(Photo credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)

The Vancouver Whitecaps will begin the defense of their Western Conference crown on Saturday when they open the MLS regular season against visiting Real Salt Lake.

Saturday will mark the 500th regular-season MLS match for the Whitecaps, who fell 3-1 to Inter Miami in the MLS Cup final in December.

Vancouver finished with an 18-7-9 record in 2025, and its 63 points tied San Diego FC for the best in the Western Conference. The two teams faced off in the conference's playoff final, and Vancouver prevailed 3-1.

The Whitecaps won both matches against Salt Lake last season, earning a 2-1 home victory and a 3-2 comeback road win. Vancouver owns a 12-5-1 record in 18 home matches against Salt Lake.

Including the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the Whitecaps open the 2026 season with four matches over an 11-day stretch. Vancouver played to a scoreless draw against Cartagines on Wednesday in Cartago, Costa Rica, during the first leg of a two-match, total-goal, first-round Champions Cup series.

'We've been preparing well for this, and it was the same last year, of course,' Vancouver coach Jesper Sorensen said. 'It's also sometimes dependent on how you do in those games.'

'We want to be in these competitions, and when you are, you have a stacked program with a lot of games.'

German legend Thomas Muller is back for his first full season with the Whitecaps, having joined the club last August. Vancouver's Tristan Blackmon, who debuted for the U.S. men's national team last year, was selected the 2025 MLS Defender of the Year.

Real Salt Lake enter the season sporting a new 3-5-2 tactical formation, aiming to improve on their ninth-place finish in the Western Conference last season. They fell from the 2025 playoffs with a 3-1 loss to the Portland Timbers in wild-card round.

'One of the things that we looked at, and really identified, is how poor we did in attacking transition,' coach Pablo Mastroeni told ESPN 700. 'We win the ball defensively, what kind of goal threat are we when we win the ball?

'Last year, we were very much more, 'We win the ball, let's keep possession.' This year, in the four (preseason matches) that we've played, our best chances have come defending higher up the field, winning the ball and going directly to goal.'

Salt Lake is hoping the addition of designated player Morgan Guilavogui, a 27-year-old Guinean forward, along with Spanish forward Sergi Solans and Utah native midfielder Zach Booth, will help them improve their 12-17-5 record (41 points) from a season ago.

--Field Level Media