The 2021 Major League Soccer season was the 26th season of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. The 2021 season included the addition of Austin FC as an expansion club, which took the league to 27 teams.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the season was originally scheduled to begin on April 3, as opposed to the normal late February or early March start. This was later pushed back to April 16, the latest ever start to an MLS season, due to negotiations with the MLS Players Association for a new collective bargaining agreement. The regular season concluded on November 7. The 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs began on November 20, and concluded with MLS Cup 2021 on December 11.

At the beginning of the season, COVID-19 cross-border restrictions imposed by the Canadian government has also made the Canadian teams to play their home matches in the United States from the start of the season, while also sharing stadiums with other American MLS teams. On July 14, MLS announced that a select Toronto FC and CF Montréal matches would be played in Canada while working with the Canadian government on how the matches were to be held. Nearly a week later, the MLS announced that the Canadian teams would play home matches in Canada in August 2021.

The Columbus Crew were the defending champions, having defeated Seattle Sounders FC in MLS Cup 2020 but was eliminated from playoffs during the regular season, while the Philadelphia Union were the defending Supporters' Shield winners. The New England Revolution won their first Supporters' Shield, in the process breaking the record for most regular season points collected. New York City FC won their first ever MLS Cup, beating Portland Timbers in the decider.

Teams Stadiums and locations

Team Stadium Capacity Atlanta United FC Mercedes-Benz Stadium 71,000 Austin FC Q2 Stadium 20,500 Chicago Fire FC Soldier Field 24,955 FC Cincinnati TQL Stadium 26,000 Colorado Rapids Dick's Sporting Goods Park 18,061 Columbus Crew Lower.com Field 20,011 FC Dallas Toyota Stadium 20,500 D.C. United Audi Field 20,000 Houston Dynamo FC BBVA Stadium 22,039 LA Galaxy Dignity Health Sports Park 27,000 Los Angeles FC Banc of California Stadium 22,000 Minnesota United FC Allianz Field 19,400 Inter Miami CF DRV PNK Stadium 18,000 CF Montréal Saputo Stadium 19,619 Nashville SC Nissan Stadium 27,600 New England Revolution Gillette Stadium 20,000 New York City FC Yankee Stadium 30,321 New York Red Bulls Red Bull Arena 25,000 Orlando City SC Exploria Stadium 25,500 Philadelphia Union Subaru Park 18,500 Portland Timbers Providence Park 25,218 Real Salt Lake Rio Tinto Stadium 20,213 San Jose Earthquakes PayPal Park 18,000 Seattle Sounders FC Lumen Field 37,722 Sporting Kansas City Children's Mercy Park 18,467 Toronto FC BMO Field 28,351 Vancouver Whitecaps FC BC Place 22,120

Personnel and sponsorship

Team Head coach Captain Shirt sponsor Sleeve sponsor Atlanta United FC American Family Insurance AT&T, Piedmont Orthopedics Austin FC Yeti Netspend Chicago Fire FC (interim) Motorola CIBC FC Cincinnati Tyrone Marshall (interim) Mercy Health Kroger Colorado Rapids — Columbus Crew Nationwide Scotts D.C. United Leidos EagleBank FC Dallas (interim) MTX Group AdvoCare Houston Dynamo FC MD Anderson Kroger, Coushatta Casino Resort Inter Miami CF XBTO Baptist Health LA Galaxy Herbalife Honey Los Angeles FC Flex Target, Postmates Minnesota United FC Target Bell Bank CF Montréal Bank of Montreal Saputo, Jason Nashville SC Renasant Bank Hyundai New England Revolution UnitedHealth Santander New York City FC Etihad Airways Sol Cacao New York Red Bulls Red Bull Provident Bank Orlando City SC Orlando Health Exploria Philadelphia Union Bimbo Bakeries USA Subaru Portland Timbers Alaska Airlines TikTok Real Salt Lake (interim) LifeVantage KeyBank, Ford San Jose Earthquakes Intermedia PayPal Seattle Sounders FC Zulily Emerald Queen Casino Sporting Kansas City Victory Project Compass Minerals, Children's Mercy Toronto FC Bank of Montreal GE Appliances, Canadian Tire Vancouver Whitecaps FC (interim) Bell Canada —

