounders FC season
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Overall: 5th
| 2026 season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| General manager | Craig Waibel | |||
| Head coach | Brian Schmetzer | |||
| Stadium | Lumen Field | |||
| Major League Soccer | Conference: 4th Overall: 5th | |||
| CONCACAF Champions Cup | Quarterfinals | |||
| Leagues Cup | TBD | |||
| Top goalscorer | League: Paul Rothrock Cristian Roldan (3 each) All: Paul Rothrock (5) | |||
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| ||||
The 2026 season is the 18th season for Seattle Sounders FC in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top flight of professional club soccer in the United States. It is the 43rd season for a professional team bearing the Sounders name, which had originated in 1974 with the first incarnation of the franchise. The team remained under the management of Brian Schmetzer in his tenth full MLS season as head coach of the Sounders.
The Sounders will play 34 matches in the MLS regular season and also qualified for the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup as winners of the 2025 Leagues Cup.[1] The team will also play in the 2026 edition of the Leagues Cup.[2] During the 2025 season, Seattle finished fifth in the Western Conference standings and qualified for the MLS Cup playoffs, where they were eliminated in the first round by Minnesota United FC.[3] The Sounders also played in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup.[4]
The 2026 season will be the last full season under the spring–autumn format used by MLS since it began play in 1996. The league plans to use a autumn–spring schedule beginning in late 2027 with a long winter break.[5]
Preseason
The Sounders opened their 2026 preseason training camp on January 12 and retained most of their roster from the 2025 season.[6] Among the new signings are midfielders Nikola Petković, who was loaned from Charlotte FC,[7] and two players from reserve team Tacoma Defiance—forward Yu Tsukanome and midfielder Sebastian Gomez.[8] Homegrown midfielder Obed Vargas left the team during preseason to sign with Atlético Madrid of La Liga.[9]
On January 18, the team traveled to Quinta do Lago in Portugal for one week of training and one friendly match at Estádio Algarve.[10] They lost 2–0 to Brøndby IF and traveled on January 26 to the Marbella Football Center in Spain for the remainder of their overseas preseason.[11] The Sounders won their first friendly against IF Brommapojkarna and played two full-length matches on February 5—defeating Hammarby IF and losing to FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv.[12] The Sounders returned to Seattle in early February and won two friendlies against Louisville City FC at their home training facility.[10][13]
Non-competitive matches
Preseason
The preseason schedule was released by Seattle Sounders FC on January 22, 2026.[10]
| January 23 | Seattle Sounders FC | 0–2 | Brøndby IF | Faro–Loulé, Portugal |
| 5:00 am PST | Report | Stadium: Estádio Algarve |
| January 31 | Seattle Sounders FC | 3–0 | IF Brommapojkarna | Marbella, Spain |
| 5:00 am PST |
|
Report | Stadium: Marbella Football Center | |
| Note: Match was played over three periods, each 45 minutes long | ||||
| February 5 | Seattle Sounders FC | 3–1 | Hammarby IF | Marbella, Spain |
| 4:00 am PST |
|
Report | Stadium: Marbella Football Center |
| February 5 | Seattle Sounders FC | 0–3 | FC Metalist 1925 Kharkiv | Marbella, Spain |
| 7:00 am PST | Report |
|
Stadium: Marbella Football Center |
| February 15 | Seattle Sounders FC | 3–1 | Louisville City FC | Renton, Washington |
| 11:30 am PST |
|
Report | Stadium: Providence Swedish Performance Center & Clubhouse |
| February 15 | Seattle Sounders FC | 5–0 | Louisville City FC | Renton, Washington |
| 1:00 pm PST | Report | Stadium: Providence Swedish Performance Center & Clubhouse |
Competitions
Players
For the 2026 season, the Sounders are permitted a maximum of 30 signed players on the first team, of which 20 players are part of the senior roster and 10 positions are designated for supplemental and reserve players. Additional homegrown players are eligible to be signed to off-roster slots and are able to appear in MLS matches through short-term agreements.[20] The senior players count towards a base salary cap of $6.4 million with exceptions for certain categories, including up to three Designated Players, who counted for a set amount in the cap.[20] The Sounders chose the Designated Player model for roster construction and have two unused under-22 initiative slots.[21]
Roster
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Squad includes all players who had first team contracts or appearances during the 2025 season across all competitions. Ages listed for each player is calculated from February 21, 2026, the first matchday of the MLS regular season.
Coaching staff
| Technical staff | |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Brian Schmetzer (USA) |
| Assistant coach | Preki (USA) |
| Director of goalkeeping | Tom Dutra (USA) |
| Assistant coach | Freddy Juarez (USA) |
| Assistant coach | Ricardo Clark (USA) |
