Sporting Kc Vs San Jose: Kansas City Names 22-Player Roster, Leaves Eight Open Slots for MLS Opener
sporting kc vs san jose kicks off Sporting Kansas City's 2026 MLS campaign Saturday at 9: 30 p. m. CT on Apple TV, with Kansas City traveling to PayPal Park. The club disclosed its roster composition on Feb. 20, showing 22 rostered players and eight open roster slots as new roster rules and player statuses factor into the season’s opening decisions.
Sporting Kc Vs San Jose — Development details
Sporting Kansas City entered the 2026 season with 22 players officially on the roster and eight vacancies across its combined senior and supplemental lists. The club has filled 15 of 20 places on the Senior Roster and seven of 10 on the Supplemental Roster. Four players currently occupy international roster slots: Kwaku Agyabeng, Zorhan Bassong, Lasse Berg Johnsen and Shapi Suleymanov, leaving four international slots open after Designated Players Manu Garcia and Dejan Joveljic received green cards and ceased to occupy those slots.
The club announced it selected the U22 Initiative Player Model for 2026, a construction approach that allows up to two Designated Players alongside up to four U22 Initiative Players while providing up to an additional $2 million in General Allocation Money (GAM). MLS clubs may reconsider their roster construction model at midseason, between July 1 and the close of the Secondary Transfer Window on Sept. 2.
Context and escalation
The roster disclosure comes on the eve of Sporting KC’s trip to face the San Jose Earthquakes, who will host the opener at PayPal Park. The timing matters because the club finalized player designations and international slot usage before the season’s first match, creating immediate clarity about available roster moves. The U22 Initiative selection and recently freed international slots present the team with tangible roster-building capacity during the window that opens at midseason.
On the opposing side, San Jose has bolstered attacking depth with the arrival of Timo Werner, which alters the competitive dynamic in the opener and factors into Kansas City’s preparation for the match.
Immediate impact
The most immediate consequence is roster flexibility. With eight open slots—three on the Senior Roster and three on the Supplemental Roster unfilled—the club can still add players before or during transfer windows, and has four open international roster spots available for foreign signings. What makes this notable is that two Designated Players securing green cards directly increased the club’s available international capacity, converting occupied international slots into domestic roster space.
On the field, Sporting Kansas City enters the match under pressure to tighten a defense that conceded 70 goals last season; that figure puts extra demand on the new-look backline to protect veteran goalkeeper John Pulskamp. The composition of the roster, and which of the remaining open slots are filled before key windows close, will shape how the club addresses that defensive urgency.
Forward outlook
Key milestones ahead are already defined by league rules and the club’s timeline: the midseason opportunity to update the U22 Initiative selection opens July 1 and remains available until the Secondary Transfer Window closes Sept. 2. Between now and then Sporting Kansas City can use up to two Designated Player slots and up to four U22 Initiative slots under the current model, and may access up to $2 million in additional GAM tied to that model.
In the short term, the immediate task is the season opener. The sporting kc vs san jose match will test how the current 22-player roster and remaining open slots translate into on-field cohesion, while the club retains the capacity to make further moves during the transfer window and at midseason.
