This is a list of

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

clubs in the United States. For clarity, teams based outside the United States that play in USSF-recognized leagues are also listed below, with their home country noted.

Men's soccer clubs

Five professional leagues of soccer teams are sanctioned by the Professional Division of the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

(USSF or U.S. Soccer). The top-level league is

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

(MLS) and the second level is the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

. The third level leagues are

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019. The Division III league is operated by United Soccer League, the same group that operates the Division II USL Championshi ...

, the

National Independent Soccer Association The National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States. The league is in the third tier of American soccer and began play in 2019. NISA initially used a fall-to-spring season format with a ...

and

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS club ...

. The USL Championship and USL League One are operated by the

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

, which also operates the semi-professional

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

Major League Soccer (MLS)

As of 2022, MLS has 28 clubs.

Charlotte FC Charlotte FC is an American professional soccer club based in Charlotte. The team competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The team is owned by David Tepper, who was awarded the expansion franchise ...

joined the league in 2022 and St. Louis City SC is scheduled to join in 2023.

Sacramento Republic FC Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, the ...

had intended to join MLS in 2023, but its MLS bid was placed on indefinite hold after the team's lead investor

Ron Burkle Ronald Wayne Burkle (born November 12, 1952) is an American businessman. He is the co-founder and managing partner of The Yucaipa Companies, LLC, a private investment firm that specializes in U.S. companies in the distribution, logistics, food, ...

pulled out of the deal. * * – Team based in Canada

USL Championship

The

is the parent organization for the

(USSF Division II),

(applied for USSF Division III sanctioning),

, and the youth Super Y-League. In women's soccer, it also operates the

USL W League The USL W League (USLW) is a pre-professional women's soccer league in the United States which began play in May 2022. It was announced on June 8, 2021 by the United Soccer League with eight founding clubs. It follows the USL W-League, a sim ...

and will operate the future

USL Super League The USL Super League (USLS) is a planned Division II professional women's soccer league in the United States, beginning play in 2023. The league will be owned and operated by the United Soccer League. History USL announced the formation of th ...

(applied for USSF women's Division II sanctioning).

Future teams

On hiatus

USL League One

National Independent Soccer Association

Launched in 2019, NISA is a USSF third division league independent from USL.

MLS Next Pro

Future teams

Women's soccer clubs

National Women's Soccer League

As of the current 2022 season, the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

has 12 clubs. Former commissioner

Jeff Plush Jeff Plush is the former CEO of the United States Curling Association (USA Curling) and former commissioner of the National Women's Soccer League. Career Plush served as the Managing Director of the Colorado Rapids from 2006-2011, during which ...

announced that the league planned to expand to 14 teams by 2020. At the time, Plush suggested that the league was in varying stages of talks with a dozen different potential expansion groups, including some from MLS organizations. In April 2016, MLS commissioner

Don Garber Donald P. Garber (born October 9, 1957) is an American sports executive who has served as the Commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999. Garber is also the CEO of Soccer United Marketing and a member of the United States Soccer Federation ...

stated that half of MLS teams could be running National Women's Soccer League teams in the near future. In May 2017,

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

announced that it had approved a plan to launch an expansion team in the league as soon as 2018, but those plans have yet to materialize. The league has expanded prior to each of its two most recent seasons. In 2021,

Racing Louisville FC Racing Louisville Football Club is a National Women's Soccer League team based in Louisville, Kentucky. It began playing in 2021 at Lynn Family Stadium. The team is owned by Soccer Holdings LLC, which also owns Louisville City FC of the USL Cham ...

started play in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, and two California teams started play in 2022—

Angel City FC Angel City Football Club is a National Women's Soccer League expansion team that began play in 2022. The team is based in Los Angeles, California, and was announced on July 21, 2020. The team has many high-profile owners, including Becky G, Natal ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and

San Diego Wave FC San Diego Wave FC is a National Women's Soccer League expansion team that began play in 2022. The team is based in San Diego, San Diego, California. The team is owned by Ron Burkle. The team is the San Diego area's first women's professional soc ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

. The San Diego team had originally been announced for

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, but was placed on indefinite hold due to the issues surrounding the city's attempted MLS bid. The NWSL and the backers of the Sacramento bid then shifted their focus to San Diego, and on June 8, 2021, the NWSL officially announced that the San Diego team would start play in 2022 with former

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's Association football, soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four FIFA Women's World Cup, Wom ...

head coach

Jill Ellis Jillian Anne Ellis (born 6 September 1966) is an English-American soccer coach and executive who is currently the president of San Diego Wave FC. Ellis coached the United States women's national soccer team from 2014 to October 2019 and won two ...

as president.

;Current teams

By city

Notes

References

{{North America topic, List of football clubs in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

Women's soccer clubs in the United States

Men's soccer clubs

Major League Soccer (MLS)

USL Championship

Future teams

On hiatus

USL League One

National Independent Soccer Association

MLS Next Pro

Future teams

Women's soccer clubs

National Women's Soccer League

By city

See also

Notes

References