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MLS Analysis

2026 MLS Preview & Predictions: Miami improves, Cincy strong, Chicago rising in the East

ASN's Brian Sciaretta now looks at the MLS Eastern Conference where the top two teams in Miami and Cincy look obvious, but the rest of the conference is up for grabs. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
February 20, 2026
8:00 AM

WITH THE 2026 MLS SEASON kicking off this weekend, here is a look at the Eastern Conference. Much like the West, we don’t see many changes with the top two teams as Inter Miami and FC Cincinnati should once again be cream of the crop. After that, it becomes much harder to predict.

Like with the Western Conference, ASN was way off in 2025 as we figured Atlanta United was going to be one of the best teams. Instead, they were one of the worst. We also did not see Red Bull New York ending its playoff streak.

At least we admit when we are wrong. We also don’t give up.

In that spirit, here’s the 2026 Eastern preview.

 

1) Inter Miami CF

 

Inter Miami won MLS Cup in 2025 but they weren’t dominant until the end of the season and then the playoffs. Prior to that, they had ugly exits in the Champions Cup and the Leagues Cup.

But they are not the team to beat because of winning MLS Cup, they are the team to beat for their incredible moves in the offseason. Lionel Messi might be another year older, but he’s still great, and now he has a better supporting cast. Germán Berterame has been one of the best scorers in Liga MX, and now he gives Messi a great target. Jordi Alba retired, but he’s replaced by Sergio Reguilón who has experience at the highest levels. When all else fails, Dayne St. Clair is one of the best keepers in the league.

 

2) FC Cincinnati

 

Cincinnati will keep most of its team together and will be led by Evander, Kevin Denkey, and a three very good central defenders in a three-man backline. Backing them is goalkeeper Roman Celentano, who was one of the best in the league in 2025. The loss of Brenner, whose loan from Udinese, hurts as he was good in his return to the club in 2025.

But there no reason to think Cincinnati won’t be very good again. Expect them to make strong moves in the midseason to try to push Miami ahead of the playoffs.

 

3) Nashville SC

 

With the addition of Cristian Espinoza, Nashville should have one of the league’s best attacks as Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge are well-proven goal scorers in MLS.

 

The loss of Walker Zimmerman in free agency hurts. The former USMNT World Cup defender always makes his teams better, and both FC Dallas and LAFC both struggled after he left.

 

4) Chicago Fire

 

The Chicago Fire have a lot of momentum heading into the 2026 season. The club finally returned to the playoffs in 2025, and the players have bought into the philosophy of Gregg Berhalter.

There is no reason to think the club won’t continue to make strides in 2026. The only significant loss in the offseason was homegrown Brian Gutierrez, who was sold to Chivas in Mexico.

 

But the club has brought in MLS veteran Robin Lod, Swedish international Anton Salétros from AIK of the Allsvenskan, plus two U22 initiative deals for promising players in South Africa’s Premier League in winger Puso Dithejane and centerback Mbekezeli Mbokazi.

But Berhalter has a core that really works and the frontline of Hugo Cuypers, Philip Zinckernagel, and Jonathan Bamba is very impressive.

 

5) Philadelphia Union

 

After winning the Supporters Shield in 2025, Philadelphia lost a lot of very good players in the offseason. Tai Baribo was their top scorer last year and he’s now on DC United. Jakob Glesnes has won the MLS Defender of the Year and was named to the league’s Best XI twice, and he is now on the Galaxy. Mikael Uhre was another key attacker and he returned to Denmark. Kai Wagner was one of the league’s best fullbacks in the attack, and he is now with Birmingham City.

That is a lot of proven talent gone.

 

Philadelphia has instead turned to a group of newcomers with no MLS experience. Ezekiel Alladoh is a very promising, but very young, forward from Ghana who showed a lot of talent in Sweden. Agustin Anello is an American winger who struggled in Europe, but who rebuilt his career recently in Uruguay. Then the added defenders Geiner Martinez from Uruguay and Japhet Serey Larsen from Norway.

Still, the Union also have a lot of fun young players coming up through the pipeline that should make it interesting and fresh.

 

6) New York City

 

New York City performed very well in 2025 under first-year coach Pascal Jensen where they made a run to the Eastern Conference Final before being beaten by Miami.

The biggest loss in the offseason was Justin Haak, as the local defender opted to head across the country to join the Galaxy. The only big acquisition is Australian national team midfielder/defender Kai Trewin. But Keaton Parks is now healthy after missing most of the second half of the season. That should be a boost. Alonso Hernandez could be back in the late summer from his ACL injury which he suffered playing internationally in November.

 

One gets the sense that NYCFC has a well-established core and ownership could expect to spend a lot money on this group beginning in the summer as they prepare to head into their first-rate stadium in 2027.

 

7) Orlando City

 

In 2025, Orlando City appeared to be in good shape for most of the season but fell apart in the final two months before only qualifying for the play-in game – where they were bounced by Chicago.

Heading into 2026, there is room for optimism. The club has two very productive designated players Marco Pašali? and Martín Ojeda but both players cannot afford to get injured or miss time.  Canadian goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau will adequately replace Pedro Gallese. Paraguayan international Braian Ojeda was also a smart pickup and he performed well for Real Salt Lake, so he won’t need time to adjust to the league.

