Soccer America’s 2026 USL Championship guide

There are just two weeks left in the 2026 USL Championship regular season, Soccer America presents a team-by-team look at the 25 teams.

It is an important season for the USL, which has plans to launch USL Premier in 2028 with promotion and relegation.

Teams in the USL Championship are expected to form the core of USL Premier, the new top tier. The fate of several USL Championship teams, though, is uncertain amidst stadium problems and poor support.

Eastern Conference:

1. Tampa Bay Rowdies (16-5-7) 55 points
• Best finish: Players’ Shield winner (2021).

• 2026: The Rowdies’ makeover has worked. They can clinch the 2026 Players’ Shield with a win or draw against Detroit City FC on Saturday.

After a 9-14-7 season, the offseason overhaul saw the Rowdies bring in 21 new players on a roster of 24 to work with English coach Dominic Casciato, who had arrived last July after two successful seasons at League One Union Omaha. The attack is led by MD Myers (13 goals, 4 assists), Russell Cicerone (6 goals, 5 assists) and Italian college product (Young Harris, Akron) Marco Micaletto (6 goals, 3 assists)

• In the stands: At Saturday’s fan appreciation night, the Rowdies will feature Yoga on the Pitch, the ‘Ruff and Rowdies’ dog night and fireworks over Tampa Bay. Attendance at Al Lang Stadium has only slightly nudged up, hovering right below 5,000 a game.

MLS loan players:
Brian Schaefer (on loan from FC Cincinnati)
Gino Vivi (on loan from LA Galaxy)
Conner Antley (on loan from D.C. United)

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2. Detroit City FC (14-6-8) 50 points
• Best finish: Eastern Conference semifinals (2023, 2025).

• 2026: Le Rouge tied a league record by allowing only five goals at home in a regular season (15 games). It will play at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck until their stadium, AlumniFi Field, is ready open (target: spring 2028) 

• Did you know? Keyworth Stadium was opened by U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on Oct. 15, 1936. He made a stop on his 1936 re-election campaign, showing off the first completed Works Progress Administration project in Michigan.

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3. Charleston Battery (14-9-5) 47 points
• Best finish: League champion (2012), U.S. Open Cup runner-up (2008).

• 2026: The Battery’s star is 19-year-old Colton Swan, who has seven goals in 21 games after signing out of Indiana University. He’ll join Scottish Premiership side Hibernian in January.

• Youth movement (500+ minutes):
Colton Swan (2007) 1,086 minutes, 7 goals, 2 assists

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4. Rhode Island FC (12-11-5) 41 points
• Best finish: League runner-up (2024, first season).

• 2026: Rhode Island FC clinched its third-straight playoff berth on Wednesday night, defeating Loudoun United FC 1-0 at Centreville Bank Stadium on Nick Scardina‘s goal just three minutes into the match. 

Rhode Island is at home on Saturday against fifth-place Pittsburgh in a key battle for the fourth home date in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

• MLS loan players:
Eric Klein (on loan from New England Revolution)
Yutaro Tsukada (on loan from Orlando City)
Stas Korzeniowski (on loan from Philadelphia Union)

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5. Pittsburgh Riverhounds (12-11-5) 41 points
• Best finish: League champion (2025)

• 2026: The defending champs used a Charles Ahl goal in the 66th minute to beat Hartford 2-1 last Saturday in front of another sellout crowd of 5,110 fans on Pittsburgh Spirit Alumni weekend. The win clinched the ‘Hounds’ ninth straight playoff appearance.

• MLS loan players:
Yu Tsukanome (on loan from Seattle Sounders)

6. Louisville City (11-9-7) 40 points
• Best finish: League champion (2017, 2018), Players’ Shield winner (2024, 2025), USL Cup winner (2026).

• 2026: LouCity hoisted its fifth trophy recently, winning the Prinx Tires Cup with a 1-0 victory over Hartford Athletic in the final. Defender Aiden McFadden and forward Jansen Wilson made the all-tournament, while Kevon Lambert and Taylor Davila earned places as reserves.

• MLS loan players:
Ryan Schewe (on loan from Sporting Kansas City)

• Youth movement (500+ minutes):
Brandon Dayes (2008) 1,299 minutes, 1 goal

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7. Hartford Athletic (9-6-13) 40 points
• Best finish: USL Cup winner (2025)

• 2026: Brendan Burke, the COO, GM and head coach, was given a contract extension in June, another three years through November 2029.

