2025 MLS Cup playoffs

2025 MLS Cup playoffs

Tournament details
Country	United States Canada
Dates	October 22 – December 6
Teams	18
Defending champions	LA Galaxy
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The 2025 MLS Cup playoffs (branded as the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons) is the upcoming the post-season championship of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top soccer league in the United States and Canada. It will be the 30th edition of the MLS Cup playoffs, the tournament culminating at the end of the 2025 season. The playoffs are scheduled to begin on October 22 and conclude with MLS Cup 2025 on December 6. ^[1]

The LA Galaxy are the defending MLS Cup Champions.

Format

Since the 2023 edition, the MLS Cup playoffs have been contested by a field of eighteen teams—the top nine teams from each conference. ^[2] The top seven teams in each conference automatically qualify for round one, while the eighth and ninth-placed teams in each conference play a single wild card match and are then seeded against the best-ranked team in their conference, with only a penalty shootout occurring if the game was tied. Round one comprises a best-of-three format, with higher seeds playing against lower seeds. The round does not use an aggregate score, and tied matches proceeded directly to a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner. The remaining three rounds—the conference semifinals, the conference final, and MLS Cup—are single-elimination matches played with extra time and a penalty shootout if still tied. ^[1] The team with the better regular season record hosts the match in all rounds except for the best-of-three series in round one, where the team with the lower regular season record hosted the second of three possible matches. All matches are broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass, a streaming service operated by Apple. ^[1]

Qualified teams

The playoffs will be contested by eighteen teams. The date listed indicates when each team qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference Philadelphia Union (August 30) [3]

Western Conference San Diego FC (August 23) [4] Minnesota United FC (August 30) [5]

Conference standings

Eastern Conference MLS Eastern Conference table (2025) Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Philadelphia Union (A) 29 57 2 FC Cincinnati 29 52 3 Charlotte FC 29 50 4 Nashville SC 29 50 5 Orlando City SC 28 47 6 Inter Miami CF 25 46 7 Columbus Crew 28 46 8 New York City FC 27 44 9 New York Red Bulls 29 40 Updated to match(es) played on August 30, 2025. Source: MLS (A) Advance to a further round

Western Conference MLS Western Conference table (2025) Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 San Diego FC (A) 29 56 2 Minnesota United FC (A) 29 51 3 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 27 49 4 Seattle Sounders FC 27 44 5 Los Angeles FC 26 41 6 Portland Timbers 28 39 7 Austin FC 27 38 8 Colorado Rapids 29 36 9 San Jose Earthquakes 29 35 Updated to match(es) played on August 31, 2025. Source: MLS (A) Advance to a further round

References

1. "MLS announces new playoff format for 2023 season". Major League Soccer. February 21, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
2. "MLS adds best-of-3 series to expanded playoffs for 2023 season". ESPN. February 21, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
3. "Philadelphia Union clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. August 30, 2025. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
4. "San Diego FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. August 23, 2025. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
5. "Minnesota United FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. August 30, 2025. Retrieved August 30, 2025.