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MLS Jerseys 2026: Ranking All 30 New Looks From Worst to Best
The era of the blank white jersey left Major League Soccer a few years ago, and since then, the looks have only improved. In 2026, it's a good time to like color and some out of the box thinking, with many of the league's 30 clubs unveiling potentially iconic looks.
While the 2025 season saw plenty of teams replace their primary looks, often choosing more toned-down colors and designs, this year it's the secondary kits taking all the focus. Sure, some could have been more extravagant, but overall, MLS clubs will be sporting exciting looks for the league's 31st season.
Here, Sports Illustrated ranks all 30 from worst to best.
30. New England Revolution
New England Revolution deserve to be given some props here—they’ve certainly tried. While last year's throwback third kits harkened back to the 1990s, the new primary jersey takes the same approach. It's very loud and pretty creative, but could look a little hypnotic if you stare at it for too long.
29. Nashville SC
Similar to the Seattle Sounders in some ways, Nashville SC has an identity as it looks ahead to the 2026 season. This is Hany Mukhtar’s team and they play in bright yellow—that's all you need to know. This year, though, the crest is awkwardly central and seems smaller than the adidas manufacturer logo beneath it.
The collar is somewhat interesting, at least.
28. Orlando City
Fresh off talking about Nashville SC, you’d be forgiven if you thought the Orlando City kit belonged to the Tennessee side. The bright yellow hasn’t been a color of the past for the Lions and isn’t the complementary gold that stands out in their primary purple look.
Not only does it make them look like Nashville, but also like 11 goalkeepers on the pitch at once.
27. D.C. United
Uh, is this new? Welcome to D.C. United, where the recruitment heading into this season has made some sense, but they’re doing anything but ushering in a new era with a primarily black kit and red trim.
It’s fine. It’s safe. It’s essentially the same.
26. Inter Miami
Inter Miami has an iconic color scheme and, with its current era of success under Lionel Messi, has a chance to create historic looks in global soccer far beyond MLS.
Their all-black secondary kit doesn't impress much, not because it’s bad or because the collar is a bit meh, but more because it could have been so much better. That said, their pink primary is to adore.
25. CF Montréal
If you've ever been on a select-your-seat ticketing website, you might find this CF Montréal kit quite familiar. While it’s a cool design, it would’ve looked a lot better before online ticketing made it look like an empty seat map.
24. St. Louis CITY SC
The “Tina Tuner Kit,” as it’s called, is shiny and certainly recognizable for this season—but it doesn’t exude much of Turner beyond a small tag, nor the city or, really, the club.
It’s certainly bold, but the Purina pet food sponsor doesn't do any favors for the color either.
23. Red Bull New York
With the club’s motto “Red Runs Deep” as inspiration, this jersey looks like a blend of roots and lightning. That’s a pretty good combination when you consider the high-tempo style of play and Michael Bradley’s roots with the club and New Jersey.
There’s just a lot happening. It’s fine, but a little distracting.
22. LA Galaxy
This is indeed an LA Galaxy kit. It’s clean, classic, and hasn’t changed much since the club signed David Beckham in 2007. Don’t fix what's not broken, even if it means being a little underwhelming when it comes to kit ranking time.
21. FC Dallas
Juventus. Celtic. Newcastle. Basel. There are many clubs in the world that have iconic looks that don’t alter much from each season to the next. FC Dallas have found that formula with their blue and red hoops and the twist for a darker shade of each makes this feeling fresh, even if a little uninspired.
20. Real Salt Lake
In a similar vein to FC Dallas, there is a look that Real Salt Lake needs to have in its primary jersey and anything that sways from it would look off. So, they’ve done well here and the collar design is a nice little touch to it as well.
19. FC Cincinnati
FC Cincinnati is certainly swinging with this jersey, and it could be really fun. Yet it also has a slight feeling that it needs electrifying soccer on the pitch. Maybe that point of view will change, but it’s hard to have such a fun jersey without a fun team.
Lucky for them, Evander and Kévin Denkey are pretty fun players.
18. Houston Dynamo
The Houston Dynamo have always had some kits that pop, but in recent seasons they seem to have found a good formula for sharp-looking styles that don’t overdo it. This year’s is a complete turn from simplicity, featuring a satellite view of the city layered with a heat map.
Given the amount of planning and time that goes into kits, this is very impressive. But it almost seems like a little too much.
17. Minnesota United
Minnesota United had a big week, unveiling their 10th-anniversary kit and signing a marquee No. 10 in James Rodríguez. The throwback elements in this kit are cool, but it will simply look black once the players wear it in matches.
16. Columbus Crew
Remember the Federico Higuaín era of Columbus Crew soccer? That’s all that comes to mind when you see a collared primary kit for one of the original MLS clubs. With a fresh touch and classic feel, it’s clearly a Columbus kit without overdoing it with complicated features.
15. Charlotte FC
Charlotte FC is one of the younger clubs in MLS expansion, but has quickly found an iconic look with their bright royal blue. This one seems like it will fit well and feels like a classic, but may be a little too simple to rank much higher than mid-table.
