MLS sets schedule for its July 8 return

LAFC will play Galaxy in group-play round of tournament.

LAFC will open next month’s MLS Is Back tournament on July 13 against the Houston Dynamo while the Galaxy will play the Portland Timbers in their group-play opener on the same day.

The 54-match tournament, which kicks off July 8, will be played entirely behind closed doors at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Fla., and will make MLS the first men’s professional league to return to play since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sports in the U.S. in early March.

MLS teams were two games into their 34-game schedules when play was halted. LAFC was unbeaten with a win and a draw while the Galaxy, at 0-1-1, are winless.

The Galaxy and LAFC will face each other in their second group-play match on July 18 before finishing the first round five days later, the Galaxy playing Houston and LAFC meeting Portland. The LAFC-Portland game will be the final match of the 39-game opening stage.

Under the competition format, each team will play three group-play games that will count in the regular-season standings. The top two teams in each of the six groups, plus the four best third-place teams, will advance to the knockout stages culminating in an Aug. 11 championship. At stake is $1.1 million in prize money and a berth in the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League for the winner.

Teams are required to arrive in Florida at least a week before their first game, meaning the Galaxy and LAFC will have to break training camp in Southern California by July 5. All 26 MLS teams will be quarantined at Disney’s Swan and Dolphin resort in Orlando, where they will undergo a COVID-19 testing protocol.

The San Jose Earthquakes, who have not been able to train at home because of local COVID-19 restrictions, were the first team to arrive, entering the protective bubble Wednesday. If the Earthquakes reach the tournament final, their players and staff will be quarantined for seven weeks.

The run-up to the competition comes at a time when Florida is dealing with a severe spike in COVID cases. The state reported a record 5,511 positive tests Wednesday and is one of seven states with more than 100,000 infections.

In the past two weeks, Orange County, where Orlando is located, has had 2,561 people test positive for the coronavirus, more than 40% of them between the ages of 20 and 29.