Now that the FIFA World Cup is over, and Spain ends as champions, the Major League Soccer season is resuming after a two-month hiatus.
FC Cincinnati will resume its season July 22 against the Vancouver Whitecaps at TQL Stadium. Cincinnati has played 15 games in the 34-game MLS season, and will have 19 remaining after the break. Here is a refresher on how Cincinnati has done so far this season and what lies ahead.
Where FC Cincinnati is in the Major League Soccer standings
Cincinnati is in seventh place in the MLS Eastern Conference with 20 points (5-5-5). The team is 16 points behind first-place Nashville (11-1-3, 36 points), also the MLS Supporters’ Shield leader.
Miami is second with 31 points. Chicago is third with 26 points, only six ahead of Cincy, followed by New England (25), Red Bull New York (22) and Charlotte (21).
The table is close enough that if the Orange and Blue can string some wins together out of the break, they can move into the top four. But stringing together losses and draws instead could drop them out of playoff position.
Where FC Cincinnati stands in the MLS statistics
FC Cincinnati’s team statistics match their .500 record and demonstrate how they got to this point.
Cincinnati is second in MLS in total goals scored (36) behind Miami’s 39. However, they are third-worst in goals allowed (37) behind Kansas City (39) and Orlando (44). Cincinnati is minus-1 in goal differential, which is 15th among 30 MLS teams.
Eleven different players have found the back of the net for Cincy in MLS games. After a slow start, Evander, Cincinnati’s lone MLS All-Star, has regained his MVP form. He will go to Charlotte and participate in the skills challenge July 28 and the game July 29.
Evander and Kévin Denkey have nine goals apiece, tied for ninth in MLS, and four behind Chicago’s Hugo Cuypers (13), who The Athletic reports will soon leave Chicago and head to FC Monterrey in Liga MX.
Evander has six assists, three off the league lead of nine held by San Diego’s Anders Dreyer and LAFC’s Son Heung-Min. He is fifth in the league in shots on target with 26, two out of second place. Lionel Messi leads with 36.
Evander is also third in MLS in key passes, which is a pass that immediately creates a goal-scoring opportunity. He has 41, three behind Dreyer and two behind Messi.
How does the rest of the Major League Soccer schedule look for FC Cincinnati?
Cincinnati will have a challenging restart to the season. In the first 11 days, Cincinnati will play the top two teams in the Western Conference at home. Vancouver (July 22) and San Jose (Aug. 1) are tied atop the West with 32 points. In between, Cincy will travel to archrival Columbus (4-7-4, 16 points) for the Hell is Real Derby. Columbus has struggled this season but their stadium is always a hornet’s nest for the Orange and Blue.
Cincinnati has two other games against Western Conference teams that are also in the top seven in the conference. Seattle (24 points) comes to TQL Aug. 22, and Cincy travels to Houston (22 points) Sept. 19.
Cincinnati has already played both games against Chicago, Red Bull New York and Toronto. There are four teams in the Eastern Conference that Cincinnati has yet to face and will meet twice the rest of the way. Cincinnati will get two shots at Nashville, as well as DC United (18 points), Columbus (16) and Philadelphia (7). Nashville will come to TQL Stadium for Decision Day Saturday, Nov. 7.
There are seven East teams Cincinnati will play once. They will host New England (25), Charlotte (21) and NYCFC (19), and travel to Miami (31), Orlando (14), Montreal (14) and Atlanta (11).
The full schedule is here.
The Major League Soccer playoff schedule
Because of the World Cup break, the MLS playoffs are two weeks later than in 2025.
The wild-card single play-in games between the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds in each conference will take place Nov. 18.
The best-of-three first-round series will be Nov. 20 to Dec. 2. The conference semifinals are Dec. 5-6, the conference finals Dec. 11-12, and the MLS Cup final Dec. 18.
The Leagues Cup returns to TQL Stadium in August 2026
FC Cincinnati will once again play in the Leagues Cup in August. It will have the same format as last year, with 18 MLS teams competing against all 18 teams in Mexico’s top league, Liga MX. Every team will face three from the other league, and the top four finishers in each league move on to the knockout quarterfinals.
Cincinnati will play three games in the tournament at TQL Stadium from Aug. 4 to 11. They got a tough draw based on their opponents’ current form. Liga MX plays two separate 17-game seasons with playoffs every year, and a new one began last week.
In the most recent season, Pumas UNAM finished first in the regular season (10-1-6, 36 points), Pachuca was fourth (9-4-4, 31) and Atlas sixth (7-5-5, 26).
The quarterfinals are Aug. 25-27, the semifinals Sept. 1-2 and the championship final and third-place match Sept. 6. The top three finishers qualify for the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup, with the champion earning a bye to the Round of 16.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What to look for when FC Cincinnati resumes its 2026 season
Reporting by James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