In 2025, Burke led the Athletic to just its second playoff appearance in the seven years under the group led by lead chairman and co-founder Bruce Mandell. The Athletic won the 2025 USL Cup and lost 1-0 at home to LouCity in the 2026 final.

• In the stands: More than 6,100 fans packed Trinity Health Stadium for the USL Cup title though regular-season attendance is down more than 34 percent to 3,104 fans a game, per Backheel’s USL Attendance Tracker. There have been reports that the Athletic would like to expand Trinity Health Stadium with a roof, more seats and expanded VIP suites.

• MLS loan players:
Britton Fischer (on loan from Minnesota United FC)

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8. Miami FC (9-11-9) 36 points
• Best finish: Eastern Conference quarterfinals (2021, 2022).

• 2026: Miami FC sits in eighth place but has played an extra game, jeopardizing its chances of advancing to the playoffs for the first time in four seasons. 

It’s the odd team in the 25-team league, finishing its 2026 regular-season on Saturday. The opponent is Charleston at Pitbull Stadium, FIU’s football stadium. Ninth-place Indy will be on the road at LouCity and Charleston over the last two weekends.

• In the stands: Miami FC played in the NASL, NPSL and NISA before moving to the USL in 2020. Support has been nonexistent — never reaching an average of 1,500 a game in six seasons.

• Youth movement (500+ minutes):
Mathieu Ndongo (2007) 731 minutes, 3 goals, 1 assist

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9. Indy Eleven (9-12-7) 34 points
• Best finish: Eastern Conference finals (2019). (It was the NASL Soccer Bowl runner-up in 2016.)

• 2026: Aodhan Quinn, the son of former U.S. international Brian Quinn, logged his fifth assist against the Rowdies and in turn equaled the league’s all-time regular season assists record held by Kenardo Forbes. Quinn’s 66 career assists have come in 316 regular-season appearances.

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10. Loudoun United (5-11-12) 27 points
• Best finish: Eastern Conference quarterfinals (2025).

Egyptian-American Abdellatif Aboukoura was the 2025 Young Player of the Year with 12 goals. This season the 21-year-old forward has scored five times, sharing production with Þorleifur Úlfarsson and Eddy Davis III (both 8 goals) for Loudoun United, which has been eliminated from the playoffs.

• MLS loan players:
Adam Beaudry (on loan from Colorado Rapids)
Ascel Essengue (on loan from LA Galaxy)
Eddy Davis III (on loan from Philadelphia Union)

• Youth movement (500+ minutes):
Eddy Davis III (2006) — 853 minutes, 8 goals, 0 assists
Adam Beaudry (2006) — 630 minutes, 0 goals, 0 assists

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11. Birmingham Legion (5-11-11) 26 points
• Best finish: Eastern Conference quarterfinals (2022, 2023), Central Conference quarterfinals (2021).

• 2026: Jay Heaps (1998 Duke Hermann Trophy winner and MLS Cup 2014 runner-up head coach with the New England Revolution) was the first Legion employee in 2018 as president and general manager. 

In 2026, his titles are CEO and head coach. His first season on the USL sidelines has not stemmed the slump. The Legion will miss the playoffs for the third year in a row.

 • MLS loan players:
Serge Ngoma (on loan from Red Bull New York)

 • Youth movement (500+ minutes):
*Ramiz Hamouda (2008) 725 minutes
*Now at Werder Bremen II in the German Regionalliga.

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12. Brooklyn FC (4-17-6) 18 points
• Best finish: Eliminated from playoff contention in 2026, its first season.

• 2026: Marlon LeBlanc (head coach with Philadelphia Union II) and Hall of Famer Brian McBride (USMNT GM in the run to the 2022 World Cup) arrived as head coach and general manager, but the first season of BFC men’s play on Coney Island has been rough with just one win in 13 games since the World Cup ended.

 • MLS loan players:
CJ Olney Jr. (on loan from Philadelphia Union)

• Youth movement (500+ minutes)
CJ Olney Jr. (2006) 2,267 minutes, 3 goals, 7 assists

 • International: Thomas Vancaeyezeele (D2 University of Charleston product) earned League B Best XI selection for French Guiana in the Concacaf Nations League’s recent window.

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13. Sporting Jax (3-20-5) 14 points
• Best finish: Eliminated from playoff contention in 2026, its first season.

• 2026: Two expansion teams, two disastrous roll-outs.

Under an ownership group that included former Heisman winner Tim Tebow, the roll-out started late. Former Dundee United manager Liam Fox did not arrive as head coach until November 2025. CEO Steve Livingstone left in March 2026 when Mark Warburton became president of soccer.

