2021 Soccer Schedule

In North America, the fall and winter professional soccer season means the MLS Cup Playoffs of Major League Soccer. The 2015 season was an eventful one, as the league added two expansion teams - the New York City FC and the Orlando City SC - and moved two teams - the Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City - into a new conference. Going into the home stretch of the regular season, though, the names at the top of the leader board were familiar ones; defending Cup champion LA Galaxy led the Western Conference, and the New York Red Bulls led the Eastern Conference.

In Europe, fall is the time for the UEFA Champions League to really get under way, and the tournament's 32 teams battle it out in the Group Stage from mid-September through early December, whittling the field down to a Round of 16. The tournament's Knockout Phase begin the systematic elimination of losing teams in the spring, as the clubs strive to be the last team standing in Milan at the end of May.

For those who prefer their soccer be played within the confines of an indoor arena, there's the Major Arena Soccer League, a new organization formed with the merger in 2014 of the Professional Arena Soccer League and the Major Indoor Soccer League. In this league, 23 teams fight it out in arenas and event centers across the country, even in Heartland enclaves like Independence, Missouri, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.