2024 Charlotte FC season

The 2024 season is the third season for Charlotte FC in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top flight of professional club soccer in the United States. The team is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was established in 2019. They made their MLS debut in the 2022 season. The 2024 season is their first for Charlotte FC under English head coach Dean Smith, who was hired in December 2023 and is the team's third manager.

Summary
During the offseason, Charlotte FC were unable to retain Karol Swiderski, their leading goalscorer, along with striker Kamil Jozwiak and defender Guzmán Corujo. The team signed two midfielders and promoted two attacking players from their reserve team, Crown Legacy FC. Charlotte FC began their preseason in January at the Florida International University campus in Miami, where they trained for twelve days. The team then traveled to Indio, California, to play in the Coachella Valley Invitational, a friendly competition with other MLS teams. During five official preseason matches, Charlotte FC had two wins and three draws.

The team hosted New York City FC at Bank of America Stadium to open the regular season on February 24 in front of 62,291 spectators. Charlotte FC won 1–0 with a goal in the eighth minute from defender Adilson Malanda's header on a corner kick; it marked the first time that Charlotte FC had won their opening match of the season. Sixteen-year-old forward Nimfasha Berchimas, a homegrown player for Charlotte FC, entered the match as a substitute and became the ninth-youngest player to play in a regular season MLS match.

Preseason results

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Competitions
Charlotte FC will not participate in the 2024 U.S. Open Cup as part of a compromise agreement reached between MLS and U.S. Soccer to allow MLS Next Pro affiliate teams to instead play in the competition. Crown Legacy FC will enter in the first round of the U.S. Open Cup, while eight other MLS teams will enter in the round of 32.

Regular season
The 2024 regular season schedule was released on December 20, 2023. Charlotte FC will play 34 matches—17 at home and 17 on the road—primarily against opponents from the Eastern Conference. The team will play each intra-conference opponent twice and six matches against teams from the Western Conference. The 2024 season marks the first time that Charlotte FC will play against Minnesota United FC and the Portland Timbers. A break in regular season play for the 2024 Leagues Cup begins in mid-July and ends in late August.

Leagues Cup
The 2024 Leagues Cup is the second edition to feature all MLS and Liga MX teams during the month-long pause in the regular season from July to August. Charlotte FC was drawn into the East 4 group alongside the Philadelphia Union and Cruz Azul of Liga MX.

Players
For the 2024 season, Charlotte FC are permitted a maximum of 30 signed players on the first team, of which 10 roster positions were designated for supplemental and reserve players. A base salary cap of $5.47 million applied to the non-supplemental players with exceptions for certain categories, including up to three Designated Players who counted for a set amount in the cap.