Weather has been an issue. Second-half storms bailed out Sporting Jax last weekend when its home game was halted by severe weather with Birmingham leading 1-0. The Legion also won the full replay by 1-0 in a game played behind closed doors on Wednesday at Hodges Stadium.

 • MLS loan players:
Christian Olivares (on loan from St. Louis City)

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Western Conference:

1. El Paso Locomotive (15-8-5) 50 points
• Best finish: Western Conference finalist (2019, 2020).

• 2026: Locomotive already has winning streaks of eight games and six games (the latter included two Open Cup wins).

It closes at home against No. 3 Sac Republic FC and No. 2 New Mexico United at Southwest University Park in position to clinch the top seed in the Western Conference.

• MLS loan players:
Blake Gillingham (on loan from Houston Dynamo)

• Youth movement (500+ minutes):
Kenneth Hoban (2009) 566 minutes, 0 goals, 1 assist

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2. New Mexico United (14-7-7) 49 points
Best finish: Western Conference finalist (2025).

• 2026: New Mexico United is headed to the playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons. 

Cam Wilkerson (Cal Berkeley) scored his first pro goal — a 81st-minute winning golazo — to give United a 2-1 victory over Phoenix.

• International: Niall Reid-Stephen spearheaded Barbados’ recent success in Concacaf Nations League’s League B with goals against St. Lucia, Guadeloupe, and Bermuda and two assists in the 2-1 win over Bermuda.

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3. Sac Republic FC (11-5-12) 45 points
Best finish: League champion (2014), U.S. Open Cup runner-up (2022).

• 2026: A 1-1 draw against Colorado Springs in front of a sold-out crowd at Heart Health Park meant a lot.

Republic FC extended an unbeaten streak to 11 consecutive matches and secured a 12th playoff appearance in 13 seasons.

• MLS loan players:
Tyler Wolff (on loan from Real Salt Lake)

• Youth movement (500+ minutes):
Blake Willey (2007) 1,413 minutes, 1 goal

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4. Lexington SC (13-10-5) 44 points
Best finish: The 2026 playoffs will be first postseason action for LSC, which failed to qualify for the postseason during their previous two seasons in USL League One (2023–2024) and first season in the Championship (2025).

• 2026: Lexington SC put up 16 goals in four straight wins before last weekend’s 0-0 tie with FC Tulsa. It’s been led by 29-year-old Phil Goodrum, who has scored 12 goals to extend his career total to 73 career Championship goals.

• Coaching corner: Head coach Masaki Hemmi, 41, was named Lexington’s Super League women’s coach last year before moving into the men’s role for the 2026 season. He moved from Japan to New Mexico in high school and played college soccer at Colorado Mines and University of New Mexico.

• MLS loan players:
Malcolm Fry (on loan from New England Revolution)
Cielo Tschantret (on loan from Sporting Kansas City)

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5. FC Tulsa (11-7-10) 43 points
Best finish: Western Conference semifinalist (2021 and 2022).

Tulsa has parlayed 31 goals in 28 games into 43 points. The key: it has allowed only 25 goals.

• Family: Tulsa’s top scorer is Rémi Cabral with five goals. He came to the U.S. with brother Kévin Cabral (13 goals in 129 MLS games, first as an LA Galaxy DP and later in Colorado.) Kévin is back in France — D2 Red Star — but Rémi stayed.

• MLS loan players:
Wilson Eisner (on loan from San Diego FC)

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6. Colorado Springs Switchbacks (11-9-8) 41 points
Best finish: League champion (2024)

• 2026: The Switchbacks have two regular-season matches left against Monterey Bay FC and FC Tulsa to lock down a playoff spot.

They are unbeaten in seven games but no one in Colorado Springs is dancing on a table. The last four results were: 0-0, 0-0, 0-0 and 1-1.

Jamaican Khori Bennett leads the Switchbacks with 14 goals.

• MLS loan players:
Sam Williams (on loan from Chicago Fire)
Bryce Jamison (on loan from Colorado Rapids)
Jabari De Coteau (on loan from Colorado Rapids)

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7. Orange County SC (10-9-9) 39 points
• Best finish: League champion (2021)

• 2026: Yaniv Bazini leads OCSC with seven goals. The 27-year-old Israeli played for the University of Vermont, leading the Catamounts to their first-ever NCAA men’s championship in 2024 with 14 goals. He started out as a pro at USL League One South Georgia Tormenta FC and moved a week after Tormenta FC folded in late February.

