For Immediate Release
MLS Communications |
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Major League Soccer Leads North American Men’s Sports with Youngest and Most Diverse Player Pool
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NEW YORK (Monday, April 6, 2026) – Major League Soccer features the most diverse and youthful player pool of the top men’s professional sports across North America with players from 78 countries across six continents represented on 2026 rosters.
The 78 countries represented, as determined by birthplace as of March 23, 2026, make MLS the most globally diverse player pool among top North American men’s professional sports leagues. MLS has had more than 75 countries represented in each of the past five years.
The number of countries represented in MLS in 2026 is 56% more than that of the next closest top men’s league in North America (NBA, 50 countries represented) and the total is more than the NFL (28), NHL (21), and MLB (19) combined.
In addition to a tremendous pool of international players, MLS continues to expand opportunities for domestic talent every year. The 2026 season has seen over 397 domestic players competing on MLS rosters, 349 from the United States and 48 from Canada, representing 49.6 percent of the overall player pool.
MLS today also released data about the average age of MLS players on rosters. As of March 23, the average age of players on MLS rosters was just 25.80 years, also the youngest among the top five North American men’s sports leagues. The NBA is the next closest league at 26.54 years old, followed by the NFL (27.19), NHL (28.59), and the MLB (29.02).
Over 170 players aged 22 or younger have appeared in at least one MLS game during the 2026 season (176 as of March 23). Of the 102 players who have made their MLS debuts this season, the average age is 23.2 years old.
Additional notes on the MLS player pool can be found below:
- Brazil has contributed the most players born outside of the U.S. and Canada, with 33 players, including the 2024 MLS Newcomer of the Year Gabriel Pec (LA Galaxy) and two-time MLS Best XI and MLS All-Star Evander (FC Cincinnati). Argentina (32), Colombia (24), the United Kingdom (20), and Germany (19) round out the top five most represented countries outside of the U.S. and Canada.
- Beyond North American-born players (425), Europe leads all foreign continents with 164, followed by South America (123), Africa (58), Asia (19), and Oceania (10)
- Columbus Crew’s Nariman Akhundzade became the first player from Azerbaijan in MLS history to play in a regular season match taking the league to 132 different countries all-time.
- Led by 58 players born in the state of California, 37 of the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia are represented on MLS rosters. Following California is the state of New York, which features 27 players in MLS, with Florida (26), Illinois (23), and Texas (19) rounding out the top five. Fifteen states feature 10-or-more players on MLS rosters.
- Among United States cities, New York City (14) is the birthplace of the most MLS players, with Seattle (seven) and Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Jose (six) comprising the top three. Four cities are represented by five players each: Atlanta, Denver, Los Angeles, and St. Louis.
- Six Canadian provinces feature on MLS rosters – Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec – with Ontario having the largest representation with 28 players. Eleven MLS players were born in Toronto – the most of any Canadian city – with Montréal following at five players and Hamilton with four rounding out the top three Canadian cities.
- Note:
- NFL rosters were taken as of the conclusion of Week 18 of the 2025 season
- NBA and NHL rosters were pulled as of March 23, 2026
- MLB rosters were pulled as of March 26, 2026
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