Seattle's envisioned 2026 FIFA World Cup fan zone at Seattle Center is downsized and divvied up among downtown neighborhoods. Instead of a projected 30,000 visitors descending daily on a 74-acre outdoor space, the Seattle Center fan zone will move indoors to The Armory. Three other confirmed fan spaces will be Waterfront Park, Pacific Place and Victory Hall in Sodo.

Lumen Field's initial transition into a World Cup venue concludes with the completed installation of the grass playing surface. Since late February, approximately 14 inches of sand and other base materials were installed on top of the existing artificial turf before sod was laid down. Installation of the grass field started in late February and will be used for at least 17 matches over three months, beginning with the April 14 USA-Japan women's international friendly. When all the soccer is done, the grass and base materials will be removed, and the previous artificial surface will be prepared for use by the Reign and Sounders for the balance of their seasons, plus the Seahawks' NFL season.

Seattle Soccer Celebration, a custom-built soccer pitch constructed atop a barge, will be positioned alongside Waterfront Park at Pier 62 throughout the World Cup. The Sounders, Reign and Rave Foundation announce the barge will also feature giant viewing screens and other spaces enclosed in a theater-type setting by shipping containers along the sides. Although there will be Rave Foundation and youth events, it will primarily be a premium ticketed space that can accommodate up to 500. Pier 62 will remain a free public fan zone, one of four around the city during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Getting a late, late winner from Osaze De Rosario, the Sounders beat league-leading San Jose, 3-2, to complete a season sweep of the Earthquakes, whose only losses have come to Seattle. It extends the record home unbeaten streak to 22 (16-0-6) and matches, and the Sounders are undefeated in nine games (6-0-3) overall), despite a rash of injuries. goals on either side of halftime by Albert Rusnak (penalty) and a long, spectacular solo effort from Jesus Ferreira erase an early Quakes goal. De Rosario's 89' header is his second off the bench.

For the first time since opening in 1997, Seattle's Interbay Stadium is getting additional seating. The LLC for Salmon Bay FC and Ballard FC will fund the initial expansion, adding 267 bleacher seats behind the southeast sideline for the upcoming USL League Two season. If demand warrant, a second phase will add another 267 bleacher seats behind the southwest sideline. Interbay has seated approximately 900, plus standing room areas. Seattle Pacific paid $3.3 million for the stadium's construction and its men's and women's teams both pay and train there. The Seattle Parks Department maintains the stadium.

Richie Aman of 2025 NCAA champion Washington finishes as a runner-up in the MAC Hermann trophy balloting in St. Louis. Donavan Phillip of national runner-up North Carolina State is the 2025 winner.

Seattle's Sally Menti caps a magical 10 months by earning her first international cap. Menti, who made the Seattle Reign's 2025 squad as a trialist, debuts for the United State as a second-half substitute along with the Reigh's Maddie Dahlien in a 6-0 friendly win over Paraguay in Carson, Ca.

On World Cancer Day 2026, Kasey Keller reveals that he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2010, between his second and third seasons with the Sounders. Keller, 56, also notes that he is in full remission. In 2010, an MRI for a hip injury led to Keller's initial cancer diagnosis. After completing his storied career in 2011, he experienced weight loss and swollen lymph nodes in 2017, with his diagnosis changing to large B cell lymphoma. Keller was among the first people to try the new drug Breyanzi in 2021. The results were immediate: Keller was in remission within two months.

A long sought-after wish to play in Europe is realized for Obed Vargas when the 20-year-old midfielder moves from the Sounders to Atlético Madrid for a reported record $4 million, plus a 20 percent sell-on fee. Since becoming the third-youngest (15 years, 351 days) player in MLS history in 2021, Vargas became a Seattle fixture over five seasons and 129 appearances. He makes his Atléti debut on Feb. 5.

