Major League Soccer (MLS) is the highest men’s professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. MLS consists of 29 teams, divided into an Eastern Conference and a Western Conference. Twenty-six teams are based in the United States, and three teams are based in Canada. 
MLS plays its regular season games from February to October. Eighteen teams qualify for the postseason playoffs, which run from late October through early December. The team with the best regular season record wins the Supporters’ Shield. The winner of the playoffs wins the MLS Cup.
MLS teams also compete in other domestic and international tournaments. In the U.S. Open Cup, Major League Soccer, which is considered a Division I league, joins the other American professional leagues—the United Soccer League (USL) Championship (Division II), MLS Next Pro (Division III), the National Independent Soccer Association (Division III), and the USL League One (Division III)—as well as amateur teams that qualify through their leagues. The Canadian teams compete in the Canadian Championship. A total of 10 MLS clubs from the United States and Canada compete in the Champions League tournament sponsored by CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football).
Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 and began playing in 1996. It followed a number of professional soccer leagues that played in the United States and Canada before disbanding. Before MLS, the most recent Division I league was the North American Soccer League (NASL). The NASL operated from 1968 to 1984. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, many top world players joined the NASL at the end of their careers, including Franz Beckenbauer, George Best, Johan Cruyff, and Brazilian legend Pelé. 
MLS started competition with 10 teams and struggled with low attendance in its early years. The league gradually gained acceptance in the early 2000’s, partly through the unexpectedly strong performance by the American team in the 2002 FIFA World Cup when it reached the quarterfinals. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football). FIFA is soccer’s world governing body. MLS quality of play increased with the development of such stars as Landon Donovan and the importation of such international stars as David Beckham, Thierry Henry, and Robbie Keane. Attendance also rose as teams moved out of large football stadiums and into stadiums built specially for soccer. 
In March 2020, the MLS season was suspended after just two games because of the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19, a contagious respiratory disease, first broke out in China in late 2019. It soon spread throughout the world. MLS restarted the season in July 2020, with a tournament at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Regular season play continued in August, after the tournament ended.
