The World Cup will kick the Rangers schedule around next year.
With all but one of the nine World Cup games at AT&T Stadium falling in a three-week stretch that begins June 14, the Rangers will spend the great majority of that time on the road, according to the official 2026 schedule released by Major League Baseball on Tuesday.
The Rangers play just six games of 22 games in Arlington between June 9 and July 1. There are are World Cup games on June 14, 17, 22, 25, 27 and 30 and July 3, 6 and 14. The Rangers will not play at Globe Life Field on the same date as any of those games.
The schedule required some massaging to fit, including creating an off day in the middle of two home series to avoid a conflict. The Rangers will have Tuesday, June 17 off before finishing a three-game series with Minnesota the following day and Friday, July 3 off in the middle of a series with Detroit.
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The Rangers could open the season as the innocent bystanders to a World Series celebration. For the first time since 2022, they will open on the road, at Philadelphia on March 28. The Phillies currently lead the NL East and are currently one of the favorites to win the World Series. They also play a three-game series at Baltimore before returning home. The home opener against Cincinnati is scheduled for April 3.
Some other key moments from the 2026 schedule:
— The Rangers will be done with AL West opponents even earlier than this year, meaning the ability to gain ground with head-to-head competition will not be possible. The Rangers finish the AL West schedule on Sept. 10 next season and will play outside the division for their last 15 games. They close the season Sep. 27 at Minnesota.
— The Rangers will be done with Houston by the first weekend of August. The teams meet in Houston May 15-17, in Arlington May 25-28 and July 10-12 and finish the Silver Boot Series off with three games in Houston immediately after the trade deadline, July 31-August 2.
— The Rangers, who enjoy a significant home field advantage at Globe Life Field, will have three nine-game homestands, two of them coming at key junctures of the season. They play Detroit, the Los Angeles Angels and Houston from July 2-12, leading up to the All-Star break, essentially giving the team two full weeks in their own beds. And they host Boston, Toronto and the New York Mets from Sept. 15-27, giving them nine of their final 12 games at home.
— If it hasn’t become daunting enough for the Rangers recently to travel to Seattle, it will be even rougher as the tail end to a three-city, 10-game trip next April. The Rangers are 9-31 in Seattle since 2020, including going 1-6 there in 2025. They play at Seattle April 17-19 to finish off a trip that goes from Los Angeles to Sacramento before landing at T-Mobile Park. They also go to Seattle from Sept. 8-10.
— The NL teams coming to Arlington in 2026: Cincinnati (April 3-5), Pittsburgh (April 21-23), the Cubs (May 8-10), Arizona (May 11-13), San Diego (June 19-21), San Francisco (Aug. 3-5), Washington (Aug. 18-20) and the Mets (Sept. 23-25).
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