This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject , potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral.(September 2025) |
Tournament details | |
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Country | United States Canada |
Dates | October 22 – December 6 |
Teams | 18 |
Defending champions | LA Galaxy |
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, but they did not qualify for the playoffs.
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]
The playoffs will be contested by eighteen teams. The date listed indicates when each team qualified for the playoffs.
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Philadelphia Union won the Supporters’ shield on October 4, 2025. [19]
Eastern Conference
Updated to match(es) played on October 11, 2025. Source: MLS (A) Advance to a further round; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated; (S) Supporters' Shield winner | Western Conference
Updated to match(es) played on October 11, 2025. Source: MLS (A) Advance to a further round; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated |
The higher seeded teams hosted 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 will host the first match (and if necessary, the third match).
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 | – | – | – | ||||||||||||||||||||||
E8 | – | – | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||
E9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
E4 | – | – | – | Eastern Conference | ||||||||||||||||||||||
E5 | – | – | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||
E3 | – | – | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||
E6 | – | – | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||
E2 | – | – | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||
E7 | – | – | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||
W1 | – | – | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||
W8 | – | – | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||
W9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
W4 | – | – | – | Western Conference | ||||||||||||||||||||||
W5 | Seattle Sounders FC | – | – | – | ||||||||||||||||||||||
W3 | – | – | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||
W6 | – | – | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||
W2 | – | – | – | |||||||||||||||||||||||
W7 | – | – | – |
Home team | Score | Away team |
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Eastern Conference | ||
TBD | – | TBD |
Western Conference | ||
TBD | – | TBD |
TBD | v | TBD |
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Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
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Eastern Conference | |||||
Philadelphia Union | 0–0 | TBD | — | — | — |
TBD | 0–0 | TBD | — | — | — |
TBD | 0–0 | TBD | — | — | — |
TBD | 0–0 | TBD | — | — | — |
Western Conference | |||||
TBD | 0–0 | TBD | — | — | — |
TBD | 0–0 | TBD | — | — | — |
TBD | 0–0 | TBD | — | — | — |
TBD | 0–0 | Seattle Sounders FC | — | — | — |
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The higher-seeded team as determined by regular season ranking hosted the match. [1]
Home team | Score | Away team |
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Eastern Conference | ||
TBD | TBD | TBD |
TBD | TBD | TBD |
Western Conference | ||
TBD | TBD | TBD |
TBD | TBD | TBD |
TBD | v | TBD |
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TBD | v | TBD |
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TBD | v | TBD |
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TBD | v | TBD |
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The higher-seeded team as determined by regular season ranking hosted the match. [1]
Home team | Score | Away team |
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Eastern Conference | ||
TBD | TBD | TBD |
Western Conference | ||
TBD | TBD | TBD |
TBD | v | TBD |
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TBD | v | TBD |
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The highest-ranked finalist in the overall Supporters Shield table will be the host of the match. [1]
Rank | Player | Club | Goals [21] |
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