HERRIMAN, UT (Fri., Dec. 19, 2026) - Real Salt Lake has finalized dates and times for its upcoming 2026 preseason matches in Portugal and Southern California, as The Atlantic Cup tournament organizers and Coachella Valley schedule-makers solidified various slates.
Returning to Lagos, Portugal, where it had spent a portion of the 2024 preseason, Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s side will play three games over 13 days as part of the annual Atlantic Cup tourney, with the first two matches against legendary Danish sides Randers FC - once home to former RSL striker Yura Movsisyan - and Bröndby, a side also connected to David Blitzer’s Global Football Holdings.
RSL will conclude its Iberian peninsula experience against fellow MLS Western Conference foe FC Dallas, before competing its 24-hour door-to-door travels, returning to Utah on Feb. 1
After spending the first week of February back in Utah, the Claret-and-Cobalt then wrap up its 22nd preseason slate with two games in Southern California, facing off against newly-transferred DF Kobi Henry’s former USL Championship side, Orange County SC, as well as MLS Cup 2024 champions LA Galaxy, the latter match being played in the Coachella Valley area of Palm Springs.
Please see below for various key dates during the celebratory 2026 FIFA World Cup year, and most importantly, the entire 34-game regular season schedule (17 home games, 17 away in MLS), which features multiple international soccer legends who are expected to visit America First Field in Sandy throughout 2026.
In addition to the record-demand for America First Field welcoming global soccer icon Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF to Utah for the first – and perhaps only – occasion on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, other marquee visitors providing mouth-watering anticipation include: Korean superstar Son Heung-min (Los Angeles Football Club, Sept. 5), German trophy king Thomas Müller (Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Sept. 19), beloved Mexican cult figure Chucky Lozano (San Diego FC, April 18) and another storied German star Marco Reus (LA Galaxy, Nov. 7).
RSL’s complete 2026 regular season schedule is available at www.RSL.com, while priority waitlist access for 2026 season tickets and various packages featuring the April 22 InterMiami / Messi contest is also available at www.RSL.com/tickets.
As RSL enters its 22nd MLS campaign, and its 18th full season in Sandy at what is now known as America First Field, the Club looks to build on its perennial competitive foundation, boasting the longest active MLS Cup Playoff qualification streak in MLS’ Western Conference, reaching the postseason five seasons in a row, despite numerous formats, ownership groups and front-office structures. Overall, RSL has advanced to the playoffs in seven of the last eight seasons (2020 the exception), and in 15 of the last 18 years (2015, 2017) since first qualifying in 2008.
Kicking off the 2026 MLS reg. season on Sat., Feb. 21 – equaling RSL’s earliest ever start (2024), Major League Soccer’s “First Kick” weekend sees RSL travel to face Western Conference Finalist Vancouver, led by the ebullient Müller, with the Utah side returning to Sandy one week later for its 2026 home opener at America First Field against reigning Leagues Cup champion Seattle Sounders FC on Sat., Feb. 28.
That Seattle match will mark RSL’s earliest home kick since last year’s Feb. 26 CONCACAF Champions Cup second leg against Herediano. That stunning home loss a year ago was RSL’s first-ever Feb. home opener, the previous earliest coming in 2011, when a CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinal leg two against Columbus Crew was dominated by RSL, 4-1, on March 1 of that year.
In a scheduling rarity, RSL will alternate home/away contests for the first eight weeks of 2026, with the Messi / Miami visit on Wed., April 22 marking the first of five back-to-back home contests throughout the year. The Lozano / San Diego home game on April 18 kicks off a run that sees RSL play five of seven at home through May 16 against Colorado, its penultimate match prior to the 53-day, seven-week World Cup break.
RSL also hosts a similarly-dense stretch that sees five of seven MLS games played at home from the Sept. 5 Son Heung-min / LAFC arrival through an Oct. 14 contest against San Jose Earthquakes.
