The MLS Cup Playoffs is the annual postseason elimination tournamentofMajor League Soccer. The MLS Cup, the league's championship game, is the final match of the tournament. Under the current format adopted for the 2023 season, 18 teams qualify for the tournament based on regular-season point totals — the nine highest-placed teams from each the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Audi is the title sponsor of this tournament.
MLS Cup Playoffs
Founded
1996
Region
Number of teams
18
Current champions
Columbus Crew (3rd title)
Most successful team(s)
LA Galaxy (5 titles)
Awarding a championship through a postseason tournament differs from most other soccer leagues around the world, where the team with the most points at the end of the season is deemed champion. MLS awards the regular-season champions with the Supporters' Shield and both champions earn a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the continental tournament.[1]
Since 2023, the top nine teams from each of the Eastern and Western Conference qualify for the playoffs, playing in separate brackets.[2][3][4] The wild-card round, conference semifinals, conference finals, and the MLS Cup are single-match eliminations hosted by the team with the better regular season record, while round one is a best-of-3 series with the higher seeds hosting the odd-numbered games with no re-seeding in any round. A penalty shoot-out is used if the teams are still tied in all games while extra time (divided into two 15-minute periods) is utilized from conference semifinals onwards.
The top seven teams in each conference are given byes to the first round. The teams ranked 8th and 9th in each conference compete in the Wild-card round, with the winner advancing to face the best-ranked team in Round One. The winners of the first-round series advance to the conference semifinals, then the conference finals, and finally the MLS Cup, a single match hosted by the finalist with the better regular-season record.[2][3][4]
Previously, the top seven teams per conference qualified for the playoffs, with only the team with the best regular-season record in each conference earning a first-round bye to the conference semifinals.[5][6] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the top ten teams from the Eastern and top eight teams from the Western conference qualified for the playoffs in the 2020 season, with single-elimination remaining intact. The top six Eastern teams earned byes to the first round while teams seeded 7–10 and competed in play-in games. The lowest-ranked team to advance from the play-in round advanced to play the conference's first-placed team while the highest-ranked remaining team from that round advanced to face the conference's runner-up. In the Western Conference, the top eight teams competed in their first round with no byes.[7]
The conference semifinals and conference finals were formerly conducted in a home-and-away, aggregate-goal format. From 2014 to 2018, the away goals rule was used for these rounds.[8][9] In both rounds, the higher-seeded team hosted the second leg. If the teams were tied after two games (180 minutes), the team that scored more goals on the road advanced. If there was still a tie after the away goals rule had been applied, the teams played 30 minutes of extra time (divided into two 15-minute periods), followed by a penalty shoot-out if necessary. The away goals rule did not apply to goals scored in these extra periods.
Eighteen teams qualify for the playoffs: the top nine teams from the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference that had earned the best points per game record during the 34-game regular season. The top seven teams in each conference get a first-round bye, advancing to the conference quarterfinals.[2][3][4]
If at least two teams finish the regular season with an equal number of points, the following criteria are used to break the tie, with coin tosses (two teams) or drawing of lots (at least three teams) used if all of those below fail.[10]
Note:
Seasons
League teams
Playoff teams
% of teams
Matches played
1996–1997
10
8
80%
19
1998–2001
12
66.7%
2002
10
80%
17
2003–2004
10
80%
11
2005–2006
12
66.7%
2007
13
61.5%
2008
14
57.1%
2009
15
53.3%
2010
16
50%
2011
18
10
55.6%
13
2012–2014
19
52.6%
2015–2016
20
12
60%
17
2017
22
54.5%
2018
23
52.2%
2019
24
14
58.3%
13
2020
26
18[a]
69.2%
17
2021
27
14
51.9%
13
2022
28
50%
2023
29
18
62.1%
25–33
Note: Players in bold are still active for an MLS club.
Rank
Player
Years
Goals
1
2001–2014
2016
25
2
2002–2008
2011
2013
2016
16
3
1996–1999
2001–2002
13
4
1996–2010
12
5
1996–2009
11
6
1996–2003
2008–2010
10
1996–2005
2002–2010
9
2006–2008
2015–2023
9
2011–present
2011–2016
2018–present
2013–2021
MLS Cup playoff club records
Club
MLS Cups
MLS Cup
apps
Win
Loss
Draw
1
1
6
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
3
20
16
5
0
0
1
4
3
1
2
15
21
3
3
4
21
24
5
4
5
29
14
5
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
15
26
6
2
4
17
10
6
0
0
0
1
0
5
9
43
25
6
1
1
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
6
4
0
0
0
3
2
0
0
5
20
20
7
1
1
6
7
0
0
1
19
28
8
0
0
1
2
0
0
1
4
7
0
1
3
12
8
4
1
2
13
12
5
2
2
13
11
1
2
4
22
14
5
2
3
21
25
8
0
0
1
4
0
1
3
10
6
1
0
0
1
5
2
MLS playoff appearance records
Club
MLS playoff
appearances
Active
streak
Longest
streak
5
1
3
1
0
1
1
1
1
13
0
6
4
0
4
15
0
5
17
1
4
15
0
4
2
2
2
20
2
7
9
1
4
2
0
1
20
0
10
5
2
3
3
0
2
4
0
4
5
0
2
4
4
4
17
1
8
7
0
7
24
14
14
4
4
4
8
6
6
7
0
5
13
3
7
11
1
5
14
1
13
20
1
8
1
1
1
4
0
2
5
0
3
6
1
2
Longest MLS Cup Playoffs shootouts
Rank
Rounds
Home team
Score
Away team
Season / stage
1
11
2–2 (7–6)
2
10
1–1 (7–6)
1–1 (7–8)
4
8
1–1 (7–8)
5
7
1–1 (6–5)
1–1 (5–4)
0–0 (4–5)
8
6
0–0 (5–6)
0–0 (4–5)
4–4 (4–5)
3–3 (4–3)
11 games have been decided in 5 rounds
7 games have been decided in 4 rounds
1 game has been decided in 3 rounds
† Game played at neutral location
