The MLS – known as Major League Soccer – is a North American football competition which represents the highest level of the sport in both the United States and Canada.

There are 26 teams in the MLS with 23 coming from the US and the other three representing Canada. The competition is set to expand to 30 clubs by the 2023 season.

The MLS was founded on the back of FIFA’s decision to give the 1994 World Cup hosting rights to the United States. Despite humble beginnings and financial worries, the league has grown and by 2013 was seventh on the list of highest attended football competitions in the world.

The league is also helping to popularize the sport in the United States with football now attracting the third-highest attendance of all professional sports in the country – only behind the NFL and Major League Baseball.

Just like other American sports leagues, the MLS operates with a fixed membership franchise system. This means that the competition is one of the few football leagues in the world without promotion or relegation.

The structure of the competition is also different to most other major football leagues. The 26 clubs are separated into two geographical conferences, Eastern and Western. Each club plays two games against every other team in their conference – plus, one game against ten of the other 13 sides in the other conference.

The top seven teams from each conference progress into the play-offs which culminate with a championship game at the end of the season.