14. Seattle Sounders FC
When it’s a year that Seattle Sounders are switching up their primary kit, they only have one job—keep it Rave Green. For 2026, they’ve succeeded in that, while seemingly darkening the hue slightly and adding a classic touch with aqua blue trims.
MLS has some iconic looks, but Seattle’s is probably the most consistent and unique in world soccer.
13. San Jose Earthquakes
A tribute to The Grateful Dead, the San Jose Earthquakes’ ”Dead Kit” is an outside-the-box design that really stands out. Yet it doesn’t seem to match much of the rest of the club’s branding, history or vibe, and can seem a bit random.
Given they’ve lost Josef Martínez and Chicho Arango this offseason and inked a superstar but struggling attacker in Timo Werner, they’re also leaving themselves open to “dead” jokes throughout the season.
As a third kit, it works. As one of two main kits, not so much.
12. Chicago Fire FC
After some tough rebranding years, different jersey approaches and more adjustments, it’s nice to see that Chicago Fire FC has finally settled on a primary look. The hoop on this one is a little more intriguing than their previous, and the striped collar is stellar.
How could it look on Robert Lewandowski?
11. Vancouver Whitecaps
The Vancouver Whitecaps have a clear identity for their primary kit; it’s a white shirt with a blue hoop. Their secondary, however, has undergone a raft of changes. In 2026, it’s a relatively plain navy blue look, brought to life with a little vibrancy on the sleeves and neckline.
If this jersey had a sublimated design, potentially with waves or peaks, the top 10 would have been cracked.
10. Toronto FC
After years of grey jerseys and nearly no red on either primary or secondary, Toronto FC has finally re-emerged with its core identity. The home kit is all red and this new away kit, inspired by the snow and sleet seen for much of the winter, is white and red.
Perfect, for a club named the Reds. Unfortunately, as creative as the six lines up the middle are, they look nearly identical to Toronto’s other professional team, Inter Toronto of the Canadian Premier League.
9. Colorado Rapids
The Colorado Rapids put out a survey in the offseason to ask their fans how they felt about the club’s visual identity and its meaning. This kit would not have been built from those suggestions, given timelines, but the Rapids’ modern maroon compliments the club's initial colors as its trim is quite sleek.
8. San Diego FC
San Diego FC has a look! What great news, after their history-making inaugural campaign came with two largely templated kits, which were underwhelming for Year One.
The biggest thing here is that they’ve got a jersey that truly showcases their club, and it’s their first one that does that. It’s designed by a local artist and is supposed to link San Diego and Tijuana—that’s a lot of interpersonal relations to put on a shirt, but at least it looks cool.
7. Austin FC
From black kits to black-and-green kits to fully green kits, Austin FC has done plenty of experimenting in its MLS existence to find a true visual identity. A lighter hue of green and almost white sublimated stripes offer a very classy look for this next era, and it could be their identity moving forward as well.
It’s clean but well done.
6. New York City FC
The 2026 New York City FC kit is one of those where you read the description of an “All Nations Kit” and its meanings, and are left with more questions than answers.
One answer, however? Not all kits need inspiration.
How the rich international fabric that is New York is reflected in this jersey is anybody’s guess, but it looks cool enough.
5. Portland Timbers
The manufacturing and planning time to make kits usually runs around two years for most clubs, and the Portland Timbers have a strong long-term vision for the intricate looks of their teams.
This year’s kit is a throwback to Civic Stadium, the original name of Providence Park, to celebrate the stadium's 100th anniversary. It’s detailed and delightful.
4. Sporting Kansas City
Inspired by the Kansas City jazz district, the neon-inspired accents and argyle diamonds are fantastic features for a kit. They’ve made the color clash on this one look great, even as they change throughout the kit.
This one brings in a lot of flair and bravado, but does it tastefully in a way that’s not cringey or overwhelming. Well done to all.
3. Philadelphia Union
The Philadelphia Union have seen plenty of star players from their 2025 Supporters’ Shield-winning team depart this season, but the jersey that arrives for 2026 might make those losses feel a bit better.
Still navy and gold, it is recognizably a Union kit, while the elements that reference the city make it distinctly unique.
Expect these to fly off the shelves in Philly.
2. LAFC
LAFC’s black and gold colors are hard to make a bad kit from, but this one is exceptional and well-suited for the first full season of Denis Bouanga, Son Heung-min and Stephen Eustáquio linking up.
The designs evoke art deco patterns, and the class it exudes simply screams “LAFC!” Overall, a very sleek kit and one that will stand the test of time.
1. Atlanta United
Nearly every kit announcement these days includes some sort of connection to the city, with marketers leaning into whatever they can find through the colors, lines and folds. For Atlanta United, they’ve surpassed every theory of that and have created a truly iconic secondary strip, with the black and red five stripes remaining their primary look.
This jersey draws on the medal design from the 1996 Olympics, which were a seminal moment in the city’s development into one of America’s primary business and sporting hubs.
The colors work well and the club’s crest is the gold medal, with the strip the gold medal ribbon. Just perfection.
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Ben Steiner is an American-Canadian journalist who brings in-depth experience, having covered the North American national teams, MLS, CPL, NWSL, NSL and Liga MX for prominent outlets, including MLSsoccer.com, CBC Sports, and OneSoccer.
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