Folks, it’s that time of year again.
With the season opener at FC Cincinnati this Saturday, Atlanta United’s 2026 campaign is mere days away from kicking off. That means it’s time for our season predictions, where we’re going to do our best to be at least a little closer than we were last year.
As always, we will share both our staff’s predictions and those submitted by y’all, members of our community. Thanks to everyone who took the time to fill out the form and share their opinions!
Without further ado, let’s dive into the predictions.
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Supporters’ Shield
Sydney: 15th
Tommy: 18th
Tyler: 14th
Grey: 15th
Henry: 13th
Jackson: 18th
Community prediction average: 12th
There’s an old saying: “Fool me once, shame on… shame on you… fool me- can’t get fooled again.”
That’s pretty much the vibe with our predictions this season. Folks (understandably) are not willing to get burned again by a team that just can’t seem to get it together, no matter how much money it throws at the problem. Tata Martino is back, bringing his championship-winning experience and legendary managerial skills, which we’re already seeing affect some of the players. That’s where a lot of the perceived improvement from last season is, but it likely won’t be enough to make Atlanta one of the best in the league.
Eastern Conference
Sydney: 6th
Tommy: 9th
Tyler: 7th
Grey: 9th
Henry: 8th
Jackson: 10th
Community prediction average: 6th
The reasoning here is very similar to the one for our Supporters’ Shield predictions: there’s bound to be some improvement with Tata Martino at the helm, but the question is just how much of an improvement? The Eastern Conference has become increasingly more difficult over the past few seasons, with most teams proving to be strong playoff contenders. This is why most of our staff have them around the playoff bubble.
MLS Cup Playoffs
Sydney: Round 1 (Best of three)
Tommy: Round 1 (Best of three)
Tyler: Round 1 (Best of three)
Grey: Round 1 (Best of three)
Henry: Round 1 (Best of three)
Jackson: Round 1 (Best of three)
Community Predictions: Round 1 (Best of three)
Yep, pretty unanimous.
Look, if you don’t get home-field advantage in the playoffs, you’re likely going to struggle in a best-of-three series, especially if you’re one of the lower-seeded teams going up against one of the top dogs in the conference. Atlanta’s historic upset in 2024 was an exception, not the norm.
While the Five Stripes should improve in 2026 and maybe even make the playoffs, we’re not holding our breath that they’ll make a deep MLS Cup run.
US Open Cup
Sydney: Round of 16
Tommy: Quarterfinals
Tyler: Semifinals
Grey: Semifinals
Henry: Champion
Jackson: Round of 16
Community Predictions: Round of 16
Given the small MLS team pool and the absence of powerhouses like LAFC and Inter Miami, this is without a doubt Atlanta United’s best shot at silverware and Concacaf Champions Cup qualification in 2026.
Has Atlanta historically been great in this tournament? Not really. That’s probably why many of you sided with Sydney and Jackson in picking an early exit for the Five Stripes, but you never really know!
Plan Your World Cup 2026 Trip to Atlanta
Quick links to our Atlanta World Cup guides:
Top goalscorer
Sydney: Emmanuel Latte Lath – 15 goals, 3 assists
Tommy: Emmanuel Latte Lath – 15 goals, 4 assists
Tyler: Emmanuel Latte Lath – 17 goals, 7 assists
Grey: Emmanuel Latte Lath – 13 goals
Henry: Emmanuel Latte Lath – 16 goals, 3 assists
Jackson: Emmanuel Latte Lath – 14 goals, 4 assists
Community Predictions: Emmanuel Latte Lath – 16 goals, 4 assists
Surely he has to come good in 2026, right? RIGHT???!!!
Paying $22 million for seven goals in 30 MLS games is terrible business, but it seems that Emmanuel Latte Lath’s severely underwhelming performance in 2025 may have mostly been a symptom of the… let’s just say not great vibes in the locker room.
After an offseason of rest and recovery, Latte Lath appears ready to go, scoring two goals in three preseason games. He has spoken positively of his experience training under Tata Martino so far, which bodes well for his morale going into the season. Now he just needs to show that Atlanta was right to pay a then league-record transfer fee for him.
Top assister
Sydney: Saba Lobjanidze – 6 goals, 10 assists
Tommy: Miguel Almiron – 11 assists
Tyler: Miguel Almiron – 14 assists
Grey: Pedro Amador – 3 goals, 10 assists
Henry: Miguel Almiron – 10 goals, 12 assists
Jackson: Miguel Almiron – 8 goals, 8 assists
Community Predictions: Miguel Almiron – 12 assists
In his introductory press conference, Tata Martino emphasized the importance of Miguel Almiron in the team that he wants to build. He mentioned “surrounding Miguel better on the field” as a priority for this offseason.
The Paraguayan international was the Five Stripes’ main playmaker during its first two seasons, helping win MLS Cup 2018 before earning a move to Newcastle United in the English Premier League. If Martino’s return to Atlanta is going to start off on the right foot, Miggy will have to play a key creative role.
