What MLS’s sizable 2026 World Cup contingent says about the league

As the soccer universe descends on North America for the 2026 World Cup, Major League Soccer will be well represented at the tournament held on home soil.

While not near the levels of the Premier League, La Liga or the Bundesliga, MLS representation at the World Cup is at an all-time high. MLS clubs will send 44 players to the tournament, seventh-most in the world. That figure is up from 32 in 2022 and 19 in 2018.

That contingent is led by the greatest player of all time.

When Argentina kicks off its title defense, Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi will be there, still the leading figure for his country, and he’ll be joined by club teammate Rodrigo De Paul.

The 38-year-old Messi is not alone in being an aging superstar from MLS who is at the forefront of his nation’s World Cup hopes. LAFC’s Son Heung-min, 33, will spearhead South Korea’s efforts, while Colombian legend James Rodriguez, 34, is still technically a Minnesota United player, though he will depart the club when his contract expires at the end of June.

Elsewhere, it’s little surprise that the United States and Canada squads both carry MLS representation, to the tune of eight players each.

Beyond that, rising talents like South Africa center back duo Olwethu Makhanya (Philadelphia Union) and Mbekezeli Mbokazi (Chicago Fire), as well as Australia defender Lucas Herrington (Colorado Rapids) show the diversification in age profile.

Some of MLS’s growth on the World Cup stage is easily explained by basic numerics. This is an expanded 48-team tournament. There are simply more players and qualified nations. Going back to 2018, neither the U.S. nor Canada qualified. If the league hadn’t advanced at all since then, it still would have enjoyed a big boost in participation at the World Cup due to the bigger pool of players plus the league’s two home countries qualifying.

MLS has grown within the global hierarchy though, with more money invested and quality rising. It just hasn’t grown as much as hoped.

Thirteen of the 44 players going to the World Cup come from countries 40th or lower in FIFA’s world rankings. Without those countries, MLS would have sent almost the exact same number of players to this World Cup as 2022.

MLS hasn’t loosened roster rules to increase spending nor set the league up well enough during the Messi era ahead of this World Cup summer. The league dragged its feet on voting to change the calendar to sync with major European leagues. Instead of that change coming this summer after the World Cup, when MLS could have benefited from momentum as well as the natural break that the tournament creates, the shift will come next summer.

MLS is not the only entity looking to capitalize on the summer of soccer, either.

American soccer fans have never been more spoiled with access to watching any game in the world, led by the Premier League and Liga MX in particular. The Premier League is the best domestic league in the world. The Champions League is the best club competition. Even on this continent, MLS is still measuring itself against Liga MX and, more often than not, falling short. An MLS club has won the CONCACAF Champions Cup (CCC) once in the last two decades when the Seattle Sounders did so in 2022.

Liga MX clubs have won 20 of the last 21 CONCACAF tournaments. This competition is a much better measuring stick than the recently created Leagues Cup, which, to date, has been played entirely on American soil. The finals have been contested between two MLS clubs each of the three years since the tournament expanded.

This year’s CCC final featured two Liga MX sides. The previous two finals saw Liga MX clubs beat MLS clubs by a combined score of 8-0.

Liga MX continues to be the most watched soccer league in America on TV. It continues to feature higher quality teams at the top end of the league than MLS does.

MLS is sending more players to the World Cup than Liga MX, though. It has higher-profile individual players, led by Messi and Son, as well as more young players from nations abroad. The league hoped to take the next step this summer, though.

Messi, De Paul and Son will play leading roles for their nations, and while Petar Musa may for Croatia, Marco Pašalić is unlikely to.

MLS is not at a stage where key players in their primes for the best countries in the world – like Spain, England, Germany, France, Argentina or Brazil – would come to the league. At this stage, that is still unrealistic.

It is realistic, however, to hope for a few key starters from the next tiers, especially South American countries like Ecuador, Uruguay and Colombia given the league’s heavy recruitment on the continent, not to mention the likes of Japan, Switzerland or any nation in that quality bracket.

Nevertheless, this summer is a huge opportunity for MLS to convert soccer fans to follow the league more closely. Games this season have been outside the additional Apple TV paywall, and the league will resume play in between the World Cup semifinals and final, with a pair of matchups appearing on Fox in hopes of securing that World Cup bump.

Messi, De Paul and Son are excellent foundational stars to make further growth happen. Stars still sell in this league. It’s that secondary level of quality players behind the biggest names that will help MLS grow even more – and expand its 2030 World Cup footprint, too.