MLS to break for nine days for World Cup

Major League Soccer’s upcoming season includes a nine-day break in June for the World Cup in Russia.

The league’s hiatus for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil was two weeks. But the U.S. national team, which played in 2014, did not qualify for soccer’s premier tournament this year.

More than two dozen MLS players from other national teams are expected to play in the World Cup, although rosters have not been announced.

The World Cup break will run from June 14-22, during the group stage of the tournament.

The MLS season opens on March 3 with Toronto FC hosting the Columbus Crew in an afternoon match.

The league’s newest team, Los Angeles FC, debuts on March 4 in Seattle against the Sounders.

LAFC will play its first rivalry match against the L.A. Galaxy on March 31 at StubHub Center in Carson, California. LAFC was named as an expansion team in late 2014 shortly after Chivas USA folded.

The team’s ownership group is led by venture capitalist Henry Nguyen, as well as Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Guber and former NBA executive Tom Penn.

The addition of LAFC puts the Western Conference at 12 teams and the Eastern Conference at 11.

The East teams will play two league opponents three times each, and the rest twice, while the West teams will play one league opponent three times and the rest twice.

The Sounders will play the Portland Timbers three times in the Cascadia Cup rivalry. But those two teams will each play the Vancouver Whitecaps just twice, impacting the point system for the rivalry’s annual trophy.

The Timbers open the season with five matches on the road because of the expansion of Providence Park. Portland will play its home opener on April 14 against Minnesota United.

DC United will officially open its new soccer-specific stadium, Audi Field, on July 14 when they host the Whitecaps.