MLS Predictions: Rivalry Week As League Returns From World Cup Break

The 2026 World Cup brought immense attention to soccer across North America, and now Major League Soccer is looking to cash in on the soccer fever, restarting the 2026 regular season with six rivalry matches between the World Cup semifinals and finals.

Featuring some of the league’s most passionate rivalries and even using some of the World Cup venues, the hope is that additional fans will come to the league looking for more soccer to enjoy after the tournament ends.

MLS Matchday 16 may bring an abbreviated slate, but it will be no less exciting. Former Barcelona legend Robert Lewandowski is anticipated to make his Chicago Fire FC debut against Thomas Müller’s Vancouver Whitecaps, and several World Cup stars will return to the pitch.

Here, Sports Illustrated predicts the score lines of the week to come.

CF Montréal vs. Toronto FC

Toronto FC’s Josh Sargent enters the Canadian Classique for the first time. | Vaughan Ridley/Getty Images

Date: Thursday, July 16
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT

CF Montréal have already played two games since the World Cup began, beating Canadian Premier League side Vancouver FC over two legs to advance to the semifinals of the Canadian Championship. While they won’t have leading scorer Prince Owusu due to yellow card accumulation, they should still have the form advantage at home against a Toronto FC side that are missing Canadian World Cup player, Jonathan Osorio, for the same reason.

The Canadian Classique isn’t the highly touted top-of-the-table matchup it was a decade ago, when the likes of Didier Drogba, Sebastian Giovinco, Alessandro Nesta, Michael Bradley and more graced the fixture, but it remains a passionate rivalry. This week, though, it brings Richie Laryea back from the Canadian World Cup squad, as well as USMNT depth striker Josh Sargent, into the fold for the Reds.

If Montréal pull off the win, it would mark their first in the rivalry since 2023.

Prediction: CF Montréal 1–1 Toronto FC

Chicago Fire vs. Vancouver Whitecaps

Date: Thursday, July 16
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT

FC Bayern Munich fans, are you ready? A once lethal striker duo for the Bavarian giants is likely to duel in MLS play, as Robert Lewandowski is anticipated to make his Chicago Fire FC debut against Thomas Müller and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

After flirting with an MLS move for years, Lewandowski put pen to paper with the Fire in early July, signing through the 2027-28 season. Having scored 120 goals in 193 games with FC Barcelona, the now-37-year-old is looking to hit the ground running at his first stop outside Europe. Facing Müller, he takes on his former teammate, who has four goals and four assists in 12 regular-season games across his first full season with Vancouver.

The Whitecaps have already been in action since MLS paused, beating Cavalry FC 4–1 in the first leg of the Canadian Championship quarterfinals, marking the return of Designated Player and attacking midfielder Ryan Gauld.

With Vancouver atop the MLS standings at the World Cup break, it will take an inspired effort for Chicago to come away with a win, even as they welcome back center backs Joel Waterman and Mbekezeli Mbokazi, who were at the World Cup with Canada and South Africa, respectively.

Prediction: Chicago Fire 1–3 Vancouver Whitecaps

St. Louis CITY SC vs. Sporting Kansas City

Marcel Hartel leads St. Louis CITY SC's attacking hopes. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Date: Thursday, July 16
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT

Unofficially dubbed The Heartland Derby, the battle between St. Louis CITY SC and Sporting Kansas City is one of the burgeoning rivalry matches in MLS and ushers in the post-World Cup schedule for the two midwestern clubs.

While both teams have struggled in recent seasons and sit in the bottom four of the Western Conference, there’s hope that returning from the break could spark a second-half surge for both sides.

For Sporting Kansas City, those hopes largely lie with Dejan Joveljić, who scored in the last two matches before the break and has six goals this season, while Marcel Hartel’s three goals and two assists lead St. Louis’s attacking hopes.

After Switzerland captured hearts at the 2026 World Cup, this matchup at Energizer Park brings a bit of that flavor as well, with former Swiss Nati goalkeeper Roman Bürki between the pipes for St. Louis and ex-Swiss international Raphaël Wicky walking the touchline for Kansas City.

Prediction: St. Louis CITY SC 0–1 Sporting Kansas City

Seattle Sounders vs. Portland Timbers

Cristian Roldan offered depth and experience to the USMNT at the World Cup. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Date: Thursday, July 16
Time: 10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT

Less than two weeks after the USMNT suffered a humiliating round of 16 defeat to Belgium at the 2026 World Cup, soccer is back at Seattle’s Lumen Field for one of the sport's best rivalries.

