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 (did not qualify)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	27
Goals scored	85 (3.15 per match)
Attendance	659,722 (24,434 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Lionel Messi (Inter Miami CF) 6 goals
←  2024 2026 → All statistics correct as of November 24, 2025.

The 2025 MLS Cup playoffs (branded as the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons) is the post-season championship of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is the 30th edition of the MLS Cup playoffs, following the conclusion of the 2025 season. The playoffs began on October 22 and will conclude with MLS Cup 2025 on December 6. ^{[1] [2]}

Both of the previous year's MLS Cup finalists, champions LA Galaxy and runners-up New York Red Bulls, failed to qualify, the latter for the first time since 2009. San Diego FC qualified for the playoffs in their inaugural MLS season. The Philadelphia Union entered as Supporters Shield and Eastern Conference champions, but were eliminated in the conference semifinals by New York City FC.

Format

Since the 2023 edition, the MLS Cup playoffs have been contested by a field of 18 teams—the top nine teams from each conference. ^[3] The top seven teams in each conference automatically qualified for round one, while the eighth and ninth-placed teams in each conference played a single wild card match to determine who draws the best-ranked team in their conference, with only a penalty shoot-out occurring if the game was tied.

The first round comprised 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, conference finals, and MLS Cup—are single-elimination matches played with extra time and a penalty shoot-out if still tied. ^[1]

The team with the better regular season record hosts in all rounds except the best-of-three series in round one, where the team with the lower regular season record hosts the second of three possible matches. All matches are broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass, a streaming service operated by Apple. ^[1] Select matches available on FOX Sports channels in the US. ^[4]

Qualified teams

The playoffs will be contested by 18 teams. The date listed indicates when each team qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference Charlotte FC (September 13) [5] Chicago Fire FC (September 30) [6] FC Cincinnati (September 13) [7] Columbus Crew (September 27) [8] Inter Miami CF (September 24) [9] Nashville SC (September 27) [10] New York City FC (September 20) [11] Orlando City SC (September 27) [12] Philadelphia Union (August 30) [13]

Western Conference Austin FC (October 5) [14] FC Dallas (October 18) [15] Los Angeles FC (September 20) [16] Minnesota United FC (August 30) [17] Portland Timbers (October 5) [18] Real Salt Lake (October 18) [19] San Diego FC (August 23) [20] Seattle Sounders FC (September 27) [21] Vancouver Whitecaps FC (September 13) [22]

Conference standings

Eastern Conference MLS Eastern Conference table (2025) Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Philadelphia Union 34 66 2 FC Cincinnati 34 65 3 Inter Miami CF 34 65 4 Charlotte FC 34 59 5 New York City FC 34 56 6 Nashville SC 34 54 7 Columbus Crew 34 54 8 Chicago Fire FC 34 53 9 Orlando City SC 34 53 Source: MLS

Western Conference MLS Western Conference table (2025) Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 San Diego FC 34 63 2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 34 63 3 Los Angeles FC 34 60 4 Minnesota United FC 34 58 5 Seattle Sounders FC 34 55 6 Austin FC 34 47 7 FC Dallas 34 44 8 Portland Timbers 34 44 9 Real Salt Lake 34 41 Source: MLS

Bracket

The higher seeded teams host single-elimination matches, with the MLS Cup host determined by overall points in the Supporters' Shield table. During the best-of-three round, the team with higher seed hosted the first match (and the third match, if required).

	Wild card single match					Round one best-of-three series							Conference semifinals single match					Conference finals single match					MLS Cup single match
						E1	Philadelphia Union	2 (4)	3	–
	E8	Chicago Fire FC	3			E8	Chicago Fire FC	2 (2)	0	–
	E9	Orlando City SC	1										E1	Philadelphia Union	0
													E5	New York City FC	1
						E4	Charlotte FC	0	0 (7)	1			Eastern Conference
						E5	New York City FC	1	0 (6)	3
																		E5	New York City FC
																		E3	Inter Miami CF
						E3	Inter Miami CF	3	1	4
						E6	Nashville SC	1	2	0
													E3	Inter Miami CF	4
													E2	FC Cincinnati	0
						E2	FC Cincinnati	1	0	2
						E7	Columbus Crew	0	4	1
																							E
																							W
						W1	San Diego FC	2	2 (2)	4
	W8	Portland Timbers	3			W8	Portland Timbers	1	2 (3)	0
	W9	Real Salt Lake	1										W1	San Diego FC	1
													W4	Minnesota United FC	0
						W4	Minnesota United FC	0 (3)	2	3 (7)			Western Conference
						W5	Seattle Sounders FC	0 (2)	4	3 (6)
																		W1	San Diego FC
																		W2	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
						W3	Los Angeles FC	2	4	–
						W6	Austin FC	1	1	–
													W3	Los Angeles FC	2 (3)
													W2	Vancouver Whitecaps FC (p)	2 (4)
						W2	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	3	1 (4)	–
						W7	FC Dallas	0	1 (2)	–

