Five home matches you can't miss during the 2023 MLS regular season

The FIFA Club World Cup is right around the corner, with the Concacaf Champions League-winning Seattle Sounders heading to Morocco from Feb. 1-11. But the Major League Soccer season isn’t far behind as the 2023 campaign kicks off just a few weeks later.

Every 2023 MLS match to air live on MLS Season Pass, the all-new streaming service on the Apple TV app launching February 1. 

Let’s take a look at five must-see home matches. 

Colorado Rapids

Sunday, Feb. 26

5 p.m. PT | FS1, Apple TV

Welcome the CCL champs back from the Club World Cup in their 2023 MLS home opener. The Sounders have historically dominated Colorado at home and will look to kick start their domestic campaign with three points. The Rapids also recorded just one away win in 2022, which was tied for the league-worst.

Colorado will be led by veteran forward Diego Rubio, as well as former LA Galaxy winger and Designated Player Kevin Cabral, who the Rapids acquired for $1M in General Allocation Money this offseason.

LAFC

Saturday, March 18

12:05 p.m. PT | FOX, Apple TV

The Sounders will get their first crack at the defending MLS Cup champions after their newly budding rivals in Los Angeles defeated the Philadelphia Union in penalties in November to capture their first MLS Cup title. Sporting a talented roster that still includes the likes of Carlos Vela, Gareth Bale and Giorgio Chiellini, this will be a measuring stick for both clubs early in the season.

Seattle is also unbeaten against LAFC in its last six matches at Lumen Field.

St. Louis CITY SC

Saturday, April 8

7:30 p.m. PT | Apple TV

The Sounders will welcome 2023 MLS expansion side St. Louis CITY to Seattle in the first of their home-and-home matches this season. The new Western Conference club recently acquired former Sounders forward Samuel Adeniran, who was traded for $100K in General Allocation Money.

St. Louis CITY features former Switzerland international and longtime Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Bürki, who was signed early in 2022 and spent this past season playing with CITY 2, their USL Championship side. St. Louis currently has two Designated Players on their roster in German midfielder Eduard Löwen and Brazilian forward João Klauss.

Portland Timbers

Saturday, June 3

1:30 p.m. PT | FOX, Apple TV

The Sounders host their bitter rivals to the south in the first of two home matches in 2023, with the second coming in early September. There are always fireworks when these two storied franchises get together, and the next installment of the greatest United States soccer rivalry figures to provide some more.

Portland will be led by offseason signing Evander, who was acquired for a club-record fee. The 24-year-old Brazilian attacking midfielder joins from Danish side FC Midtjylland where he scored 50 goals and added 38 assists in 167 appearances across all competitions.

Atlanta United

Sunday, Aug. 20

7:30 p.m. PT | Apple TV

There will be storylines galore when Atlanta United heads to Lumen Field in August. For starters, it will be the first trip back to Seattle for Head Coach Gonzalo Pineda, who joined Atlanta last year after four-plus years as a Sounders assistant under Brian Schmetzer. It will also be a return for former General Manager and President of Soccer Garth Lagerwey, who joined Atlanta this offseason as their new President and CEO.

On the field, despite missing the playoffs last season, Atlanta still boasts some of the best and most expensive attacking talent in the league. They are led by 2022 MLS Newcomer of the Year Thiago Almada, who recently became the first player to win the FIFA World Cup as an active MLS player when Argentina took home the title last week. Almada recorded six goals and 12 assists in 29 league matches last season.