MLS has an unbalanced schedule. That’s not uncommon in American sports, but it is uncommon in global soccer. While most soccer leagues consist of every team playing every other team home and away, MLS teams will not even play eight or nine teams in any given season, while playing six or seven teams just once as the league’s schedule is currently constructed.
This imbalance means that certain teams will have an easier season than others.
Now, due to the unpredictability and parity of MLS, it’s difficult to say ahead of time which teams will benefit or struggle due to their schedule. If you look back, though, you’ll see it absolutely plays a role in the success – and failure – of various teams. With 2026 being the final season of this schedule format before 2027’s truncated sprint season and 2027-28’s new regular season format that will see every team play every other team at least once, we’re taking a look back to see how big of a role schedules played.
Using the most straightforward definition of strength of schedule (SOS), average points of opponents, let’s take a trip back through the last three MLS seasons and see how big a role SOS played on results.
