After a historic summer that saw two former alumni participate in the World Cup, the Syracuse Orange men's soccer team will return to action next month.

Last season, the Orange finished 9-8-3, including a loss to the Hofstra Pride in the NCAA tournament. With the season starting in less than one month, head coach Ian McIntyre and his players now know the full details of the 2026 schedule.

The regular season officially kicks off on Aug. 20 when Syracuse visits UConn in non-conference play. Prior to that, SU will have three exhibition contests: Against Marist (Aug. 8), Mercyhurst (Aug. 11) and at Penn State (Aug. 14).

The month of August features multiple home matches, including the Orange hosting New Hampshire, Loyola and Iona.

ACC play begins in September when Syracuse takes on Clemson on Sept. 4. The Orange conclude their regular season on the road against Virginia Tech on Oct. 30. 

In total, SU is taking on six teams that made the NCAA Tournament in 2025. Four of them advanced until at least the second round.

For the first time in program history, a former Orange player represented Team USA in World Cup play. Miles Robinson made history during the group stage of play as he took the pitch for Team USA against Turkiye. 

Team USA made it to the Round of 16 before being eliminated by Belgium.

Robinson was not the only former Orange to play in this year's World Cup. Tajon  Buchanan played for Team Canada this summer. Buchanan helped lead his team to the best finish in the country's history in World Cup play. Team Canada also reached the Round of 16 before being knocked out by Morocco. 

In May, a new rule was proposed to create a drastic change to the schedule of soccer at the NCAA level. The proposed rule would have had schools eligible to play a 25- game season, with a maximum of 18 of those games during the fall season.

Up to another 10 matches could be played in the spring semester, beginning in mid-February. While the 2026 national championship is scheduled to be played in December, under the new rules the national championship would have been played in March.

In June, the NCAA remanded the proposal. 

Last year, the Orange were among nine teams that represented the ACC in NCAA tournament play. The ACC led the country with the most schools selected. The Big Ten and BIG EAST were in second place with five apiece.

This fall, the ACC is poised to again be one of the most competitive conferences in college soccer. If the Orange are able to finish the season with a winning record and pick up some conference wins against top-0tier conference opponents, a realistic goal for this year's team is a return to the NCAA Tournament. 

SU won the national title in 2022, the only title in program history.

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