# 2018 MLS Cup playoffs

The 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs (branded as the 2018 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons) began on October 31 and ended on December 8 with MLS Cup 2018, the 23rd league championship match for MLS. This was the 23rd version of the MLS Cup Playoffs, the tournament culminating the Major League Soccer regular season. Twelve teams, the top six of each conference, competed in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
The first round of each conference had the third-seeded team hosting the sixth seed while the fourth-seed hosted the fifth seed in a single match to determine who advanced to the Conference Semifinals. In the Conference Semifinals, the top seed played the lowest remaining seed while the second played the next-lowest. The winners advanced to the Conference Finals. Both the Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals were played as a two-legged aggregate series, with the higher-seed hosting the second leg. The winners advanced to the MLS Cup, a single match hosted by the participant with the better regular season record which was played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Toronto FC were the defending MLS Cup champions, but failed to qualify for the playoffs. Atlanta United FC won their first MLS Cup title.

## Qualified teams

Eastern Conference
* Atlanta United FC
* Columbus Crew SC
* D.C. United
* New York City FC
* New York Red Bulls
* Philadelphia Union
Western Conference
* FC Dallas
* Los Angeles FC
* Portland Timbers
* Real Salt Lake
* Seattle Sounders FC
* Sporting Kansas City

## Conference standings

The top six teams from each conference advanced to the MLS Cup playoffs.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | New York Red Bulls | 34 | 71 |
| 2 | Atlanta United FC | 34 | 69 |
| 3 | New York City FC | 34 | 56 |
| 4 | D.C. United | 34 | 51 |
| 5 | Columbus Crew | 34 | 51 |
| 6 | Philadelphia Union | 34 | 50 |
| 7 | Montreal Impact | 34 | 46 |
| 8 | New England Revolution | 34 | 41 |
| 9 | Toronto FC | 34 | 36 |
| 10 | Chicago Fire | 34 | 32 |
| 11 | Orlando City SC | 34 | 28 |
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Sporting Kansas City | 34 | 62 |
| 2 | Seattle Sounders FC | 34 | 59 |
| 3 | Los Angeles FC | 34 | 57 |
| 4 | FC Dallas | 34 | 57 |
| 5 | Portland Timbers | 34 | 54 |
| 6 | Real Salt Lake | 34 | 49 |
| 7 | LA Galaxy | 34 | 48 |
| 8 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 34 | 47 |
| 9 | Houston Dynamo | 34 | 38 |
| 10 | Minnesota United FC | 34 | 36 |
| 11 | Colorado Rapids | 34 | 31 |
| 12 | San Jose Earthquakes | 34 | 21 |

## Bracket

| Knockout round | Knockout round | Knockout round | | | Conference semifinals | Conference semifinals | Conference semifinals | Conference semifinals | Conference semifinals | Conference finals | Conference finals | Conference finals | Conference finals | Conference finals | MLS Cup December 8 – Atlanta, Georgia | MLS Cup December 8 – Atlanta, Georgia | MLS Cup December 8 – Atlanta, Georgia |
| | | | | | E3 | New York City FC | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 10/31 – New York, New York | 10/31 – New York, New York | 10/31 – New York, New York | | | E3 | New York City FC | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 10/31 – New York, New York | 10/31 – New York, New York | 10/31 – New York, New York | | | E2 | Atlanta United FC | 1 | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| E3 | New York City FC | 3 | | | E2 | Atlanta United FC | 1 | 3 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| E6 | Philadelphia Union | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E6 | Philadelphia Union | 1 | | | | | | | | E2 | Atlanta United FC | 3 | 0 | 3 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E2 | Atlanta United FC | 3 | 0 | 3 | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E1 | New York Red Bulls | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | |
| | | | | | E5 | Columbus Crew | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 11/1 – Washington, D.C. | 11/1 – Washington, D.C. | 11/1 – Washington, D.C. | | | E5 | Columbus Crew | 1 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 11/1 – Washington, D.C. | 11/1 – Washington, D.C. | 11/1 – Washington, D.C. | | | E1 | New York Red Bulls | 0 | 3 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| E4 | D.C. United | 2 (2) | | | E1 | New York Red Bulls | 0 | 3 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| E5 | Columbus Crew (p) | 2 (3) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E5 | Columbus Crew (p) | 2 (3) | | | | | | | | | | | | | E2 | Atlanta United FC | 2 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | W5 | Portland Timbers | 0 |
| | | | | | W5 | Portland Timbers (p) | 2 | 2 | 4 (4) | | | | | | | | |
| 10/31 – Frisco, Texas | 10/31 – Frisco, Texas | 10/31 – Frisco, Texas | | | W5 | Portland Timbers (p) | 2 | 2 | 4 (4) | | | | | | | | |
| 10/31 – Frisco, Texas | 10/31 – Frisco, Texas | 10/31 – Frisco, Texas | | | W2 | Seattle Sounders FC | 1 | 3 | 4 (2) | | | | | | | | |
| W4 | FC Dallas | 1 | | | W2 | Seattle Sounders FC | 1 | 3 | 4 (2) | | | | | | | | |
| W5 | Portland Timbers | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| W5 | Portland Timbers | 2 | | | | | | | | W5 | Portland Timbers | 0 | 3 | 3 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W5 | Portland Timbers | 0 | 3 | 3 | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W1 | Sporting Kansas City | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | |
| | | | | | W6 | Real Salt Lake | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| 11/1 – Los Angeles, California | 11/1 – Los Angeles, California | 11/1 – Los Angeles, California | | | W6 | Real Salt Lake | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| 11/1 – Los Angeles, California | 11/1 – Los Angeles, California | 11/1 – Los Angeles, California | | | W1 | Sporting Kansas City | 1 | 4 | 5 | | | | | | | | |
| W3 | Los Angeles FC | 2 | | | W1 | Sporting Kansas City | 1 | 4 | 5 | | | | | | | | |
| W6 | Real Salt Lake | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Knockout round
### Summary

