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, but they did not qualify for the playoffs.

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] FC Cincinnati (September 13) [4] Charlotte FC (September 13) [5] New York City FC (September 20) [6] Inter Miami CF (September 24) [7] Columbus Crew (September 27) [8] Nashville SC (September 27) [9] Orlando City SC (September 27) [10] Chicago Fire FC (September 30) [11]

Western Conference San Diego FC (August 23) [12] Minnesota United FC (August 30) [13] Vancouver Whitecaps FC (September 13) [14] Los Angeles FC (September 20) [15] Seattle Sounders FC (September 27) [16] Austin FC (October 5) [17] Portland Timbers (October 5) [18] (October) (October)

Seed qualification

Eastern Conference Philadelphia Union (October 4, East one ) [19] (October 18, East second) (October 18, East third) (October 18, East fourth) (October 18, East fith) (October 18, East sixth) (October 18, East seventh) (October 18, East eighth) (October 18, East ninth)

Western Conference Seattle Sounders FC (October 11, West fifth) [20] (October,TBD) (October 18,TBD) (October 18,TBD) (October 18,TBD) (October 18,TBD) (October 18,TBD) (October 18, West eighth) (October 18, West ninth)

Supporters’ shield

Philadelphia Union won the Supporters’ shield on October 4, 2025. ^[19]

Conference standings

Eastern Conference MLS Eastern Conference table (2025) Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Philadelphia Union (S, Q) 33 66 2 FC Cincinnati (Q) 33 62 3 Inter Miami CF (Q) 33 62 4 Charlotte FC (Q) 33 56 5 New York City FC (Q) 33 56 6 Nashville SC (A) 33 54 7 Orlando City SC (A) 33 53 8 Chicago Fire FC (A) 33 52 9 Columbus Crew (A) 33 51 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 MLS Western Conference table (2025) Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (A) 33 63 2 San Diego FC (A) 33 60 3 Los Angeles FC (A) 32 59 4 Minnesota United FC (A) 33 58 5 Seattle Sounders FC (Q) 33 52 6 Austin FC (A) 32 44 7 Portland Timbers (A) 33 44 8 FC Dallas 33 41 9 Real Salt Lake 33 40 Updated to match(es) played on October 11, 2025. Source: MLS (A) Advance to a further round; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Bracket

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

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–

–

E3

–

–

–

E6

–

–

–

E2

–

–

–

E7

–

–

–

W1

–

–

–

W8

–

–

–

W9

W4

–

–

–

Western Conference

W5

Seattle Sounders FC

–

–

–

W3

–

–

–

W6

–

–

–

W2

–

–

–

W7

–

–

–

Wild Card round

Home team	Score	Away team
Eastern Conference
TBD	–	TBD
Western Conference
TBD	–	TBD

Eastern Conference

October 22

TBD

TBD	v	TBD

TBD, TBD

Western Conference

October 22

TBD

TBD	v	TBD

TBD, TBD

Round one

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
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	—	—	—

Eastern Conference

TBD

TBD

TBD	v	TBD

TBD, TBD

TBD

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TBD, TBD

Western Conference

TBD

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TBD	v	TBD

TBD, TBD

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TBD

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Conference semifinals

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

Home team	Score	Away team
Eastern Conference
TBD	TBD	TBD
TBD	TBD	TBD
Western Conference
TBD	TBD	TBD
TBD	TBD	TBD

Eastern Conference

TBD

TBD

TBD	v	TBD

TBD, TBD

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TBD

TBD

TBD	v	TBD

TBD, TBD

Western Conference

TBD

TBD

TBD	v	TBD

TBD, TBD

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TBD

TBD

TBD	v	TBD

TBD, TBD

Conference finals

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

Home team	Score	Away team
Eastern Conference
TBD	TBD	TBD
Western Conference
TBD	TBD	TBD

Eastern Conference

TBD

TBD

TBD	v	TBD

TBD, TBD

Western Conference

TBD

TBD

TBD	v	TBD

TBD, TBD

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. ^[1]

Top Goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals [21]

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. "FC Cincinnati clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 13, 2025. Retrieved September 14, 2025.
5. "Charlotte FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 13, 2025. Retrieved September 14, 2025.
6. "New York City FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 20, 2025. Retrieved September 20, 2025.
7. "Inter Miami clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 24, 2025. Retrieved September 24, 2025.
8. "Columbus Crew clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 27, 2025. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
9. "Nashville SC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 27, 2025. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
10. "Orlando City clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 27, 2025. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
11. "Chicago Fire FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 30, 2025. Retrieved September 30, 2025.
12. "San Diego FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. August 23, 2025. Retrieved August 23, 2025.
13. "Minnesota United FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. August 30, 2025. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
14. "Vancouver Whitecaps FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 13, 2025. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
15. "LAFC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 21, 2025. Retrieved September 21, 2025.
16. "Seattle Sounders FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. September 27, 2025. Retrieved September 27, 2025.
17. "Austin FC clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. October 5, 2025. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
18. "Portland Timbers clinch Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs spot". Major League Soccer. October 5, 2025. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
19. "Philadelphia Union win 2025 Supporters' Shield". Major League Soccer. October 4, 2025. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
20. "Fine margins: Sounders eke out a final home win". Sounder at Heart. October 11, 2025. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
21. "MLS Player Stats". MLSsoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved December 7, 2024.