Atlanta United Academy teams have concluded the 2025-26 regular season, and a club-record four squads are set to begin postseason runs this weekend. Headlined by the U-13, U-14, U-16 and U-18 squads, the 2026 MLS NEXT Cup presented by Allstate begins on Saturday, May 23. Â
Atlanta United’s U-16 team opens its NEXT Cup run against Cedar Stars Academy Bergen U-17 at 8:15 a.m. ET on Sunday. The U-16 squad finished its 2025-26 season second in the Southeast Pro Player Pathway Division with a 10-5-2 record (32 points), but secured postseason qualification through MLS NEXT Flex in April after finishing top of the group with a perfect 3-0-0 record. The U-16s will be helmed by Colby Childress, who brings nearly nine years of previous coaching experience at the MLS Academy level.
The Atlanta United U-18 squad will kick off its NEXT Cup run against Indy Eleven U-19 on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. The U-18 team, which finished fifth in the Southeast Pro Player Pathway Division with a 7-7-3 record (24 points), secured its spot at NEXT Cup after topping its group at MLS NEXT Flex with an undefeated 1-0-2 record. The U-18s will be led by Steven Turek, who was previously head coach of the Hannover 96 U-16 and U-17 teams in the Under 17 Bundesliga.
Atlanta United’s U-13 and U-14 teams begin their Championship bracket run against Cincinnati United SC and Weston FC respectively, with both games kicking off on Thursday, May 28, at 9 a.m. ET. Atlanta United’s youngest Academy age groups earned their top-bracket berths via an analytical assessment of their offensive and defensive actions across their regular season matches, known as a Quality of Play score. The U-13s 85.9 score was good for first in the Southeast Division, while the U-14s 85.5 score was good for third. Former Gwinnett Soccer Academy coach Skyler Schmidt will lead the U-13s while Bruno Ramos, previously the Director of Futsal and Advanced Development Program at Richmond Strikers, will be in charge of the U-14s.
22 NEXT Cup games, including all eight championship matches, will stream live on the MLS YouTube channel. Three round of 32 matches, three round of 16 matches, four quarterfinal games and four semifinal contests will be available to watch in addition to the eight championship matches.
The full schedule for MLS NEXT Cup presented by Allstate will be available here and the final 2025-26 league standings are available here.
MLS NEXT Cup presented by Allstate matches in the U-15 through U-19 age groups will be 90 minutes in length. If a match is tied at the end of regulation, it will go directly to penalty kicks—except for the championship matches. Championship matches will include two five-minute periods of extra time. If the score stays level after extra time, penalty kicks determine the winner.
The U-13 and U-14 age groups championship matches are scheduled for May 31. All matches will consist of two 30-minute halves (60 minutes total) and will go directly to penalty kicks in the event of a tie, except for the championship matches.
The 2026 MLS NEXT Cup presented by Allstate is the conclusion of the 2025-26 MLS NEXT season, featuring the top teams in each age group (U-13, U-14, U-15, U-16, U-17 and U-19). In the Allstate Homegrown Division within the U-15 through U-19 age groups, 32 teams qualified for the tournament based on their position in league play, the Pro Player Pathway or via MLS NEXT Flex presented by Allstate. The U-13 and U-14 age groups will have 32 teams competing in the Championship bracket with another 32 teams in the Premier bracket. In each age group within the MLS NEXT Academy Division (U-15 to U-19), 16 clubs qualified via league play, and 16 finalists from MLS NEXT Cup Qualifier events will compete for championships in Salt Lake City.
