MLS Cup Playoffs
Major League Soccer’s annual playoff elimination competition is known as the MLS Cup Playoffs. The league’s title game, the MLS Cup, is the tournament’s last game. Nine of the top-placed teams from each of the Eastern and Western conferences, or 18 teams total, advance to the tournament under the current setup that will be in effect for the 2023 campaign. The tournament’s title sponsor is Audi.
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Unlike most other soccer leagues throughout the world, where the team with the most points at the end of the season is crowned champion, our championship is awarded through a postseason competition. The Supporters’ Shield is given by MLS to the regular-season winners, and both teams are automatically qualified for the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the continental competition.
MLS Playoff system
The top nine teams from the Eastern and Western Conferences have qualified for the playoffs since 2023 and will compete in separate brackets. The team with the best regular season record hosts the Wild Card round, Conference Semifinals, Conference Finals, and the MLS Cup, which are all single-match elimination stages. Round One, on the other hand, is a best-of-3 series in which the higher seeds host the odd-numbered games and there is no reseeding in any round. If the teams are still tied after all games, a penalty shoot-out is employed; otherwise, extra time—split into two 15-minute periods—is used starting in the Conference Semifinals.
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 1 seed in Round One. The winners of the first round series advances to the Conference Semifinals. Winners of that round play in the Conference Finals which is then followed by MLS Cup, a single match hosted by the finalist with the better regular season record.
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. 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 has 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 time periods.
MLS Playoff Qualification
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.
Tie-breaking procedures
f 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.
- Most wins
- Higher goal differential
- Higher goals scored
- Fewer disciplinary points
- Higher away goal differential
- Higher away goals scored
- Higher home goal differential
- Higher home goals scored
Note:
- If two clubs remain tied after another club with the same number of points advances during any step, the tie breaker reverts to step 1 for the two remaining clubs.
- Head-to-head competition results have not been used in tie-breakers since 2012.