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Eastern Conference |||
| New York City FC (E3) | 3–1 | Philadelphia Union (E6) |
| D.C. United (E4) | 2–2 (2–3 p) | Columbus Crew SC (E5) |
| Western Conference |||
| Los Angeles FC (W3) | 2–3 | Real Salt Lake (W6) |
| FC Dallas (W4) | 1–2 | Portland Timbers (W5) |

### Matches
## Conference semifinals
### Summary

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Eastern Conference |||||
| Columbus Crew SC (E5) | 1–3 | New York Red Bulls (E1) | 1–0 | 0–3 |
| New York City FC (E3) | 1–4 | Atlanta United FC (E2) | 0–1 | 1–3 |
| Western Conference |||||
| Real Salt Lake (W6) | 3–5 | Sporting Kansas City (W1) | 1–1 | 2–4 |
| Portland Timbers (W5) | 4–4 (4–2 p) | Seattle Sounders FC (W2) | 2–1 | 2–3 (a.e.t.) |

### Matches

New York Red Bulls win 3–1 on aggregate.
Atlanta United win 4–1 on aggregate.
    Tied 4–4 on aggregate. Portland Timbers win 4–2 on penalties.
    Sporting Kansas City win 5–3 on aggregate.

## Conference finals
### Summary

| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Eastern Conference |||||
| Atlanta United FC (E2) | 3–1 | New York Red Bulls (E1) | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| Western Conference |||||
| Portland Timbers (W5) | 3–2 | Sporting Kansas City (W1) | 0–0 | 3–2 |

### Matches

Atlanta United win 3–1 on aggregate.
Portland Timbers win 3–2 on aggregate.

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Josef Martínez | Atlanta United FC | 4 |
| 1 | Diego Valeri | Portland Timbers | 4 |
| 3 | Sebastián Blanco | Portland Timbers | 3 |
| 3 | Damir Kreilach | Real Salt Lake | 3 |
| 3 | Raúl Ruidíaz | Seattle Sounders FC | 3 |
| 3 | Dániel Sallói | Sporting Kansas City | 3 |
| 7 | Federico Higuaín | Columbus Crew SC | 2 |
| 7 | Daniel Royer | New York Red Bulls | 2 |
| 7 | Diego Rubio | Sporting Kansas City | 2 |
| 7 | Franco Escobar | Atlanta United FC | 2 |

## MLS Cup Playoffs Best XI

| Year | Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| 2018 | Jeff Attinella (POR) | Aaron Long (NYR) Matt Besler (SKC) Leandro González Pírez (ATL) Franco Escobar (ATL) | Sebastián Blanco (POR) Miguel Almirón (ATL) Diego Chará (POR) Diego Valeri (POR) | Josef Martínez (ATL) Johnny Russell (SKC) |