MLS schedule: Union open the season at home vs. Chicago, unlikely to host Lionel Messi
The Union could miss Messi because of the Copa America in mid-June.
The full Major League Soccer schedule dropped Wednesday afternoon, and the Union will be one busy team. The Union announced the schedule with a video that had an It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia theme.
Jim Curtin’s side will open the league year at Subaru Park against his former club, the Chicago Fire, on Feb. 24. That game will be sandwiched by the two-legged Concacaf Champions Cup matchup with Costa Rica’s Saprissa, which was announced last week.
» READ MORE: Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami team will play at Subaru Park on June 15
The Union then hit the road for a trip to Sporting Kansas City on March 2, before returning home to play Seattle on March 9 ahead of back-to-back road games against Austin FC (March 16) and the Portland Timbers (March 23). The month wraps up with a home game against Minnesota United (March 30).
The league schedule is kinder in April as the Union play just three games, at Nashville (April 6) and Atlanta (April 14) and at home against Real Salt Lake (April 27).
May is another bear with seven games, including matchups with Eastern Conference rivals D.C. United and New York City FC.
Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami is scheduled to visit on June 15, although Messi figures to be absent as Argentina gears up for its Copa América opener on June 20. Defending champion Argentina will look to repeat as regional titleholder in an expanded tournament that will feature six teams from Concacaf, including the United States and Andre Blake’s Jamaica, and will be played in the U.S. for just the second time. Philadelphia was not selected as a host city.
» READ MORE: Inside the Union’s controversial recruitment of top prospect David Vazquez
The Union also will get a rematch on the road against FC Cincinnati on June 19. League MVP Luciano Acosta and Cincy knocked the Union out of this year’s playoffs, 1-0, in controversial fashion.
The congested fixture list continues in July with five MLS games slated, including home games against the New York Red Bulls (July 6) and Nashville (July 20). The Leagues Cup also kicks off at the end of July, with the 47-team tournament contested by MLS and Mexico’s Liga MX set to run from July 26-Aug. 25. To accommodate the Leagues Cup, MLS will break for about a month, with the Union playing on July 20 and then not again in the league until Aug. 24 vs. reigning MLS champ Columbus.
The Union open September in Miami (Sept. 14) against Messi and Co., followed by a trip to Yankee Stadium to face NYCFC (Sept. 18). Then come home games with D.C. United and Atlanta to wrap up the month.
If the Union are not run ragged by then, they will end their playoff push with three Eastern Conference matchups: at Orlando on Oct. 2, at Columbus on Oct. 5, and at home against Cincinnati on MLS’s annual Decision Day (Oct. 19).