A seven-week break is built into next year’s Major League Soccer calendar to permit players to compete in the World Cup.

The 2026 schedule release on Thursday showed MLS will pause from May 25 — FIFA’s mandatory player reporting date — until July 16 to accommodate the 48-team tournament, which the United States is co-hosting with Canada and Mexico.

The World Cup kicks off June 11. Only the final, set for July 19 in East Rutherford, N.J., will take place after the resumption of MLS play.

The seven-week hiatus is considerably longer than past World Cup breaks, which totaled two weeks in 2010 and 2014 and nine days in 2018. The MLS season did not overlap with the 2022 World Cup, which was staged in Qatar from November to December.

Inter Miami’s road match against Los Angeles FC at the LA

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