Wild card round

Home team	Score	Away team
Eastern Conference
Chicago Fire FC	3–1	Orlando City SC
Western Conference
Portland Timbers	3–1	Real Salt Lake

Eastern Conference

October 22

7:30 pm CDT

Chicago Fire FC	3–1	Orlando City SC
Gutiérrez 48' Cuypers 57', 68'	Report	Spicer 89'

SeatGeek Stadium , Bridgeview, Illinois

Attendance: 13,783

Referee: Drew Fischer

Western Conference

October 22

7:30 pm PDT

Portland Timbers	3–1	Real Salt Lake
Mora 24', 35' K. Miller 82'	Report	Glad 39'

Providence Park , Portland, Oregon

Attendance: 16,243

Referee: Guido Gonzales Jr.

Round one

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
Eastern Conference
Philadelphia Union	2–0	Chicago Fire FC	2–2 (4–2 p)	3–0	—
FC Cincinnati	2–1	Columbus Crew	1–0	0–4	2–1
Inter Miami CF	2–1	Nashville SC	3–1	1–2	4–0
Charlotte FC	1–2	New York City FC	0–1	0–0 (7–6 p)	1–3
Western Conference
San Diego FC	2–1	Portland Timbers	2–1	2–2 (2–3 p)	4–0
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	2–0	FC Dallas	3–0	2–2 (4–2 p)	—
Los Angeles FC	2–0	Austin FC	2–1	4–1	—
Minnesota United FC	2–1	Seattle Sounders FC	0–0 (3–2 p)	2–4	3–3 (7–6 p)

Eastern Conference

October 26

5:30 pm EDT

Philadelphia Union	2–2	Chicago Fire FC
Vassilev 70' Iloski 75'	Report	Bamba 84' Elliott 90+3'
Penalties
Uhre Westfield Iloski Baribo Bueno	4–2	Elliott Gutiérrez Cuypers Waterman

Subaru Park , Chester, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 19,019

Referee: Serhiy Boyko

November 1

4:30 pm CDT

Chicago Fire FC	0–3	Philadelphia Union
	Report	Baribo 8', 16' Damiani 35'

SeatGeek Stadium , Bridgeview, Illinois

Attendance: 17,431

Referee: Jon Freemon

Philadelphia Union won the series 2–0.

---

October 27

6:45 pm EDT

FC Cincinnati	1–0	Columbus Crew
Denkey 78'	Report

TQL Stadium , Cincinnati, Ohio

Attendance: 23,371

Referee: Rubiel Vazquez

November 2

6:30 pm EST

Columbus Crew	4–0	FC Cincinnati
Arfsten 33' Chambost 41' Herrera 65' Russell-Rowe 69'	Report

Lower.com Field , Columbus, Ohio

Attendance: 19,506

Referee: Guido Gonzales Jr.

November 8

6:00 pm EST

FC Cincinnati	2–1	Columbus Crew
Brenner 67', 86'	Report	Russell-Rowe 63'

TQL Stadium , Cincinnati, Ohio

Attendance: 25,513

Referee: Chris Penso

FC Cincinnati won the series 2–1.

---

October 24

8:00 pm EDT

Inter Miami CF	3–1	Nashville SC
Messi 19', 90+6' Allende 62'	Report	Mukhtar 90+11'

Chase Stadium , Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Attendance: 21,398 ^[23]

Referee: Filip Dujic

November 1

6:30 pm CDT

Nashville SC	2–1	Inter Miami CF
Surridge 9' (pen.) Bauer 45'	Report	Messi 90'

Geodis Park , Nashville, Tennessee

Attendance: 30,109

Referee: Allen Chapman

November 8

8:00 pm EST

Inter Miami CF	4–0	Nashville SC
Messi 10', 39' Allende 73', 76'	Report

Chase Stadium , Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Attendance: 19,049

Referee: Rosendo Mendoza

Inter Miami CF won the series 2–1.