Dating back to 1975, the Seattle Sounders vs. Portland Timbers matchup headlines the Cascadia Cup, awarded to the team that earns the most points in the matchups between the two U.S. sides and British Columbia’s Vancouver Whitecaps, which make up the Cascadia region.

The Sounders come into the clash with Cristian Roldan fresh off a depth role with the USMNT and will face a Timbers side that welcomes back center back Finn Surman, who scored for New Zealand against Egypt at the tournament.

Sitting sixth in the Western Conference, eight points behind first-place Vancouver, the Sounders will hope to improve their form in late summer, as they have often done under manager Brian Schmetzer, to make a long run into the MLS Cup playoffs.

The Timbers, meanwhile, are looking for any type of consistency, currently 13th in the table but only one point out of a playoff spot, with Kristoffer Velde and David Da Costa looking to hit their top form and steal points from Seattle’s homecoming.

Prediction: Seattle Sounders 2–0 Portland Timbers

Nashville SC vs. Atlanta United

Sam Surridge, Nashville SC — Sam Surridge is thriving with Nashville SC. | Chris Carter/MLS/Getty Images

Date: Friday, July 17
Time: 8:10 p.m. ET / 5:10 p.m. PT

In one of the battles of the southern U.S., Nashville SC look to keep the good times rolling as they welcome Atlanta United to GEODIS Park on their return from the World Cup break. Sitting atop the Supporters’ Shield standings by a single point, Nashville is in the midst of the best season it’s had since joining MLS and hopes to maintain that early-season form into the summer and the MLS Cup Playoffs.

After dealing with injuries, both Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar are expected to be back in the lineup, with Surridge looking to add to his nine goals from the start of the season and Mukhtar aiming to build on his six goals and four assists in 14 games.

While the Coyotes are overwhelming favorites, there’s also a possibility of an upset for Atlanta. Star midfielder Miguel Almirón is back in the picture and will want to move on from his poor World Cup showing for Paraguay, in which he became the first player to be red-carded for speaking to an opponent with his mouth covered.

Prediction: Nashville SC 3–0 Atlanta United

LA Galaxy vs. LAFC

Son Heung-min is looking to move past South Korea's World Cup heartbreak. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Date: Friday, July 17
Time: 10:25 p.m. ET / 7:25 p.m. PT

There aren’t many truly local rivalries in North American sports, but “El Tráfico” between LAFC and the LA Galaxy is among the best and fiercest. To the surprise of some newer MLS fans, it’s actually the matchup with the largest regular-season single-game attendance, hosting 82,110 on July 4, 2023 at the Rose Bowl, outnumbering any Inter Miami game, where Lionel Messi is the main draw.

This weekend’s matchup sees a star-studded clash, with LAFC led by Son Heung-min and Denis Bouanga, the former coming off World Cup heartbreak with South Korea and Bouanga boasting six goals and five assists this season. Meanwhile, the Galaxy enter the game with German legend Marco Reus, who has four goals and five assists in 15 matches.

It marks a new era for the Galaxy as well, as they’ve opened a Designated Player spot after selling potent winger Gabriel Pec, a key part of the 2024 MLS Cup-winning squad, to Série A club Cruzeiro and parting ways with Brazilian attacker Matheus Nascimento.

The last two El Tráfico matchups have ended in draws, with the LA Galaxy holding the last win from September 2024. Before that, LAFC had won six of the previous eight games.

Prediction: LAFC 3–1 LA Galaxy

MLS Predictions: Matchday 16

Date	Kickoff Time	Fixture	Prediction
Thursday, July 16	7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT	CF Montréal vs. Toronto FC	1–1
Thursday, July 16	8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT	Chicago Fire vs. Vancouver Whitecaps	1–3
Thursday, July 16	8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT	St. Louis CITY SC vs. Sporting Kansas City	0–1
Thursday, July 16	10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT	Seattle Sounders vs. Portland Timbers	2–0
Friday, July 17	8:10 p.m. ET / 5:10 p.m. PT	Nashville SC vs. Atlanta United	3–0
Friday, July 17	10:25 p.m. ET / 7:25 p.m. PT	LAFC vs. LA Galaxy	3–1

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