Introducing the USA's newest pro soccer teams: From the NY Cosmos to Denver Summit

Tom Weber

• 24 Feb 2026 19:00 CST
• 13 min read

Analysis

The 2026 season will see the addition of 10 new professional soccer teams across the United States' various official leagues.

In a country with a closed soccer ecosystem, expansion is the only viable means of introducing new teams to established leagues. Although the United Soccer League is trying to change this by planning to implement promotion and relegation between its professional tiers by 2028, it will likely still have to rely heavily on expansion for years to come.

In Major League Soccer and the National Women's Soccer League, the two most well-known pro soccer divisions in the US, expansion is nothing out of the ordinary. Last year, San Diego FC played their inaugural season in MLS and enjoyed a record-breaking year for an expansion side by finishing top of the Western Conference.

This year, MLS has no new additions, but two expansion sides will compete in the NWSL when the new campaign kicks off on 13 March. In the USL Championship, there will be two new teams and five in USL League One. Finally, a new independent club will also play professionally in MLS Next Pro.

Below, FootballTransfers will introduce these 10 new teams. We did not include any sides from the other women's top division, the USL Super League, because its season runs on a European schedule and began last year. Additionally, we won't discuss any teams from the National Independent Soccer Association because it is still trying to secure professional sanctioning for a fall season after going on hiatus in 2025.

Boston Legacy FC

We will work our way down the non-existent pyramid, so let's start at the top with the new teams in the NWSL, the highest tier of professional women's soccer in the US.

The Boston Legacy are one of two NWSL expansion sides, and the club's introduction will mark the triumphant return of pro women's soccer to Boston. Real NWSL sickos will, of course, remember the iconic Boston Breakers, who never managed to make the playoffs in their five seasons in the league.

Last coached by the late Matt Beard, the former Liverpool Women manager who sadly passed away last September, the Breakers controversially folded in 2017, with many believing that ownership did not do enough to properly promote the team to local audiences.

Founded in 2023, the Legacy's ownership vied for a 2024 and 2026 expansion slot and ultimately had to settle for the latter, which was perhaps for the better as it allowed more time to prepare and to get the branding right - at the second time of asking.

The club's initial branding as BOS Nation FC, with the slogan "there are too many balls in this town," was heavily criticised and immediately dropped, resulting in the adoption of the Legacy name a few months later.

The Legacy will play their inaugural season at Gillette Stadium, the home of the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution, before moving into the renovated and much more centrally located White Stadium in 2027.

Filipa Patao will take charge of the team after leading Benfica to five consecutive Portuguese league titles.

Denver Summit FC

Colorado-native Jordan Angeli, a former Boston Breakers player and prominent current MLS and NWSL pundit, spearheaded Denver's successful expansion bid, eventually resulting in the Denver Summit's official founding in 2025.

Mikaela Shiffrin and Peyton Manning have since joined the ownership group, and this has certainly created a sense of ambition and expectation, which has only been heightened by the fact that the Summit are the first professional women's sports team in Colorado in almost 30 years.

The urge to get things right from the off is reflected in the club's roster, which includes NWSL veteran Carson Pickett, talented Spanish striker Nahikari, Canada star Janine Sonis and USWNT legend Lindsay Heaps, who will join in June after finishing the European season with OL Lyonnes.

The Summit's home opener will take place at the Broncos' Empower Field at Mile High before they move to Centennial Stadium in the Denver metro area. They are planning to build a soccer-specific stadium closer to downtown before 2030.

The team is led by long-time Man City Women head coach Nick Cushing.

Brooklyn FC

Next up is the USL Championship, the second tier of men's professional soccer in the US, where two new teams will play in 2026. New York City had been earmarked as an expansion market for USL for years, and this finally became reality when Brooklyn FC were handed an expansion spot.

However, it was initially planned that they would start in the third-tier League One. After a change of plans, it was announced that they would be allowed to compete in the Championship and that their start date had been pushed from 2025 to 2026.

USMNT star Tim Weah joined the club's ownership group, which is led by North Sixth Group and possesses various lower-tier sides across Europe. Last year, US legend Brian McBride was announced as the club's first sporting director.

Brooklyn will initially stage their home games at Maimonides Park, a Minor League Baseball stadium, where Brooklyn's women have already been playing in the USL Super League since 2024.

MLS cult hero Tommy McNamara and USL standouts Juan Carlos Obregon and Thomas Vancaeyezeele are the team's star players, while the highly-rated Marlon LeBlanc is the first head coach.

Sporting Club Jacksonville

Pro soccer returns to Jacksonville in the guise of Sporting JAX, owned by venture capitalist Ricky Caplin and former NFL stars Tim Tebow and Fred Taylor. Previously, the Jacksonville Armada played professionally in the now-defunct NASL, and the club is planned as a future MLS Next Pro expansion side.

However, JAX is a different entity and is spearheaded by former Rangers manager Mark Warburton, who is the sporting director of the men's and women's teams. The latter began play in 2025.