---

October 28

6:45 pm EDT

Charlotte FC	0–1	New York City FC
	Report	Martínez 34'

Bank of America Stadium , Charlotte, North Carolina

Attendance: 33,709

Referee: Jon Freemon

November 1

3:30 pm EDT

New York City FC	0–0	Charlotte FC
	Report
Penalties
Martínez O'Neill Thiago Martins Fernández Haak Wolf Raul Gustavo Ojeda	6–7	Goodwin Westwood Toklomati Toffolo Zaha Malanda Diani Byrne

Yankee Stadium , New York, New York

Attendance: 19,051

Referee: Rubiel Vazquez

November 7

7:00 pm EST

Charlotte FC	1–3	New York City FC
Toklomati 81'	Report	Fernández 45+2', 90+10' Martínez 50'

Bank of America Stadium , Charlotte, North Carolina

Attendance: 34,473

Referee: Pierre-Luc Lauzière

New York City FC won the series 2–1.

Western Conference

October 26

6:30 pm PDT

San Diego FC	2–1	Portland Timbers
Valakari 23' Dreyer 30'	Report	Velde 36'

Snapdragon Stadium , San Diego, California

Attendance: 32,500

Referee: Chris Penso

November 1

6:30 pm PDT

Portland Timbers	2–2	San Diego FC
Velde 18' Guerra 90+8'	Report	Pellegrino 45+12' Lozano 51'
Penalties
Mora Paredes Fernandez Velde Antony	3–2	Dreyer Lozano Valakari Ingvartsen Tverskov

Providence Park , Portland, Oregon

Attendance: 19,260

Referee: Drew Fischer

November 9

6:00 pm PST

San Diego FC	4–0	Portland Timbers
Dreyer 5', 79' Pellegrino 17', 53'	Report

Snapdragon Stadium , San Diego, California

Attendance: 32,500

Referee: Joe Dickerson

San Diego FC won the series 2–1.

---

October 26

4:30 pm PDT

Vancouver Whitecaps FC	3–0	FC Dallas
Ríos 43' Müller 60' (pen.) Cabrera 83'	Report

BC Place , Vancouver, British Columbia

Attendance: 32,066

Referee: Victor Rivas

November 1

8:30 pm CDT

FC Dallas	1–1	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Musa 25'	Report	Priso 90+3'
Penalties
Musa Delgado Moore Norris	2–4	Müller Berhalter Cabrera Halbouni

Toyota Stadium , Frisco, Texas

Attendance: 11,004

Referee: Tori Penso

Vancouver Whitecaps FC won the series 2–0.

---

October 29

7:30 pm PDT

Los Angeles FC	2–1	Austin FC
Hines-Ike 20' (o.g.) Ordaz 79'	Report	Gallagher 63'

BMO Stadium , Los Angeles, California

Attendance: 22,142

Referee: Rosendo Mendoza

November 2

7:30 pm CST

Austin FC	1–4	Los Angeles FC
Pereira 45+6' (pen.)	Report	Son Heung-min 21' Bouanga 25', 44' Ebobisse 90+3'

Q2 Stadium , Austin, Texas

Attendance: 20,738

Referee: Joe Dickerson

Los Angeles FC won the series 2–0.

---

October 27

8:00 pm CDT

Minnesota United FC	0–0	Seattle Sounders FC
	Report
Penalties
Yeboah Triantis Pereyra Gressel	3–2	Rusnák Á. Roldán Ragen C. Roldan Leyva

Allianz Field , St. Paul, Minnesota

Attendance: 16,945

Referee: Alexis Da Silva

November 3

7:30 pm PST

Seattle Sounders FC	4–2	Minnesota United FC
Vargas 8', 86' Morris 21' Musovski 41'	Report	Triantis 45+1' Lod 45+5'

Lumen Field , Seattle, Washington

Attendance: 30,085

Referee: Pierre-Luc Lauzière

November 8

3:00 pm CST

Minnesota United FC	3–3	Seattle Sounders FC
Pereyra 19' Díaz 62' Markanich 71'	Report	Rusnák 5' Musovski 8' Morris 88'
Penalties
Pereyra Triantis Gene Duggan Boxall Harvey Markanich Dotson Hlongwane St. Clair	7–6	Rusnák Morris Ragen Kent Rothrock Minoungou Vargas De Rosario Á. Roldán Thomas

Allianz Field , St. Paul, Minnesota

Attendance: 18,645

Referee: Victor Rivas

Minnesota United FC won the series 2–1.

