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MLS attendance record: List of top crowds in league history with Lionel Messi close to El Trafico mark originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
A special July 4th edition of El Trafico, the affectionate name for the fierce Los Angeles derby rivalry, holds the all-time mark for the highest attendance for a standalone match in MLS history.
The 2023 Independence Day event was held at the Rose Bowl, where 82,110 fans jammed in to watch a shock LA Galaxy win, followed by a fireworks show.
The LA Galaxy vs. LAFC match blew past Charlotte FC's mark of 74,479 set during their expansion season in 2022, just short of a sellout at Bank of America Stadium. According to reports, the Rose Bowl was evenly split between LA Galaxy and LAFC fans.
The Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, California once played home to the LA Galaxy, before they moved to their current home, Dignity Health Sports Park, in 2003. Thus, this will be their first match back in their old stomping grounds for over 20 years.
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Making History
A new standalone @MLS attendance record!
: https://t.co/AoWnWhRSYRpic.twitter.com/8r4rm4jI4m
— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) July 5, 2023
MLS attendance records
Lionel Messi has had his say on the attendance records since joining MLS.
A visit from Messi's side Inter Miami helped the Colorado Rapids set the second-highest number in MLS history in April of 2026. It was the fourth time Messi had visited an opposing team in front of a top-10 MLS crowd since joining the Herons, and third time it happened in 2026 after trips to LAFC and D.C. United also made the list.
Atlanta United, which plays at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, held every single MLS attendance record before Charlotte FC came around in 2022 and set the new record at the time with their debut.
Not only did Atlanta previously own all of the top 10 regular season attendances before Charlotte's deubt, with the top mark of 72,548, but Atlanta also registered the top MLS playoff attendance at the time with 73,019 for the 2018 MLS Cup final against Portland.
But the Five Stripes and their faithful haven't made a run at the top 10 since the 2020 home opener, which now ranks No. 6 on the list.
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Top 10 MLS attendances in history (regular season)
| Rank | Team | Date | Opponent | Attendance | Stadium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | LA Galaxy | July 4, 2023 | LAFC | 82,110 | Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA) |
| 2. | Colorado Rapids | Apr. 18, 2026 | Inter Miami | 75,824 | Mile High Stadium (Denver, CO) |
| 3. | LAFC | Feb. 21, 2026 | Inter Miami | 75,673 | LA Memorial Coliseum (Los Angeles, CA) |
| 4. | Charlotte FC | March 5, 2022 | LA Galaxy | 74,479 | Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, NC) |
| 5. | Sporting KC | Apr. 13, 2024 | Inter Miami | 72,610 | Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City, MO) |
| 6. | Atlanta United | Aug. 3, 2019 | LA Galaxy | 72,548 | Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, GA) |
| 7. | Atlanta United | July 15, 2018 | Seattle | 72,243 | Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, GA) |
| 8. | Atlanta United | Mar. 11, 2018 | D.C. United | 72,035 | Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, GA) |
| 9. | D.C. United | Mar. 7, 2026 | Inter Miami | 72,026 | M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, MD) |
| 10. | Atlanta United | Sept. 22, 2018 | Real Salt Lake | 72,017 | Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, GA) |
Highest USA soccer attendances
The top 10 largest soccer attendances in the United States in history have been split between two stadiums, purely based on their capacity: the Rose Bowl in Pasadena California, and Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The largest-ever recorded attendance for a soccer match in the United States was a friendly between Manchester United and Real Madrid in the run-up to the 2014-15 European soccer season, which entertained 109,318 fans.
In fact, the International Champions Cup (ICC) exhibition series of friendlies between high-profile European clubs produced three of the top four all-time soccer attendances in the United States, all coming at Michigan Stadium.
| Rank | Match | Date | Competition | Attendance | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Man United vs. Real Madrid | 2014 | Exhibition (ICC) | 109,318 | Michigan Stadium |
| 2. | Chelsea vs. Real Madrid | 2016 | Exhibition (ICC) | 105,826 | Michigan Stadium |
| 3. | France vs. Brazil | 1984 | Olympics | 101,799 | Rose Bowl |
| 4. | Liverpool vs. Man United | 2018 | Exhibition (ICC) | 101,254 | Michigan Stadium |
| 5. | Yugoslavia vs. Italy | 1984 | Olympics | 100,374 | Rose Bowl |
| 6. | Yugoslavia vs. France | 1984 | Olympics | 97,451 | Rose Bowl |
| 7. | Brazil vs. Italy | 1994 | FIFA World Cup | 94,194 | Rose Bowl |
| 8. | USA vs. Romania | 1994 | FIFA World Cup | 93,869 | Rose Bowl |
| 9. | USA vs. Mexico | 2015 | CONCACAF Gold Cup | 93,723 | Rose Bowl |
| 10. | Real Madrid vs. Juventus | 2022 | Exhibition (Soccer Champions Tour) | 93,702 | Rose Bowl |
The largest crowd ever for a U.S. national team game unsurprisingly came on the world's biggest stage at the 1994 World Cup. The United States played Romania, Colombia, and Switzerland in group stage play, all at the Rose Bowl, with two of those matches appearing on the Top 10 list.
The game against Romania was the highest-attended U.S. men's national game in history with 93,869 on hand.
The U.S. women's national team's highest attendance also came at the Rose Bowl, with the 1999 FIFA World Cup final against China officially registered at 90,185.
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