Philadelphia Union 2026 Expectations: MLS Season

The United States will be a hotbed for the World’s game in 2026. Everything is ramping up for the joint Canada, Mexico, and USA World Cup in June, but before that, MLS sets the stage.  Can the team that represents the birthplace of the USA celebrate the nation’s 250th year by being successful on the pitch?

The Philadelphia Union enters 2026 as the reigning Supporters’ Shield trophy winners. Despite being the top overall seed, they fell short in the 2025 MLS Cup Playoff,s getting upset by NYCFC. As Philly enters their 2026 campaign, they have questions to answer: can they compete to be the top team again, will they overcome key players leaving the club, and what is going on with the club's overall culture on and off the field?

These questions lead to expectation setting for the year to come, and there are five key areas to look at; they are:

• MLS Season
• Cup Competitions
• Roster Build & Player Development
• Tactics & Style of Play
• Team Culture & Vibes

The Union will be in multiple competitions this season, will have to integrate new key players and develop others, will need to hone their tactics on the pitch while playing more than last year, and will need to cultivate positive team vibes all around. Over the next few days, we will take a look at each of these five areas and set expectations, starting here with the MLS Season.

MLS Season Expectations

34 matches from the end of February to the beginning of November will determine how good the Philadelphia Union's 2026 season will be. As is customary with this schedule format, Philly will play each Eastern Conference team home-and-away, and then six teams from the West, three home and three away.

After the success the club had last season, it would be easy to say the goal is to finish top for the second year in a row. However, MLS is a league of parity, so that is rather unrealistic. The expectations for this year have to be tempered a bit in MLS.

Baseline Success: Secure a top-four finish in the East

MLS’s playoff structure makes it so the top seven teams from each conference make the playoffs, while spots eight and nine have to battle in a wildcard game for the chance to take on the top seed. For Philly in 2026, their baseline success should be to be one of the top four teams that get home-field advantage in round one of the playoffs.

The Union is replacing three key starters in Tai Baribo (now with DC United), Jakob Glesnes (Now with LA Galaxy), and Kai Wagner (now with Birmingham City). This makes the baseline success in MLS lower than last year. Even with the changes in the starting XI, Philly still has a clear style of play that can help them overcome their absences. This means they should still be able to secure a top-four spot in the East, even if the conference's bottom teams improve.

Unmitigated Failure: Finnish 8th or below

The disastrous 2026 MLS season would see Philadelphia finish in a wildcard spot or below. While their baseline of success should be a top-four finish, getting a playoff spot between the five and seven seeds wouldn’t constitute unmitigated failure. However, falling to a wild-card spot, or even not making the playoffs in 2026, would and should be seen as very unsuccessful.

Philly will play in the Concacaf Champions Cup at the beginning of their MLS season and will have to play in the Leagues Cup at the end of the summer. Will those competitions beat this club down and its breakneck style of play? We'll see if they do; we could see Philly fall into this realm of regular-season failure. However, the Union's track record of competing in these competitions and remaining competitive in MLS is positive; let's hope they don’t buck that trend.

Overachieving Success: Win the East for a 2nd year in a row

In MLS, it is evident that clubs need to have a clear identity in how they play from game one of the season to be successful. This is why the Union was successful in 2025. They came out in their high-paced pressing style, stacked points early, and used it to beat down lesser opponents. This year, Philly hopes to do the same, and if they do, their goal of repeating as the top team in the East may just be within reach.

Many pundits project the Union as a top-10 club in MLS this season. They have had success year over year without a star player by playing their way, regardless of who is on the pitch. It has led to consistent top-four finishes in four of the last five seasons. Can they make it five of the last six seasons? Will the Union, who could possibly play 49 matches with their MLS Season, CCC campaign, and Leagues Cup participation, be able to keep pace with other top teams? We’ll find out when things kick off. Nine days until the first match; 12 days until MLS is back!