Coaching changes Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming coach Date of appointment Toronto FC Greg Vanney Resigned December 1, 2020Pre-season Chris Armas January 13, 2021 D.C. United Chad Ashton End of interim periodDecember 12, 2020 Hernán Losada January 18, 2021 LA Galaxy Dominic Kinnear Greg Vanney January 5, 2021 Atlanta United FC Stephen Glass December 16, 2020 Gabriel Heinze December 18, 2020 Inter Miami CF Diego Alonso Mutual consent January 7, 2021 Phil NevilleJanuary 18, 2021 CF Montréal Thierry Henry Resigned February 25, 2021 Wilfried Nancy March 8, 2021 Toronto FC Chris ArmasFired July 4, 2021 14th in East, 27th overall Javier Pérez July 4, 2021Atlanta United FC Gabriel Heinze July 18, 2021 10th in East, 20th Overall Rob Valentino (interim) July 18, 2021 Rob Valentino End of interim period August 12, 2021 Gonzalo Pineda August 12, 2021 Real Salt Lake Freddy JuarezMutual consentAugust 27, 2021 6th in West, 13th overall Pablo Mastroeni (interim)August 27, 2021 Vancouver Whitecaps FC Marc Dos Santos 10th in West, 19th overall Vanni Sartini (interim) FC Dallas Luchi Gonzalez Fired September 19, 2021 11th in West, 21st overall Marco Ferruzzi (interim) September 19, 2021FC Cincinnati Jaap StamSeptember 27, 202113th in East, 26th overall Tyrone Marshall (interim)September 27, 2021Chicago Fire FC Raphaël WickyMutual consent September 30, 202112th in East, 22nd overall Frank Klopas (interim) September 30, 2021Houston Dynamo FC Tab RamosFiredNovember 4, 202113th in West, 25th overallVacant until next seasonLos Angeles FC Bob BradleyMutual consentNovember 18, 2021Post-seasonVacant until next season

Regular season Format Each team played 34 matches, including 17 home games and 17 away games. Due to the difference in the number of teams in each conference, each conference had its own schedule construction format: All 14 Eastern Conference teams played six regional Eastern Conference opponents three times and the remaining seven Eastern Conference opponents twice. Each of them also played two cross conference games against different opponents. 11 out of the 13 Western Conference teams played eight regional Western Conference opponents three times and the remaining four Western Conference opponents twice. Each of them also played two cross conference games against different opponents. The remaining two teams from the Western Conference played seven Western Conference opponents three times and the remaining five Western Conference opponents twice. Each of them also played three cross conference games against different opponents.

Tiebreakers

The tie-breaker was used in this order: Points Total wins Total goal differential Total goals scored Fewer disciplinary points Away goal differential Away goals scored Home goals differential Home goals scored Coin toss (2 clubs tied) or drawing of lots (≥3 clubs tied)

Disciplinary points were decided as follows: Foul (1 point) Technical area warning (2 points) Yellow card (3 points) Second yellow card (7 points) Straight red card (7 points) Coach dismissal (7 points) Any supplemental discipline (8 points)

Conference standings Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Overall table The leading team in this table wins the Supporters' Shield.

Fixtures and results All cross-conference matches are shown on the Eastern Conference table. In some cases, a team hosted another more than once; in this case, the first matchup is listed on top and the second is listed below.

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

MLS All-Star Game

MLS Cup playoffs

Bracket

MLS Cup

COVID-19 restrictions From the start of the season, all Canadian teams played home matches behind closed doors at venues in a U.S. market (notwithstanding any local regulations otherwise allowing spectators) due to Canadian border restrictions.

On July 14, MLS announced that both CF Montreal and Toronto FC planned to return to playing matches at their home stadiums beginning July 17, citing new policies allowing vaccinated individuals to enter the country without 14 days self-isolation, provided that they test negative on a COVID-19 test. Unvaccinated individuals must still self-isolate, but a member of the MLS Players Association stated that nearly 95% of the league's player pool had been vaccinated, and Toronto FC manager Ali Curtis stated that all but two of their players were fully vaccinated. Toronto FC planned to admit 7,000 essential workers for the first match before expanding to 15,000 for subsequent matches, and CF Montreal planned to admit 5,000. However, Sportsnet reported that the plans had not yet been formally approved by the Public Health Agency of Canada, and that the Canadian government was expected to issue a statement on the matter.