MIAMI (AP) — Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will play a Major League Soccer match in their new stadium for the first time on April 4, one of the highlights of the league's schedule that was revealed Thursday.
The 2026 MLS regular season starts Feb. 21 and runs through Nov. 7. It'll be the last season in the February-to-November model, with a shortened season planned for 2027 and then the new summer-to-spring calendar for the 2027-28 campaign to closer align with other global leagues.
Inter Miami will open the season with five consecutive road matches, which presumably will allow for the finishing touches to be made to Miami Freedom Park — the team's still-under-construction home near Miami International Airport. It's not clear yet if there will be preseason or other matches at the stadium before the April 4 date.
The home opener for Inter Miami will be against Austin FC, a 7:30 p.m. start inside the new 25,000-seat stadium. Messi signed a three-year extension in recent weeks to remain with the team into 2028 and getting that deal done cemented that he — as the team long hoped — would be there for the start of their run at the new facility.
Miami Freedom Park's opening will start a planned run of three new MLS stadiums in a three-season span, with New York City FC's Etihad Park set to open in 2027 and a new downtown stadium for Chicago Fire FC slated to open in 2028.
There will be a nearly two-month break for the FIFA World Cup, with no matches scheduled between May 25 and July 16.
Among the final pre-break matches: a doubleheader on FOX on May 24 with Inter Miami facing Philadelphia followed by LAFC against Seattle.
The MLS season will resume shortly before the end of the World Cup; MLS has some rivalry games scheduled for July 16 and 17, prior to the third-place match on July 18 and the World Cup final on July 19.
All 510 MLS regular season matches next season will be available on Apple TV in more than 100 countries and regions, with no blackouts and — in a change — no additional subscription required. Some MLS matches will also be available on FOX networks in the U.S., along with TSN and RDS in Canada.
There will be 15 matches on the season's opening weekend, Feb. 21 and 22. Among them: St. Louis City SC playing host to Charlotte FC on Feb. 21, before FC Cincinnati takes on Atlanta United in the return of coach Gerardo “Tata” Martino.
Also that night: Messi and Inter Miami open the season against LAFC at the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Among the Feb. 22 slate: LA Galaxy hosting New York City FC for Sunday Night Soccer on Apple TV, followed by the Seattle Sounders FC and Colorado Rapids playing on FS1.
The MLS All-Star Game will be in Charlotte on July 29, one day after the skills challenge. The opponent for the MLS All-Star Game has yet to be announced.
The league will observe FIFA's November window before opening the playoffs, which will allow for the postseason to run without interruption starting Nov. 18.
The league has not revealed the full postseason schedule.
AP MLS: https://apnews.com/hub/mls-soccer
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, left, points to teammate Mateo Silvetti (not shown) after scoring during the first half of Game 3 in the first round of MLS soccer's Western Conference playoffs against Nashville SC in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Nov. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, left, celebrates with forward Mateo Silvetti, right, after scoring during the first half of Game 3 in the first round of MLS soccer's Western Conference playoffs against Nashville SC in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Nov. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is holding talks with Colombian President Gustavo Petro at the White House on Tuesday only weeks after threatening military action against the South American country and accusing the leader of pumping cocaine into the United States.
U.S. administration officials say the meeting will focus on regional security cooperation and counternarcotics efforts. And Trump on Monday suggested that Petro — who has continued to criticize Trump and the U.S. operation to capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro — seems more willing to work with his administration to stem the flow of illegal drugs from Colombia.
“Somehow after the Venezuelan raid, he became very nice,” Trump told reporters. “He changed his attitude very much.”
Yet, bad blood between the leaders overshadows the sit-down, even as Trump sought to downplay any friction on the eve of the visit.
The conservative Trump and leftist Petro are ideologically far apart, but both leaders share a tendency for verbal bombast and unpredictability. That sets the stage for a White House visit with an anything-could-happen vibe.
In recent days, Petro has continued poking at the U.S. president, calling Trump an “accomplice to genocide” in the Gaza Strip, while asserting that the capture of Maduro was a kidnapping.
And ahead of his departure for Washington, Petro called on Colombians to take to the streets of Bogotá during the White House meeting. He planned to hold a news conference at the Colombian Embassy in Washington after the meeting with Trump.
Historically, Colombia has been a U.S. ally. For the past 30 years, the U.S. has worked closely with Colombia, the world’s largest producer of cocaine, to arrest drug traffickers, fend off rebel groups and boost economic development in rural areas. Colombia is also designated by the U.S. as a major non-NATO ally.
But relations between the leaders have been strained by Trump’s massing U.S. forces in the region for unprecedented deadly military strikes targeting suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific. At least 126 people have been killed in 36 known strikes.
In October, Trump's Republican administration announced it was imposing sanctions on Petro, his family and a member of his government over accusations of involvement in the global drug trade.
The Treasury Department leveled the penalties against Petro; his wife, Veronica del Socorro Alcocer Garcia; his son, Nicolas Fernando Petro Burgos; and Colombian Interior Minister Armando Alberto Benedetti.
The sanctions, which had to be waived to allow Petro to travel to Washington this week, came after the U.S. administration in September announced it was adding Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in three decades.
Then came the audacious military operation last month to capture Maduro and his wife to face federal drug conspiracy charges, a move that Petro has forcefully denounced. Following Maduro’s ouster, Trump put Colombia on notice and ominously warned Petro he could be next.
Colombia is “run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States,” Trump said of Petro last month. “And he’s not gonna be doing it very long, let me tell you.”
But a few days later, tensions eased somewhat after a call between the leaders. Trump said Petro in their hourlong conversation explained “the drug situation and other disagreements.” And Trump extended an invitation to Petro for the White House visit.
The Colombian president is expected to use the meeting in part to detail his country’s counternarcotics initiatives to Trump. And in a diplomatic gesture amid the acrimony, Colombian officials said Petro came bearing gifts, including a signature Wounaan indigenous basket from Colombia's Chocó region for Trump and a handmade gown crafted by indigenous artisans from Nariño for first lady Melania Trump.
Trump on a couple of occasions has used the typically scripted leaders' meetings to deliver stern rebukes to counterparts in front of the press.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February for showing insufficient gratitude for U.S. support of Ukraine. Trump also used a White House meeting in May to forcefully confront South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing the country, with reporters present, of failing to address Trump’s baseless claim of the systematic killing of white farmers.
It was unclear if the meeting between Trump and Petro would include a portion in front of cameras.
Associated Press writer Moriah Balingit contributed reporting.
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - Colombian President Gustavo Petro arrives at the presidential palace in Panama City, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
