The San Jose Earthquakes released their 2026 Major League Soccer schedule on Thursday, and while it won’t feature another visit from Lionel Messi, a former World Cup Golden Boot winner will be coming to PayPal Park.
The Quakes just missed out on the playoffs in 2025, their first season under manager and sporting director Bruce Arena, the league’s all-time leader in wins. A white-hot May saw them climb the Western Conference standings, but they won just four of their last 15 MLS matches.
Here are four things to know about the 2026 schedule, the last one that’ll be contested over the summer months as the league shifts to a fall-through-spring calendar in 2027 to align with the rest of global soccer.
Opener at home
The Quakes will begin their season at home on Feb. 21 against Sporting Kansas City. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m., like most of their matches do under the Apple TV+ schedule. Week 2 features another home match — a 4:30 p.m. kick — against Atlanta United.
Two weeks later, San Jose will host Seattle Sounders FC in a 4 p.m. Sunday match on March 15, but those are the only early kicks on the Quakes’ home schedule.
They’ll finish the season on the road with a Nov. 7 match at Minnesota United.
German star’s Bay debut
Thomas Müller, the 36-year-old German forward, is scheduled to visit San Jose for the first time on May 9 as a member of Vancouver Whitecaps FC, where he transferred in August from Bayern Munich.
Müller won the Golden Boot in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, then won the 2014 tournament with Germany in Brazil.
World Cup break
The World Cup will be held here in the United States — as well as Mexico and Canada — from June 11 through July 18. The Quakes will pause their season after a May 23 away match in Portland, resuming July 22 at home against Orlando.
The Bay won’t be without soccer, though: Levi’s Stadium will host six World Cup matches, including a Round of 32 match on July 1. Bay FC may also play at PayPal Park during that downtime as the NWSL returns from a four-week hiatus in late June.
Big-stadium rivalry games
The Earthquakes will again play two rivalry matches outside of PayPal Park, facing the LA Galaxy at Stanford Stadium for the California Clàsico on July 25. The Quakes went 1-1-1 against the Galaxy in 2025, including a 1-1 draw at Stanford on June 28.
They will also reprise the Levi’s Stadium match against in-state rival LAFC on Sept. 19, and it will again be Mexican Heritage Night. The 2025 edition of the match was the Quakes’ highest-attendance game in franchise history as they were beaten 4-2 by LA and Korean superstar Heung-Min Son, who scored in the game’s first minute.
For the full schedule, visit the Quakes’ website.
Single-game tickets for all games other than the LAFC match go on sale Tuesday on the team’s website. Tickets for the Levi’s Stadium match will be made available at a later date.