Orlando will also need some of new South American imports to pan out: Luis Otavio, Iago Teodoro, and Tiago. All three joined via a U-22 Initiative. Plus, striker Duncan McGuire is finally healthy. If he returns to his 2023 form, he cold score over 12 goals this season.

There are a lot of question marks for Orlando but the new acquisitions will put manager Oscar Pareja to the test.

 

8) Charlotte FC

 

Dean Smith has done a nice job in his first two season at Charlotte FC but this season will be harder unless they are busy adding players during the season. Wilfried Zaha and Pep Biel will continue to lead this team. U.S. international Tim Ream is important, but at age 38, could start to fade at any point.

 

There is enough leftover from 2025 to make the playoffs likely, but it might not be easy.

Charlotte spent a lot on USMNT veteran Luca de la Torre in midfield, but he wasn’t a standout player for San Diego. Why will he be a standout for Charlotte? Meanwhile, none of the other offseason acquisitions are likely starters.

 

9)  Columbus Crew

 

The Columbus Crew will look a lot different in 2026. Head coach Wilfried Nancy has left (and has also already been fired from his next job). Veteran Darlington Nagbe has retired after serving as the glue of the team’s midfield. Forward Jacen Russell-Rowe was sold to Toulouse.

 

New manager Henrik Rydström arrives having only played and managed in his native Sweden before this. He has an established front line of DP players in wingers Diego Rossi, Dániel Gazdag and forward Wessam Abou Ali, but there could be some tough learning curves in the early part of the season.

 

10)  Atlanta United

 

Last season, Atlanta United was easily the most disappointing team in the league. Head coach Ronny Deila was subsequently fired and now Atlanta has brought back Tata Martino, who guided the club to the 2018 MLS Cup title.

The old saying goes that “you can never go home again” and even when it is tried, it often fails.

 

Much of Martino’s job will be working with the same group of players, including Miguel Almiron, who was part of Atlanta’s success in 2018.

There is talent on the roster, but there is also the risk that no chemistry exists between this group and is unfixable – even by Martino. On the other hand, maybe he can. This is a tough team to read.

 

11) Red Bull New York

 

Last season, the Red Bulls failed to qualify for the postseason for the first time in 15 years and the offseason saw a major front office shake-up. Former U.S. national team captain Michael Bradley is now the head coach after leading the Red Bulls II to the MLS Next title.

Bradley shows a lot of promise as a coach and the club made some interesting signings in bringing in Cade Cowell from Chivas, DP winger Jorge Ruvalcaba from Pumas, and goalkeeper Ethan Horvath.

 

The problem, however, is that this team is very underwhelming defensively. The club sold Noah Eile and traded Sean Nealis. Now heading into opening day, Justin Che and Rob Voloder are the central defenders.

Defensively, this team does not have what it takes to return to the playoffs. They must make midseason moves.

 

12)  Toronto FC

 

Toronto FC has been struggling for years but things should be better for second-year head coach Robin Fraser. Adding Walker Zimmerman, even despite aging, is a great move as the 2022 USMNT World Cup veteran always wins wherever he goes. FC Dallas, LAFC, and Nashville SC have all improved once adding Zimmerman. Josh Sargent looks as if he will be joining soon and the USMNT forward was an elite forward in the Championship. He should be able to find a similar level of success. Djordje Mihailovic is also very proven in MLS.

 

Once again, Toronto will try to build success on the backbone of American players like it did in the past.

The problem is a lack of depth but when Toronto fields its top team, they won’t be an easy opponent.

 

13)  New England Revolution

 

After struggling mightily under Caleb Porter, the New England Revolution will now turn to recent U.S. U-20 and Olympic coach Marko Mitrovic. Mitrovic is a promising coach but the club is looking to stabilize before spending a lot of money. They two biggest imports were players Mitrovic coached with his U.S. teams, Olympic team winger Griffin Yow and U.S. U-20 holding midfielder Brooklyn Raines.

 

For now, Mitrovic will hope to breath new life into this team with many of the existing players – including Leo Campana and Carles Gil, who both have had a lot of success in the league. But it seems as if the club will look to make moves during the year.

 

14) DC United

 

DC United finished last in the Eastern Conference and that led to a lot of changes in the offseason with a new head of soccer operations and a new head coach in Rene Weiler. The club also made a lot of changes, including spending a lot of money to boost the attack with Romanian international Louis Munteanu and former Philadelphia Union forward Tai Baribo.


 

But this is the start of a long process to build a core and turn around a team that has been an afterthought. The first steps haven’t been bad, but there is a long way to go.

 

15) CF Montreal

 

Marco Donadel begins his first full season with the club after earning the job after having it as an interim manager last season. The club finished 13th in the Eastern Conference last season and it does not seem as if ownership is invested in this team.

The club made a lot of moves in the offseason and each of the moves were acquiring players from within the league. That might stabilize things at best and maybe they can finish higher than last, but a playoff push seems like a real reach.

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