MLS Teams Ranked by Average Age: From the League’s Youngest to Oldest Squads
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The 2026 Major League Soccer season began Feb. 21. Last year, veterans Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Oscar Ustari and Luis Suarez – all in their mid to late 30s – led Inter Miami to its first MLS Cup title. Will the old guard hold sway again in 2026, or will a youth movement be the new way to go?
Bookies.com, your home for top sports betting promos, used rosters on ESPN’s website to rank MLS team rosters based on the average age of players early in the 2026 season.
MLS Average Age: Youngest to Oldest
We compiled these average roster ages according to ESPN rosters as of March 4, 2026, as part of our soccer betting insight.
Alba and Busquets retired after last season, but Inter Miami returns 38-year-old GOAT striker Messi and two 39-year-olds, forward Suarez and goalkeeper Ustari, in their bid to repeat as champions. Yet Miami’s roster is the 11th-youngest in the league, at an average of 24.56 years.
Who Are The Youngest Teams in MLS 2026?
The Philadelphia Union have moved to the top of our list with a roster at an average age of 23.06 years.
Philadelphia native Cavan Sullivan, above, became the youngest MLS player ever when he debuted in 2024 at 14 years, 293 days. The midfielder, now 16, is still the youngest player on the Union’s roster after appearing in 11 MLS games last season and the first two this season.
Goalkeeper Andrew Rick and defender Frankie Westfield also played key roles as teens last season; they are now both 20. Forward Sal Olivas and D Finn Sundstrom, both 19, appeared in the first two games of the season for the Union (0-0-2).
Philly’s odds to win MLS Cup are +1700 with FanDuel Sportsbook as of March 4.
There is a three-way tie for the second-youngest team, at 23.13 years.
For Real Salt Lake, this is not just a rebuilding movement because these kids – some too young to place wagers at legal sports betting apps – can play. Leading Real Salt Lake’s youth brigade is Diego Luna, who has been lighting it up for the U.S. Men’s National Team as well as MLS. Luna, now 22, led RSL with nine regular-season goals in 2025. Other prominent youngsters back this season include Zavier Gozo, 18, and Ariath Piol, 21. And 17-year-old Luca Moisa played in RSL’s first two games of the 2026 regular season. RSL has +6000 odds with Caesars Sportsbook to ride its wave of youth all the way to the championship of the 30-team league in 2026.
Sporting Kansas City is turning to the likes of American D Ian James, 17, and Ghanaian midfielder Kwaku Agyabeng, 19, early in the 2026 season. Through two regular-season MLS games, none of the starters for Sporting KC were over 30. At bet365 Sportsbook, KC has +4000 odds to reach the MLS Cup final, one of the longest longshots on the operator’s board.
The third team tied for the second-youngest squad in the league is Red Bull New York. Their 17-year-old striker, Julian Hall, has scored all three of RBNY’s goals through two games. The New York City native broke into the lineup sporadically in 2024, played a larger role last year (mostly as a substitute) and now is carrying the offense, at least in the very early stages of the season. Hall also played for the United States in the recent Under-17 World Cup.
Who Are The Oldest Teams in MLS 2026?
On the other end of the scale, the Houston Dynamo has the oldest roster in MLS for the 2026 season, at 27.16 years.
The big offseason news for Houston, which missed the playoffs last season, was that the Dynamo re-acquired 35-year-old midfielder Hector Herrera, a three-time World Cup player for Mexico. Herrera played for Houston from 2022-24 before returning to his native Mexico for two seasons at Toluca. He also has been part of league champion squads in Europe with Porto and Atletico Madrid.
At DraftKings Sportsbook, Houston has +1600 odds to top the Western Conference in the regular season.
Other veterans over 30 that the Dynamo picked up in the offseason include Agustín Bouzat, 31, from Argentina’s Velez Sarsfield; Brazilian Guilherme Augusto, 30, from Santos; and Franco Negri, 31, from MLS rival San Diego FC. Returning starters from last year include goalkeeper Jonathan Bond, 32.
The Seattle Sounders (average 26.57 years) are the second-oldest team in MLS. Veteran Colombian D Yeimar Gomez, with the club since 2020, is still a starter at age 33, and the club is counting on a few other over-30 stalwarts such as M Albert Rusnak and Fs Jordan Morris and Paul Arriola. That does not even account for 39-year-old goalkeeper Stefan Frei, who has been with the Sounders since 2013; Frei has yet to start in 2026.
Seattle has +1800 odds at BetRivers Sportsbook to lift the 2026 MLS Cup.
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