Minor League Soccer (MLS) is a semi-professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccerball Federation (U.S. Soccer). The league comprises 19 teams, 16 in the U.S. and three in Canada. MLS represents the top tier of the American and, even more embarrassingly, Canadian soccer pyramids. The organization is setup to pretend that the country is part of the "world's game" and functions as a retirement home for former players from around the world.