Philadelphia Union open 2019 vs Toronto FC; 2019 MLS home openers announced

Yesterday (December 20, 2018), Major League Soccer announced the home openers of all 24 teams. The Philadelphia Union will open their season at home March 2nd, 2019 against Toronto FC.

Philadelphia Union vs Toronto FC, March 2nd @ 1:00 PM:

https://twitter.com/PhilaUnion/status/1075798491337773057

The Union open their season at home against the team that greatly under-preformed in 2018. Toronto FC followed up their treble winning 2017 (MLS Cup, Supporters Shield, Canadian Championship) with a lackluster 2018. Toronto put all their eggs in the CONCACAF Champions League basket, and the repercussions were a losing season in MLS. In 2019 Toronto will come to Philly looking to start their MLS campaign on the front foot.

TFC will be in the midst of another CONCACAF Champions League campaign when MLS kicks off in 2019. The Union will not be. Their US Open Cup Final loss this past September secured that. This could be a blessing in disguise for the Union. They will be able to be raring to go on March 2nd, while Toronto will have already played a game three days before the MLS season kicks off. With Toronto FC possibly losing Jozy Altidore this off-season, the Canadian power may be weakened for this match!

There are still 71 days until the start of the MLS season, but it’s never to early to get excited about all the match-ups!

MLS home openers announced:

Save the date(s). ?

The 2019 home openers are set! pic.twitter.com/idoRSNqkme

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) December 20, 2018

24 games have been announced by MLS. While it’s still early in the off-season. Some match-ups are salivating, and make us wish March was right around the corner.

Here’s a list of all the home openers!

Saturday, March 2, 2019:

1:00 PM ET – Philadelphia Union vs. Toronto FC
2:30 PM ET – Orlando City SC vs. NYCFC
4:30 PM ET – Columbus Crew SC vs. NY Red Bulls
4:30 PM ET – FC Dallas vs. New England Revolution
6:00 PM ET – Houston Dynamo vs. Real Salt Lake
6:00 PM ET – Colorado Rapids vs. Portland Timbers
6:00 PM ET – Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Minnesota United
8:00 PM ET – LA Galaxy vs. Chicago Fire
10:00 PM ET – Seattle Sounders vs. FC Cincinnati
10:00 PM ET – San Jose Earthquakes vs. Montreal Impact

Sunday, March 3, 2019:

6:00 PM ET – D.C. United vs. Atlanta United
8:00 PM ET – LAFC vs. Sporting KC

Saturday, March 9, 2019:

1:00 PM ET – Chicago Fire vs. Orlando City SC
2:00 PM ET – New England Revolution vs. Columbus Crew SC
6:00 PM ET – Real Salt Lake vs. Vancouver Whitecaps

Sunday, March 10, 2019:

3:00 PM ET – NYCFC vs. D.C. United
3:00 PM ET – Sporting KC vs. Philadelphia Union
5:00 PM ET – Atlanta United vs. FC Cincinnati

Saturday, March 16, 2019:

TBD – NY Red Bulls vs. San Jose Earthquakes

Sunday, March 17, 2019:

1:30 PM ET – Toronto FC vs. New England Revolution
5:00 PM ET – FC Cincinnati vs. Portland Timbers

Saturday, April 13, 2019:

1:00 PM ET – Montreal Impact vs. Columbus Crew SC
5:00 PM ET – Minnesota United vs. NYCFC

Saturday, June 1, 2019:

10:30 PM ET – Portland Timbers vs. LAFC

Philadelphia start season vs Toronto and @ Kansas City:

@PhilaUnion open their 2019 season

vs @torontofc March 2nd, @ 1:30 pm
@ @SportingKC March 10th @ 3:00 pm#DOOP | #MLS

— Tim Lovenguth (@Tim_Lovenguth) December 21, 2018

We already know that the Union will open the season at home vs Toronto FC, but their week two match was also announced. Philadelphia will travel to Sporting Kansas City to take on the 2018 number one seed of the West. SKC looks to be building around the core players they had last year. If they do this they could be even better than they were last year.

The Union’s first two weeks of their 2019 MLS campaign are set. They get two strong teams to start the season, which could be a good way to sneak some points off of two teams just getting into the swing of the 2019 season. MLS should announce the rest of the 2019 season in the weeks to come!