Warburton used his connections in Scottish football to appoint former Dundee United boss Liam Fox as JAX's inaugural head coach. The first team features former MLS player Wan Kuzain as well as Emil Jaaskelainen, the son of Bolton legend Jussi.

JAX will play their games at Hodges Stadium, the previous home of the Armada. However, like the Armada, who have been on hiatus since 2019, they are planning to eventually build their own venue.

Athletic Club Boise

Moving a step down to the third tier, Athletic Club Boise are the first of five expansion teams in USL League One, which lost Texoma FC and South Georgia Tormenta in the offseason.

The founding of AC Boise ended the city's decade-long wait to secure a spot in USL, although the club will actually play at Les Bois Park in nearby Garden City. USMNT legend Kasey Keller joined the club's ownership group last summer.

Nate Miller will be the club's first head coach, which may be a worrying appointment for superstitious fans of the new team. Both of his previous stints as a USL manager ended prematurely because the teams he was working for folded.

He led Lansing Ignite to a second-placed finish in USL League One's inaugural season in 2019, but the team ceased operations after just one campaign. He then joined Landon Donovan's coaching staff at San Diego Loyal and eventually replaced the MLS legend in the dugout, only for this club to fold as well.

Boise's roster features several names that will be familiar to USL connoisseurs. Tumi Moshobane, Nick Moon, Charlie Adams and Blake Bodily are all set to play starring roles in the club's first season.

Corpus Christi FC

Corpus Christi FC have finally made the step up to the professional ranks, six years after first announcing their ambitions to join League One.

The Sharks will play their home games at Corpus Christi Sports Complex, specifically built for the club and inspired by the soccer-specific grounds of USL Championship franchises Loudoun United and Phoenix Rising.

Former Indy Eleven and League of Ireland star Eamon Zayed is the club's sporting director and head coach. League One journeyman Jake Keegan and former Man City academy prospect Enock Kwakwa are the most recognisable players on a roster that still looks to be a work-in-progress.

Fort Wayne FC

Like Corpus Christi, Fort Wayne are a club that have harboured long-standing ambitions of eventually going pro. Founded in 2019, FWFC are best known for being co-owned by USMNT legend DaMarcus Beasley, a Fort Wayne native.

Ahead of their debut season in League One, Fort Wayne completely rebranded, dropping their initial colourway, which featured various shades of blue, for "autumn gold and black." The soccer-specific Fort Wayne FC Park was constructed with private funding in anticipation of the move to League One.

Mike Avery, who has vast coaching experience at the college level, will lead the first team, whose most high-profile player is former New Zealand international James Musa.

New York Cosmos

Perhaps the most anticipated new entrant across the entirety of USL, the New York Cosmos have finally made the step up to one of the "big two" soccer associations in the US.

One of the most iconic soccer franchises in US history, the Cosmos are almost synonymous with the NASL. They were part of the original league in the 70s and again of the revamped iteration in the 2010s.

When the NASL crashed and burned, so too did the Cosmos, eventually resulting in the club only fielding a "B" team. Now, they are back for a third time. Unlike the original Cosmos, however, this edition is more of a New Jersey Cosmos.

The Cosmos will play at Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, New Jersey. Former Italy international Giuseppe Rossi, a New Jersey native, acts as vice chairman and director of soccer. Davide Corti is the club's head coach, having previously managed AC Milan and Sampdoria in women's football.

This new Cosmos will not be completely detached from the previous club because of the presence of Sebastian Guenzatti. The prolific USL Championship scorer has returned after 10 years. The 34-year-old won three NASL titles with the Cosmos between 2013 and 2016.

Sarasota Paradise

Sarasota Paradise, the club with the dreamiest name, are the final addition to League One. Founded in 2022 as a USL League Two side, the Floridans have now made the step up to the professional ranks.

Their current home is the Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch in the Sarasota metro area. Paradise delivered a statement win in pre-season by beating the New York Red Bulls, but of course, we shouldn't read too much into this.

Former Richmond Kickers assistant Mika Elovaara is the club's head coach, and he has brought with him Jonathan Bolanos, who won the League One regular season with the Kickers in 2022.

Connecticut United FC

Lastly, the only 2026 expansion side in MLS Next Pro, the other men's third in the US, hails from Bridgeport, Connecticut, and it is the creatively named Connecticut United FC.

Founded in 2024, CT United were initially slated to begin play in 2025, but their start date had to be pushed back to 2026. Not being ready is a bit of a theme as their stadium is also still a work-in-progress.

The New Waterfront Stadium was supposed to open this season, but CT United will bounce around the state and play at different venues in 2026 before moving into their new ground. No home venue is currently listed on the club's schedule.

Long-time Jamaica international Shavar Thomas is the club's head coach. The most notable names currently on the roster are Finnish youth international Michael Boamah and senior Panama international Reyniel Perdomo.

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