• Coaching corner: Interim head coach Dekel Keinan has had three games in charge since he took over the position following the departure of Danny Stone on Sept. 24. Stone had led OCSC to appearances in the Western Conference semifinals in 2024 and 2025, but was winless in seven games when he departed. Keinan won his first game but lost the second.

• MLS loan players:
Garrison Tubbs (on loan from D.C. United)
Sydney Wathuta (on loan from Colorado Rapids)

• Youth movement (500+ minutes):
Efren Solis (2008) 924 minutes, 1 goal
Tyson Espy (2009) 864 minutes, 1 goal, 1 assist

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8. San Antonio FC (9-7-12) 39 points
• Best finish: Champion (2022)

Rookie goalkeeper Joey Batrouni (Coastal Carolina and Virginia) spoiled the Oakland Roots’ Coliseum farewell game, making three saves in the 0-0 tie for his ninth shutout of the year.

They included his second save of a penalty kick — in stoppage time against Peter Wilson. Batroun, 24, is a San Antonio product (Lee High School) .

• MLS loan players:
Santiago Suarez (on loan from New England Revolution)

• Youth movement (500+ minutes):
Dmitry Erofeev (2006) 905 minutes, 5 goals, 1 assist

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9. Phoenix Rising (9-10-9) 36 points
• Best finish: League champion (2023), Players’ Shield winner (2019)

• 2026: Frenchman Ihsan Sacko, 29, is a Golden Boot contender with 14 goals and four assists.

He played for Strasbourg, Nice, Troyes and Avranches in France, Cosenza in Italy and FC Thun in Switzerland before moving to Phoenix last season.“Nino” has settled in with Phoenix, doubling his output from last season when he had seven goals and six assists.

• In the stands: Los Bandidos aren’t happy. The supporters group remained silent for the first half of play during the recent match against the Colorado Springs Switchbacks and unfurled banners “Dulle Out” and “McCarthy Out,” calling for president Bobby Dulle and sporting director Brandon McCarthy to leave their roles. 

• MLS loan players:
Chituru Odunze (on loan from Charlotte FC)
Ascel Essengue (on loan from LA Galaxy)

• Youth movement (500+ minutes):
Adrián Pelayo (2006) 1,034 minutes, 1 goal

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10. Las Vegas Lights (10-12-6) 36 points
• Best finish: Western Conference final (2024, only playoff appearance in eight seasons). 

• 2026: The Lights will host “Farewell to Cashman Field” on Saturday against Lexington SC.

The downtown Las Vegas venue was a rodeo ground and baseball park. The Lights arrived in 2018 following the Triple-A 51s’ exit; their lease expires following the 2026 season. (The property is slated for redevelopment.)

What’s next? Owner Jose Bautista and management have been saying they are evaluating multiple local options.

• MLS loan players:
Mason Stajduhar (on loan from Real Salt Lake)

• Youth movement (500+ minutes):
Carson Locker (2007) 1,525 minutes, 1 goal, 1 assist

• International: Oalex Anderson (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) scored six times in three games in the Concacaf Nations League’s League B group stage.

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11. Oakland Roots (8-9-11) 35 points
• Best finish: Western Conference semifinalist (2021 and 2022).

• 2026: Like the Lights, the Roots will need a new home.

In July, they announced they would not return to the Coliseum — the former home of the Raiders and As — in 2027.

For their opener at the Coliseum in 2025, the Roots broke league attendance records with 26,575 fans on hand. But support soon faded. By the middle of the second season, the Roots were overdue on $1.4 million in back rent and game-day operating expenses owed to the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority. 

• MLS loan players:
Tucker Lepley (on loan from LA Galaxy)

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12. Monterey Bay FC (5-17-6) 21 points
• Best finish: Monterey Bay FC has missed the playoffs all five seasons.

• 2026: In July, Fidel Barajas arrived on loan from Guadalajara.

It is a long and winding road back to Northern California for the Mexican-American winger, now 20.

He starred in the Sac Republic FC and San Jose Earthquakes academy systems before moving to the Charleston Battery, where he spent two seasons. Since then, the stops have come fast: Real Salt Lake and Guadalajara (just five appearances) with loan moves to Atlético San Luis, D.C. United and now back in the USL.

• Youth movement (500+ minutes):
Fernando Delgado (2006) 990 minutes
Fidel Barajas (2006) 701 minutes, 1 goal, 1 assist

• International: Omari Glasgow had three goals and four assists for Guyana in Concacaf Nations League League B play during recent international window.

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