A wildly entertaining MLS common season got here to a conclusion final weekend when the final two playoff spots had been clinched on the ultimate day of the marketing campaign.
However that was simply the entree. Now comes the principle course within the type of the playoffs, which at all times appear to supply up a number of plot twists and few upsets yearly.
Right here’s what you have to know in regards to the 2025 MLS Cup playoffs.
The highest seven groups in every of the Japanese and Western Conferences clinched playoff berths, whereas the eighth and ninth seeds will face off in a one-game wild card on Wednesday.
The winners of each wild-card video games transfer on to the primary spherical, made up of best-of-three sequence (fairly than single-elimination contests). Within the best-of-three, no video games can finish in attracts. If a match is tied on the finish of regulation time, it’ll go straight to a penalty shootout.
Each the convention semifinals and finals are one-legged affairs. The best remaining seed will host the MLS Cup Remaining on Dec. 6, as has been the case since 2012. All of those video games will go to half-hour of additional time, adopted by a penalty shootout (if mandatory) if they’re tied after 90 minutes of regulation time.
East: Chicago Fireplace (No. 8) vs. Orlando Metropolis (No. 9)
West: Portland Timbers (No. 8) vs. Actual Salt Lake (No. 9)
East: Philadelphia Union (No. 1) vs. wild-card winner
East: Charlotte FC (No. 4) vs. New York Metropolis FC (No. 5)
East: Inter Miami (No. 3) vs. Nashville SC (No. 6)
East: FC Cincinnati (No. 2) vs. Columbus Crew (No. 7)
West: San Diego FC (No. 1) vs. wild-card winner
West: Minnesota United (No. 4) vs. Seattle Sounders (No. 5)
West: Los Angeles FC (No. 3) vs. Austin FC (No. 6)
West: Vancouver Whitecaps (No. 2) vs. FC Dallas (No. 7)
Lionel Messi hungry for MLS success with Inter Miami
The 2024 MLS marketing campaign was imagined to belong to Lionel Messi.
The World Cup winner took MLS by storm in his first full season, successful the MVP award by scoring 20 targets (ending second within the Golden Boot race) and guiding Inter Miami to its first Supporters’ Defend trophy (common season championship) with a league-record 74 factors. However Messi and his teammates choked within the playoffs, dropping to eighth-seeded Atlanta United within the best-of-three first spherical sequence.
Miami completed third this 12 months (only a single level out of first place) and Messi appears poised to turn into the primary participant in league historical past to win consecutive MVP awards after scoring a league-leading 29 targets. What’s extra, the Herons haven’t forgotten final season’s playoff disappointment and are desperate to make amends within the hopes of formally proving what most individuals already consider: that they’re one of the best staff in MLS.
Vancouver Whitecaps carrying the flag for Canada
The Vancouver Whitecaps had been one of many hottest groups in MLS this season, particularly down the final stretch, after they went unbeaten in eight video games earlier than dropping their remaining match.
The summer time signing of free agent German worldwide Thomas Müller, some of the adorned gamers of the previous 20 years, elevated the already red-hot Whitecaps to new ranges. Lots of critics slept on this staff at first of the 12 months, and now Vancouver has an opportunity to make them eat their phrases.
The Whitecaps will even be Canada’s lone consultant within the playoffs as a result of each CF Montreal and Toronto FC tanked within the Japanese Convention this season. The MLS Cup has come north of the border solely as soon as in league historical past, when TFC gained all of it in 2017. This Whitecaps aspect may give that Toronto staff a run for its cash, so don’t wager towards them bringing the MLS Cup again to Canada for the primary time in eight years.
San Diego FC, not your common enlargement membership
San Diego FC entered the MLS historical past books in 2025 by setting a document for probably the most factors (63) by an enlargement franchise. The league newcomers topped LAFC’s earlier document of 57 factors, set in 2018. Additionally they gained probably the most video games (19) of any enlargement staff in a single season, surpassing St. Louis Metropolis SC’s document (17) in 2023, en path to capturing the Western Convention title.
Ought to San Diego win MLS Cup, it will be part of the 1998 Chicago Fireplace because the second-ever enlargement staff to hoist the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy. However San Diego’s accomplishment can be much more spectacular, provided that MLS had solely 12 groups again then and the league wasn’t almost as robust or had the identical type of star energy because it does at the moment.
On the coronary heart of San Diego’s success is a pair of MLS newcomers. Danish attacker Anders Dreyer completed the season with 19 targets (third general) and 19 assists (tied for first with Messi), and Mexican ahead Hirving Lozano chipped in with 9 targets and 10 assists.
Philadelphia Union seeking to win uncommon ‘double’
This season marked an incredible turnaround by the Philadelphia Union, who completed twelfth within the Japanese Convention and twenty third within the league desk (out of 29 groups) in 2024, when it collected solely 37 factors.
The membership went below a serious roster overhaul within the low season, and Bradley Carnell was employed to take over from long-time coach Jim Curtin. The outcomes converse for themselves: The Union gained the Supporters’ Defend as one of the best staff within the common season, enhancing by a whopping 29 factors over final season.
Solely seven groups in league historical past have gone on to win the MLS Cup after successful the Supporters’ Defend, with each the L.A. Galaxy and D.C. United pulling it off twice. Led by one of the best defence in MLS (simply 35 targets towards this 12 months), the Union will likely be trying so as to add their identify to the unique checklist of golf equipment who’ve gained the “double.”
Participant to look at: LAFC’s Denis Bouanga
If it weren’t for Messi successful the Golden Boot, ahead Denis Bouanga could be the odds-on favorite to win the MVP award.
The Gabon worldwide completed tied within the MLS scoring race by scoring 24 targets for LAFC. In doing so, Bouanga grew to become the primary participant in league historical past to attain not less than 20 targets in three consecutive seasons. Extremely, the 30-year-old ahead has 73 targets and 20 assists in 113 common season and playoff matches since becoming a member of LAFC from French membership Saint-Étienne in the summertime of 2022.
Bouanga completed the 2025 common season in scorching type with a six-game scoring streak that noticed him bag 10 targets and document two hat methods. He has reached one other degree since L.A. signed former Premier League star Son Heung-min, forming some of the deadly attacking duos within the league that’s now able to wreak havoc within the playoffs.
John Molinaro is likely one of the main soccer journalists in Canada, having coated the sport for over 26 years for a number of media retailers, together with Sportsnet, CBC Sports activities and Solar Media. He’s presently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, an internet site devoted to in-depth protection of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer.