A year after joining the Sounders FC Academy system, 14-year-old winger Cris Batiz signs for Tacoma Defiance and becomes the youngest player to sign a professional contract in Sounders organization history. Batiz made 14 appearances in MLS NEXT in 2025. Prior to coming to Seattle, Batiz played for Academia Internacional de Fútbol Leones in his hometown of San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

Seattle caps a stretch of five straight road matches by winning, 1-0, at Houston on Paul Rothrock's goal with 7 minutes to go. Cristian Roldan becomes only the second Sounder to reach 400 appearances, joining Stefan Frei. While Lumen Field underwent World Cup renovations, the Rave Green went 3-1-1 away.

Despite a record performance and five-match unbeaten run to finish the season, the Spokane Zephyr is denied a USL Super League playoff berth by the slimmest of margins. For a few hours, the Zephyr’s 4-0 home win over Brooklyn puts them in fourth place, only to have Dallas regain the final postseason slot with a win. It is the biggest winning margin in the club’s first two years, and Lena Silano scores her team-high seventh goal in the final minutes. Starting April three games under .500, Spokane goes 4-0-1 down the stretch to finish 10-9-9, one point behind Dallas.

The first U.S. Women's National Team visit to Seattle since 2017 attracts 36,128 to Lumen Field, a record Washington attendance for a women's sporting event. Japan keeps the crowd relatively quiet in winning the friendly, 1-0, played in a steady rain over a younger USWNT lineup. It's the first U.S. loss for in 2026 after winning 10 in a row. Ex-Reign members Phallon-Tullis-Joyce and Emily Sonnett started, but current Seattle keeper Claudia Dickey is held out. It is the first match played on a newly-installed grass surface for the World Cup.

Two Sounders FC Academy teams reach the late stages of the Generation adidas Cup in Bradenton, Fl., with the U15 boys falling, 5-0, in the final to Spain's Valencia. Cris Batiz earns the tournament Golden Boot with six goals. Seattle is the only club with two teams advancing to semifinals. Brazil's Red Bull Bragantino eliminated the U16s, 3-2, in the semifinals.

Hundreds from the University of Washington and greater soccer community gather inside Alaska Airlines Arena to honor and remember UW goalkeeper Mia Hamant, who died in November. She was 21. Many in attendance wear orange clothing and orange ribbons, the color of kidney cancer awareness.

One of the last NWSL originals and the face of Seattle Reign for 13 years, Jess Fishlock s 2026 with her final season as a player. Fishlock, 39, ranks No. 2 in all-time leagues appearances and has been a seven-time Best XI selection in midfield, including 2021 when she was MVP.

The Sounders' 2026 opener versus Colorado is extended to 61 minutes by referee Malik Badawi in what proves to be the longest recorded regulation home match of two hours, six minutes. The Sounders, who lead 1-0 at halftime, proceed to win, 2-0. It is surpassed only by a lightning-delayed game at Houston (2:57) in 2023. Multiple Video Reviews and injury substitutions are the culprit. VAR reverses a second Seattle goal (later determined by PRO to be an incorrect judgment) and rescinds a red card issued to the Rapids' Noah Cobb.

Both the Seattle Reign and Sounders announce a combined total of four matches to be played at One Spokane Stadium in March and April. The Sounders, already scheduled for five straight MLS road matches while grass is installed at Lumen Field, will begin by hosting Vancouver in a March 18 Concacaf Champions Cup second leg. The Reign's first three home dates will be in Spokane: March 25 vs. Kansas City March 28 vs. Louisville and April 4 vs. Denver.

The NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Oversight Committee adopts legislation to change the sport’s playing season to two semesters, effective Aug. 1, 2027. The D1 Cabinet will review the matter in June before final approval. D1 programs would play up to 18 matches in the fall, between late August until the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Spring play would run from mid-February until NCAA tournament play begins in April, with a maximum of 10 more regular season contests and a combined total not to exceed 25. The College Cup would move to May. No other divisions would be affected.

The Royal Belgian FA officially confirms that the Seattle Sounders' headquarters in Renton will serve as its World Cup training base. All three of Belgium’s group stage matches are located on the West Coast, including its opening fixture in Seattle against Egypt on June 15.

A Spokane City Council agenda inadvertently confirms that Egypt has chosen Gonzaga's Luger Field as its World Cup training base. Mohamed Salah and his team are scheduled to play group stage matches June 15 and 26 in Seattle. During the spring Luger Field underwent renovations, including a new FIFA-standard sod surface in anticipation of becoming a national team training base.