Conference semifinals

The higher-seeded team as determined by regular season ranking hosted the match. ^[1]

Home team	Score	Away team
Eastern Conference
Philadelphia Union	0–1	New York City FC
FC Cincinnati	0–4	Inter Miami CF
Western Conference
San Diego FC	1–0	Minnesota United FC
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	Los Angeles FC

Eastern Conference

November 23

5:00 pm EST

FC Cincinnati	0–4	Inter Miami CF
	Report	Messi 19' Silvetti 57' Allende 62', 74'

TQL Stadium , Cincinnati, Ohio

Attendance: 25,513

Referee: Drew Fischer

---

November 23

7:30 pm EST

Philadelphia Union	0–1	New York City FC
	Report	Moralez 27'

Subaru Park , Chester, Pennsylvania

Attendance: 19,210

Referee: Guido Gonzales Jr.

Western Conference

November 22

6:30 pm PST

Vancouver Whitecaps FC	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Los Angeles FC
Sabbi 39' Laborda 45+1'	Report	Son Heung-min 60', 90+5'
Penalties
Berhalter Nelson Gauld Ocampo Laborda	4–3	Son Heung-min Bouanga Delgado Moran Amaya

BC Place , Vancouver, British Columbia

Attendance: 53,957

Referee: Rubiel Vazquez

---

November 24

7:00 pm PST

San Diego FC	1–0	Minnesota United FC
Dreyer 72'	Report

Snapdragon Stadium , San Diego, California

Attendance: 32,502

Referee: Rosendo Mendoza

Conference finals

The higher-seeded team as determined by regular season ranking hosts the match. ^[1]

Home team	Score	Away team
Eastern Conference
Inter Miami CF	Nov 29	New York City FC
Western Conference
San Diego FC	Nov 29	Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Eastern Conference

November 29

6:00 PM EST

Inter Miami CF	v	New York City FC
	Report

Chase Stadium , Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Western Conference

November 29

6:00 PM PST

San Diego FC	v	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
	Report

Snapdragon Stadium , San Diego, California

MLS Cup 2025

Main article: MLS Cup 2025

The highest-ranked finalist in the overall Supporters Shield table will be the host of the match. All remaining teams except New York City FC are eligible to host the match. ^[1]

December 6, 2025

2:30 pm EST

TBD	v	TBD
	Report

TBD, TBD

Top goalscorers

As of November 24, 2025

Rank	Player	Club	Goals [24]
1	Lionel Messi	Inter Miami CF	6
2	Tadeo Allende	Inter Miami CF	5
3	Anders Dreyer	San Diego FC	4
4	Amahl Pellegrino	San Diego FC	3
	Son Heung-min	Los Angeles FC
6	Tai Baribo	Philadelphia Union	2
	Denis Bouanga	Los Angeles FC
	Brenner	FC Cincinnati
	Hugo Cuypers	Chicago Fire FC
	Nicolás Fernández	New York City FC
	Alonso Martínez	New York City FC
	Felipe Mora	Portland Timbers
	Jordan Morris	Seattle Sounders FC
	Danny Musovski	Seattle Sounders FC
	Jacen Russell-Rowe	Columbus Crew
	Obed Vargas	Seattle Sounders FC
	Kristoffer Velde	Portland Timbers

References

1. "MLS announces new playoff format for 2023 season". Major League Soccer. February 21, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
2. "2025 MLS playoff bracket schedule scores". Fox Sports. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
3. "MLS adds best-of-3 series to expanded playoffs for 2023 season". ESPN . February 21, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2025.
4. "Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs: Key dates & schedule information". MLSsoccer.com. August 7, 2025. Retrieved November 11, 2025.
5. "Charlotte FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 14, 2025. Retrieved September 14, 2025.
6. "Chicago Fire FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 30, 2025. Retrieved September 30, 2025.
7. "FC Cincinnati clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 13, 2025. Retrieved September 14, 2025.
8. "Columbus Crew clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 27, 2025. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
9. "Inter Miami clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 24, 2025. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
10. "Nashville SC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 27, 2025. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
11. "New York City FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 20, 2025. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
12. "Orlando City clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 27, 2025. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
13. "Philadelphia Union clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. August 30, 2025. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
14. "Austin FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. October 5, 2025. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
15. "FC Dallas clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. October 18, 2025. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
16. "LAFC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 21, 2025. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
17. "Minnesota United FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. August 30, 2025. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
18. "Portland Timbers clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. October 5, 2025. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
19. "Real Salt Lake clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. October 18, 2025. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
20. "San Diego FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. August 23, 2025. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
21. "Seattle Sounders FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 27, 2025. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
22. "Vancouver Whitecaps FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 13, 2025. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
23. "Miami 3-1 Nashville". ESPN. October 24, 2025. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
24. "MLS Player Stats". MLSsoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved November 24, 2025.