The 2016 Major League Soccer preseason is here and there will be more than 35 matches played in California, Arizona, and even Nevada during the months
The 2016 Major League Soccer preseason is here and there will be more than 35 matches played in California, Arizona, and even Nevada during the months of January and February starting this Saturday in the Los Angeles area.
As it is with every year, the Western United States have long been a favorite spot for MLS teams. Competing and training in this area of the country for a portion of their preseason are MLS teams the LA Galaxy, Toronto FC, Sporting Kansas City, San Jose Earthquakes, New England Revolution, Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders, FC Dallas, Vancouver Whitecaps, Real Salt Lake, Houston Dynamo, and Colorado Rapids.
Non-MLS teams training and competing are Seongnam FC (South Korea), FC Shirak (Armenia), Club Tijuana (Mexico), Celaya FC (Mexico). New York Cosmos (NASL), Arizona United (USL), and Swope Park Rangers (USL), Ventura County Fusion (PDL) are all scheduled to spend a portion of their preseason or compete in the area as well. College teams UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton are scheduled for matches against Toronto FC.
And we cannot forget the USMNT, who will be facing Iceland January 31 and Canada February 6.
The bulk of the matches are in Tucson, which is part of the Desert Diamond Cup. It’s a very low-key environment and a great place to talk to your favorite players without a huge crowd behind you. Same goes for the matches in Casa Grande. It may be in the middle of nowhere, however, with no security you can just pull right up and watch. Tucson is about a six-hour drive from San Diego.
Other matches will be taking place in the Los Angeles area and up north in San Jose and Sacramento. There is one match in Las Vegas on February 13.
Saturday, January 30
LA Galaxy vs FC Shirak – StubHub Center at 7:00 p.m.n
Toronto FC vs UC Irvine – Anteater Stadium at TBA
Sunday, January 31
Portland vs FC Tucson – Tucson, AZ at 10:30 a.m.
USMNT vs Iceland – StubHub Center at 12:45 p.m.
Monday, February 1
Toronto FC vs Cal State Fullerton – Anteater Stadium at TBA
Wednesday, February 3
Kansas City vs FC Tucson – Tucson, AZ at 9:00 a.m.
San Jose vs New England – Tucson, AZ at 10:30 a.m.
Vancouver vs Seattle – Tucson, AZ at 4:00 p.m.
Portland vs Houston – Tucson, AZ at 5:00 p.m.
Toronto FC vs Ventura County Fusion – Anteater Stadium at TBA
Thursday, February 4
New England vs Dallas – Casa Grande, AZ at 9:00 a.m.
Saturday, February 6
New England vs Vancouver – Tucson, AZ at 3:30 p.m.
Houston vs Vancouver – Tucson, AZ at 4:00 p.m.
Portland vs Seattle – Tucson, AZ at 6:00 p.m.
USMNT vs Canada – StubHub Center at 7:15 p.m.
Toronto FC vs LA Galaxy – StubHub Center at TBA
Sunday, February 7
Kansas City vs Seongnam FC – Tucson, AZ at 9:00 a.m.
Tuesday, February 9
Vancouver vs Houston – Tucson, AZ at 5:00 p.m.
Seattle vs Celaya FC – Tucson, AZ at 6:00 p.m.
LA Galaxy vs Tijuana – StubHub Center at 7:00 p.m.
San Jose vs Seongnam FC – Tucson, AZ at TBA
Thursday, February 11
Real Salt Lake vs Portland – Tucson, AZ at 10:30 a.m.
Saturday, February 13
Colorado vs Sacramento Republic FC – Sacramento at 5:00 p.m.
LA Galaxy vs San Jose – Las Vegas at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 14
Real Salt Lake vs Seongnam FC – Tucson, AZ at 10:00 a.m.
Seattle vs TBA – TBA
Wednesday. February 17
Colorado vs Swope Park Rangers – Tucson, AZ at 4:30 p.m.
Kansas City vs Columbus – Tucson, AZ at 5:00 p.m.
New England vs Real Salt Lake – Tucson, AZ at 7:00 p.m.
Seattle vs LA Galaxy – TBA
Saturday, February 20
Columbus vs Real Salt Lake – Tucson, AZ at 4:00 p.m.
Colorado vs Houston – Tucson, AZ at 6:00 p.m.
Kansas City vs New England – Tucson, AZ at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, February 24
New England vs Houston – Tucson, AZ at 4:30 p.m.
Swope Park Rangers vs Columbus – Tucson, AZ at 5:00 p.m.
Colorado vs Kansas City – Tucson, AZ at 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, February 27
Arizona United SC vs TBA – Tucson, AZ at 3:30 p.m.
TBA vs TBA – Tucson, AZ at 5:30 p.m.
TBA vs TBA – Tucson, AZ at 6:00 p.m.
San Jose vs New York Cosmos – San Jose at 7:00 p.m.
