COURTESY TEPPER SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Charlotte FC will play in the 14-team Eastern Conference when the 2022 Major League Soccer season kicks off in February.

Major League Soccer is making changes to account for Charlotte FC.

MLS announced last week its schedule format and conference alignment for the 2022 season, Charlotte FC’s debut. The regular season will open on Feb. 26 to align with the international soccer calendar and run through Oct. 9’s finale. Following three consecutive weeks of playoffs, MLS Cup will be played on Nov. 5, 16 days before to the start of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and nine days before the player release date on Nov. 14.

Charlotte FC, MLS’s 28th team, will compete in the Eastern Conference, while Nashville SC will move over to the Western, resulting in two conferences of 14 teams each.

All teams will play a 34-game regular season split evenly between home and away dates while playing each conference opponent twice and eight non-conference opponents once.
The regular season schedule will consist of weekend matches with the exception of five or less midweek matches – targeting one each in May, June and July, and two in August. Midweek matches for each team will not be scheduled in consecutive weeks.

In observance of the 2022 FIFA calendar, MLS will seek to avoid scheduling matches during the FIFA international windows in March, June and September. Only at a team’s request will MLS consider scheduling a match during the March window, or during the second weekend of the June double window. Teams can’t request to play during the September window, at the final stretch of the regular season.

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