MVP
Sydney: Emmanuel Latte Lath
Tommy: Miguel Almiron
Tyler: Miguel Almiron
Grey: Miguel Almiron
Henry: Miguel Almiron
Jackson: Miguel Almiron
Community Predictions: Miguel Almiron
As mentioned above, Miggy is going to be an important piece of this Atlanta United team. If the team is doing well, odds are it’s because he’s doing his job well. His creativity and decisiveness in the final third will be an essential factor in this team’s success, making him a strong candidate for team MVP.
Most improved player
Sydney: Emmanuel Latte Lath
Tommy: Emmanuel Latte Lath
Tyler: Saba Lobjanidze
Grey: Juan Berrocal
Henry: Emmanuel Latte Lath
Jackson: Luke Brennan
Community Predictions: Emmanuel Latte Lath
The consensus is that Latte Lath absolutely has to see significant improvement under Tata Martino. If he isn’t the winner of this title by the end of the season, something has gone horribly wrong.
After the disaster that was the 2025 season, pretty much everyone should see at least some improvement. Quite a few of you named Saba Lobjanidze, who had no goals and seven assists, and Luke Brennan, who broke into the first team last season and looks to continue his promising development in 2026.
Let’s get crazy
This is a space for those bold predictions! Here are some of the highlights from what y’all came up with.
Sydney: Atlanta makes a cashfer trade that will shake up the team and put a buzz through the fanbase.
Tommy: Saba does 7 and 7. 7 goals, 7 assists. Which could be very impressive coming off the bench.
Tyler: Atlanta United will have a six-match winning streak this year, and we’ll all say they’re winning it all
Grey: Josef Martinez will return in the summer window, the club will sell or part with one third (3+) of its current HGs by the end of 2026, Ronald Hernandez will start the majority of minutes at RB for the first half of the season, Jonathan Ransom will start at least one MLS league match, and the club will play at least one match with a starting middle featuring 3 of Fortune, Reilly, Gill, and Sanchez.
Henry: Alexey Miranchuk is gone by the end of the summer window, and Lucas Hoyos gets an assist this season with his distribution.
Jackson: Atlanta United will go unbeaten in the first 8 home matches on the natural World Cup surface, but go on a slide once they restore the regular artificial turf back in the Benz, confirming the true source of Atlanta’s curse. The club goes on to compete for MLS Cup in the following seasons.
Community Predictions:
“Kevin Stefanaki hammers the golden spike.”
“Muyumba will be our best midfielder by a mile this year.”
“Josef Martinez will sign a one-game contract to end his career with us. He starts the game, scores a final goal, and is subbed off at the 70th minute to a celebration that registers as an earthquake as far away as St. Louis. The club has a ceremony to honor his contributions and unveils his statue as part of the celebration after full time.”
“We go after a large European star in the summer window and fail miserably.”
“Tito Villalba will be back.”
“We beat Miami in the regular season, and Tata gets his revenge on his old team by beating them in the playoffs to win the East.”
“Grass in the Benz has to be replaced at least 3 times. Henry finally grows a beard. Centennial Yards construction finishes the eldritch gateway that was formerly the Gulch; the Benz roof opens, and Cthulhu descends on a sky beam worthy of any Marvel movie.”
What do you think of these predictions? Let us know and drop some of your own predictions in the comments below!
I can’t make an educated guess without knowing who Trialist is.
🤣
MLS Cup winners, Supporters Shield winners, Manu Golden Boot winner and Miggy League MVP. You heard it here first.
After being wildly incorrect with every prediction last year, I have no business trying to guess what will happen this season. At least I won’t be wrong.
Who you tellin
I literally picked Philly to win the spoon last year
Sounds about what a lot of us are expecting as well. Nervously optimistic as always.
Thank you.
Off topic question and I’m not sure where to post this but I plan to go to the Atlanta United Pub Crawl on Saturday at the Atlanta Beltline. I’m attending with some friends – one is not a soccer fan yet (she wants to be) I hope and pray 5-stripe fans show up and its fun! Looks like live music, beer, games, and the game on TV… seems like it will be the spot to be. Any thoughts? We already bought the tickets $5 each… thank you!
I think yall will have an outstanding time. The bar events Atlanta has out on over the years usually do really well
Wife and I will be there too! I’m excited.
I think the consensus predictions are pretty reasonable. We take a notable step forward over the last several seasons, but this roster is kind of a mess. I feel like we have a lot of quality players, but it’s not really clear the best way to fit them on the field. And we still have some holes or places we could upgrade. Still, I’m optimistic we will at least have some fun again, and am ready for opening day.
I’m hoping that these predictions aren’t too high hopes as they have been in the years before.
Greats article.
I am looking forward to seeing Cthulhu descend into Atlanta during a future match.
Right through the oculus, or Megatron’s anus or whatever it’s called
The most underutilized architectural feature ever created!
But I prefer your nomenclature. Megatron’s Anus has got to be the newest Supporter’s group. Would be an excellent Tifo.
I can see it now 😭