Did you all have the 2026 MLS schedule dropping in November - while the MLS Cup Playoffs were still going on? Yeah, neither did I. In all honesty, I was fully anticipating the schedule to get dropped sometime after the holidays.
I thought about doing a simple line of “there are 34 games, 17 home and 17 away” type of comment to breakdown the schedule yesterday and move on. But, I am also a big planner when it comes to travel and naturally yesterday’s announcement game me plenty of things to ponder for next year in terms of road trips to cover FC Dallas.
While I may still write up some road trips worth taking in the coming weeks, let’s dive into some things that really stood out as a win with this schedule release, and some other things that I’m not sure I love just yet.
Drew Epperley
Three things we love about the 2026 schedule
Copa Tejas feels nicely spread out
For the last couple of seasons, MLS has done Copa Tejas dirty. Loads of back-to-back games for the three clubs against once another, which kills the fire and passion of a rivalry game.
In 2026, things will be a bit more spread out. Here's the Copa Tejas schedule for 2026. (Home team is listed first.)
- March 21, Dallas vs. Houston
- April 25, Austin vs. Houston
- July 25, Houston vs. Austin
- Aug. 15, Austin vs. Dallas
- Sept. 19, Dallas vs. Austin
- Oct. 17, Houston vs. Dallas
Sure, if you are a Houston supporter (and if you are, welcome to this spot…glad you’re here), this schedule probably isn’t ideal for you all. After all, you could easily be eliminated from winning Copa Tejas before the summer wraps up.
As a Dallas fan, this is a fairly evenly spread out schedule for Copa Tejas. We get that early game with Houston (thank God it isn’t a season opener this year…that was stupid in 2025), and then there is some space before the next match on the schedule with Austin.
In reality, Copa Tejas will be a thing that FC Dallas can control its own destiny in next season.