RSL will have 15 MLS reg. season matches prior to the World Cup, with the remaining 19 being played from July 22 to Nov. 7. Meanwhile, the back half of the season will also include RSL’s participation in the 2026 Leagues Cup – with the schedule and format to be announced in mid-January.
Due to the midseason hiatus for the FIFA World Cup 2026 to be hosted in the United States, Canada and Mexico, RSL will host no MLS matches between its first of two Rocky Mountain Cup matches against rival Colorado on May 16, and a Minnesota United FC visit on August 15. After hosting the first leg of the 2026 Rocky Mountain Cup on May 16, Real Salt Lake travels to suburban Denver to try and reclaim its stake in the fan-created series on August 29. Colorado has successfully captured the RMC trophy in 2024 and 2025, RSL’s longest drought in the battle for Rocky Mountain hardware since the Club’s first two seasons in 2005/06.
However, America First Field could host multiple Real Salt Lake matches against Liga MX opponents in the 2026 Leagues Cup in early August, following the July 28 MLS All-Star Game in Charlotte.
Surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup hiatus, RSL will play six of its eight Major League Soccer reg. season contests away from home from May 23 to August 29, with the fixture list reversing course as America First Field sees RSL host five of its next seven at home from Sept. 5 through Oct. 14. During the Mastroeni era, RSL has seen its greatest competitive road campaigns, especially in 2023 and 2024, when it established new single-season highs in wins, points and goals scored away.
In addition to Miami’s April 22 arrival as one of three Eastern Conference teams to visit Sandy in 2026, New York City FC and the New England Revolution also invade America First Field next season, their September 12 and 26 visits bracketing a Sept. 19 home game against Thomas Müller and Vancouver. That September stretch with three consecutive home games marks RSL’s longest homestand of 2026.
Conversely, RSL will travel to three Eastern destinations throughout the 2026 season, its early-season trip to Atlanta United FC occurring on March 7, prior to a jaunt to Orlando on August 22 and October 10 travel to Philadelphia, where it won late two seasons ago on an Alex Katranis goal at the death.
The April 22 Messi / Miami match is one of four midweek MLS home games throughout 2026, with May 13 against Houston, August 19 versus Dallas and October 14 against San Jose completing the Wednesday home quartet. RSL’s trio of midweek travel dates include the post-World Cup return to action on July 22 at LAFC, Sept. 9 at Houston and Oct. 28 at Austin, the latter two at the center of rare three-game weeks.
2026 – MLS PRE / REGULAR-SEASONSCHEDULE / KEY DATES
(as of 19 December 2025)
(all times MT; HOME GAMES IN BOLD; PRESEASON / BYE WEEKS IN RED; potential OPEN CUP / LEAGUES CUP IN BLUE;
ALL SUBJECT TO CHANGE; visit www.RSL.com or www.MLSsoccer.com for additional info / details)
DAY / DATE OPPONENT TIME (MT)NOTE:
WED 01/07/2026 MLS MEDIA / MARKETING TOURFt. Lauderdale, FL for Luna & Co.
FRI 01/09/2026 PRESEASON REPORT DATE Herriman intake Jan 9-11 for Medical / Fitness testing
SAT 01/17/2026 Depart Utah for Portugal
THU 01/22/2026 RSL v RANDERS FC (DEN)Second-ever participation in Atlantic Cup tourney (2024)
MON 01/26/2026 RSL v BRÖNDBY IF (DEN)Both sides under global Blitzer football umbrella
SAT 01/31/2026 RSL v FC DALLAS (MLS) Atlantic Cup Finale for RSL
SUN 02/01/2026 Return to Utah
THU 02/05/2026 Depart Utah for California
FRI 02/06/2026 RSL @ ORANGE COUNTY (USL)RSL with big win v OC in last year’s Coachella tourney
FRI 02/13/2026 RSL v LA Galaxy First preseason match v Galaxy in several years
Return to Utah