Seattle Reign’s 5,000-mile round trip to Orlando results in a season-opening win, 2-1, amidst numerous weather and travel delays. Heavy thunderstorms at halftime delay the restart by nearly three hours. The trip began with a four-hour flight delay due to snow at SeaTac International. Returning home, multiple commercial flights home were canceled over 36 hours before a charter flight was arranged. The Reign played at Portland 72 hours after arriving home.

Everett's City Council votes 6-1 to approve an extra $10.6 million toward completing the planning phase of a new downtown stadium for a USL team and baseball. First approved by the council in 2022, the ballpark is expected to break ground in September and be completed in late 2027. It will host a USL club and the Everett AquaSox. The City Council has now approved nearly $18M for the $120M Everett Outdoor Event Center.

Major League Soccer unveils the plans for its 2027 transition to a global-conforming schedule. A "sprint season" of 14 intra-conference matches will run from February to April, followed by single-elimination playoffs and the MLS Cup final in May. the first full season using the new calendar will begin in July 2027 and finish – following a winter break – with the MLS Cup final in May 2028.

A Spokane record sell-out crowd of 5,126 at One Spokane Stadium sees the Seattle Sounders defeat the Vancouver Whitecaps, 2-1 (5-1 aggregate), in the second leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16. It is the first Sounders competitive match of any iteration played east of the Cascades. Peter Kingston, on a short-term loan from Tacoma Defiance, assists on late second-half goals four minutes apart by Danny Musovski and Paul Rothrock.

U.S. Soccer announces that the U.S. Women's National Team is returning to Seattle on April 14. Unlike past USWNT fixtures at Lumen Field, this one will be played on the grass installed for the upcoming 20226 FIFA World Cup. The last women's international played on grass in Seattle was the 2002 Gold Cup at Safeco Field.

An Albert Rusnak brace and second-half surge was not enough for the Sounders to overcome a first-leg deficit in the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions Cup. Seattle beats Tigres, 3-1, in the second leg at Lumen Field, but the Mexicans prevail on the away goals tiebreaker in aggregate, 3-3. Playing in a cold rain, the Rave Green bounce back from allowing a first-half equalizer with Rusnak's second and Danny Musovski's 82' strike.

The U.S. Soccer Adult Council names 2025 Outstanding Men’s Amateur Soccer Club award for Mount Vernon's Tim Busch. Busch has served for decades as President of the Washington State Soccer Association. He played a central role in expanding adult competition and strengthening club pathways and was instrumental in the creation of the Washington Super Cup.

A 9-foot-tall silicon bronze sculpture commemorating Seattle welcoming the world ahead of the FIFA World Cup is unveiled at Lumen Field's North Plaza. 'Vital Spirit' is the work of Seattle artist Gerard Tsutakawa. It depicts an abstract figure standing on two legs, one with gentle curves, the other with angular edges. They conjoin at the top in a circle which symbolizes the unity of the world.

Sofia Huerta's early penalty kick snaps a record 510-minute scoreless drought for the Reign, which goes on to beat Boston, 2-1, at Pawtucket, R.I. It also ends Seattle's five-match winless skid (0-3-2). Huerta scores from the spot in the 11th minute after Maddie Dahlien's header is handled. Dahlien volleys home Maddie Curry's cross at 51' for what proves to be the winner in the first meeting with the expansion Legacy.

After appearing on the Spokane scene to great fanfare, less than three years later the Zephyr ceases to exist as a USL Super League member. The unexpected news comes four days after Spokane completed its second season, just missing the playoffs for the second year in a row. The Zephyr reportedly drew roughly 2,500 fans in its inaugural season, but attendance fell by nearly 1,000 fans per game in 2025-26. Given their geographic isolation as the only franchise west of Texas, travel costs were unquestionably the highest in the nine-team women’s league. Owner Aequus Sports finalized a 10-year contract in September 2023 to play professional soccer at ONE Spokane Stadium. Aequus continues to operate the Velocity men’s team in USL League One.