TAMPA, Fla. – USL League One today announced its schedule for the 2026 season which kicks off on Saturday, March 7, and concludes on Saturday, Oct. 24, with a full nine-game slate on the final weekend of the campaign as teams pursue a place in the 2026 USL League One Playoffs. 

The 34-week, 306-game regular season will mark the biggest campaign in the league’s history. Each club will play a full home-and-home schedule for a 34-game regular season slate in addition to four group stage games in the third edition of the 2026 Prinx Tires USL Cup. The top eight teams in the standings will advance to the single-elimination postseason which will kick off on the weekend of Oct. 30-Nov. 1.

• LEARN MORE: USL League One Announces Competition Format for 2026 Season
• VIEW IN FULL: The 2026 USL League One Schedule

The 2026 USL League One season will be the third in the league’s four-year broadcast agreement with CBS Sports, with games also set to air nationally on ESPN Networks, CBS Sports Network, CBS Sports Golazo Network, ESPN+ and TUDN. A full broadcast schedule will be announced following the release of the 2026 USL League One schedule.

Welcoming The Newcomers

USL League One will feature five new clubs in the 2026 season with Athletic Club Boise, Corpus Christi FC, Fort Wayne FC, the New York Cosmos and Sarasota Paradise entering the league.

All five clubs will aim to replicate the first-year success of FC Naples and Portland Hearts of Pine, both of which earned a place in the USL League One Playoffs in their inaugural seasons in 2025, while building new rivalries across the league’s regular season slate.

April 11 – FC Naples vs. Sarasota Paradise: Separated by just under 120 miles, Sarasota and Naples are set to build a new rivalry on Florida’s west coast that will kick off at the Paradise Coast Sports Complex in early April.  

May 23 – Corpus Christi FC vs. One Knoxville SC: Corpus Christi FC is one of three clubs moving into the professional ranks from USL League Two this season, and in late May it hosts the defending title-holders, one of their predecessors in making that same move.

June 6 – Spokane Velocity FC vs. Athletic Club Boise: After welcoming Velocity for its inaugural home opener at Expo Idaho in early May, AC Boise will head north to Spokane in June to continue to build the Pacific Northwest’s newest rivalry.

Sept. 19 – New York Cosmos vs. Westchester SC: The Cosmos and Westchester will meet three times across the regular season and Prinx Tires USL Cup group stage, with their final meeting coming at Hinchliffe Stadium in the final stretch of the campaign.

Oct. 3 – Fort Wayne FC vs. Forward Madison FC: Fort Wayne FC will welcome fellow midwestern club Forward Madison to its new 9,200-capacity venue in the final month of the campaign for what could be a make-or-break clash.

Rivalry Matchups Feature Throughout Campaign

The 2026 USL League One season will feature the renewal of numerous rivalries, each of which could produce games that determine the course of the Players’ Shield, awarded to the club with the best regular season record, and seeding for the 2026 USL League One Playoffs.

July 25 – Chattanooga Red Wolves SC vs. One Knoxville SC: The Smokey Mountain Smackdown featured the top two teams in the standings a season ago as One Knoxville claimed the double, and both clubs will be aiming high again in 2026.

Aug. 29 – Richmond Kickers vs. Forward Madison FC: The Henny Derby has been a League One institution since its inaugural season in 2019, and this meeting between the Kickers and Flamingos could also be key in the race for the postseason.

Sept. 30 – Greenville Triumph SC vs. South Georgia Tormenta FC: The Peach States Derby served as the inaugural game in League One history in 2019, and this late-season meeting is set to be the first at Greenville Triumph’s new 6,300-capacity venue.

Key Matchups Highlight Judgement Day

USL League One’s final weekend of the regular season on Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24 will feature a collection of key games that could determine the fate of the Players’ Shield as well as postseason seeding in the standings.

Oct. 23 – One Knoxville SC vs. South Georgia Tormenta FC: Defending title-holders One Knox will welcome Tormenta for the opening game of the weekend at Covenant Health Park with the potential the Players’ Shield could be on the line.

Oct. 24 – Forward Madison FC vs. Union Omaha: The longtime midwestern rivals meet at Breese Stevens Field to cap the campaign with Omaha looking to be in the picture for silverware and Madison aiming to return to the postseason after missing out in 2025.

Oct. 24 – FC Naples vs. Spokane Velocity FC: Two of 2025’s Semifinalists will meet on the final day of the regular season with both Naples and Spokane aiming to replicate – or improve on – their top-four finishes in the past campaign.

Oct. 24 – Fort Wayne FC vs. Athletic Club Boise: Two of the league’s expansion side will meet on the final day of the regular season with the hope both will still be in the picture to reach the postseason in their inaugural seasons as they meet in Fort Wayne.

2026 USL League One Season Key Dates

March 7 – USL League One Regular Season Kickoff
March 17-19 – U.S. Open Cup First Round
March 31-April 1 – U.S. Open Cup Second Round
April 14-15 – U.S. Open Cup Round of 32
April 25 – Prinx Tires USL Cup Group Stage Kickoff
April 28-29 – U.S. Open Cup Round of 16
May 19-20 – U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinals
July 11 – Prinx Tires USL Cup Group Stage Ends
Aug. 12 – Prinx Tires USL Cup Quarterfinals
Sept. 9 – Prinx Tires USL Cup Semifinals
Sept. 15-16 – U.S. Open Cup Semifinals
Oct. 2-4 – Prinx Tires USL Cup Final
Oct. 21 – U.S. Open Cup Final
Oct. 24 – USL League One Regular Season Ends
Oct. 30-Nov. 1 – USL League One Playoffs, Quarterfinals
Nov. 6-8 – USL League One Playoffs, Semifinals
Nov. 13-15 – USL League One Final