Most European football leagues have a simple system with no playoff or post-season routine. Of course, American sports do it differently with the need to ‘qualify for the second phase’ and then have a knockout tournament format to determine the overall season winner. Major League Soccer follows suit, but how does the MLS playoff work?
Regular Season Standings to Qualify
The first concept to grasp about Major League Soccer is that there are a lot of teams. In the 2024 season, 29 teams contested the entire competition. The franchises are allotted into an ‘Eastern Conference’ and a ‘Western Conference’ based on their geographic location. This season, there were 15 in the East and 14 in the West.
Teams play 34 games each, and the best nine from each conference advance to the post-season. During the regular season, teams play various teams from their own conference and the other. However, the two conferences are kept apart during the playoffs until the MLS Cup final.
Places eight and nine in each conference play in the preliminary round (Americans refer to it as the ‘Wild Card’) in a single match to enter round one. The first proper round of the playoffs is a best-of-three series. Where the first team to win two games advances to the next round.
Then, the games take on the ‘Conference Semi-Finals’ moniker and are again contested in a single match. Teams that win in this stage advance to the ‘Conference Finals’. Success in this single match takes them to the hallowed place of the MLS Cup final.
In 2025, there will be 30 teams, and San Diego FC will enter the competition and be entered into the Western Conference.
What Happened in the MLS Cup Final in 2024?
The upcoming MLS Cup Final was contested by the New York Red Bulls and Los Angeles Galaxy, with the Galaxy securing the title holding on for a 2-1 victory.
The Galaxy finished second in the Western Conference table, only behind arch-rivals LAFC by a single goal in the differential column. The five-time MLS Cup winners breezed through Round 1, as Galaxy won 5-0 and 4-1 against the Colorado Rapids. After that, the Conference Semifinals were another stroll in the park, as they bossed Minnesota United 6-2. Then, a 1-0 win against the Seattle Sounders booked their ticket to play for the richest prize in US soccer again.
The New York Red Bulls’ path to the MLS Cup has been a little more turbulent. The team only finished sixth in the Eastern Conference standings. However, it defeated the Columbus Crew in round one in a significant upset, as the Crew had finished second. Then, despite losing twice to New York City FC twice in the regular season, the Red Bulls emerged as 2-0 winners at Citi Field. After that, they secured a MLS Cup spot by defeating Orlando City 1-0.
What Happened to Inter Miami and Lionel Messi?
Inter Miami finished first in the Eastern Conference and was the favorite to go through the playoff gauntlet and reach the MLS Cup final. Yet, Atlanta United had other plans for the franchise. In Round One of the playoffs, Messi and company were drawn against ninth-placed Atlanta – A matchup which had a foregone conclusion according to all of the Las Vegas soccer odds.
Inter Miami secured a win in the first game of the series with goals from Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez. Yet in the second match, with the scores level after 90 minutes, a strike from late substitute Xande Silva handed Atlanta a 2-1 win, forcing a third match of the series.
The final match of the series was contested back in Miami, and while Matias Rojas got Inter off to a winning start with a goal after 17 minutes, the Flamingos didn’t have their best day. The final whistle sounded with a 3-2 result favoring Atlanta United. Lionel Messi was named man of the match as he scored Inter Miami’s second goal, but it was little consolation having been knocked out early of the MLS playoffs.
