# 2024 MLS Cup playoffs

The 2024 MLS Cup playoffs (branded as the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons) was the post-season championship of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top soccer league in the United States and Canada. It was the 29th edition of the MLS Cup playoffs, the tournament culminating at the end of the 2024 season. The playoffs began on October 22 and concluded with MLS Cup 2024 on December 7.
The Columbus Crew entered the playoffs as the defending MLS Cup champions, but were eliminated by the New York Red Bulls in round one. Inter Miami CF entered as Supporters' Shield winners and Eastern Conference regular season leaders; they were eliminated in round one by Atlanta United FC. Western Conference regular season leaders Los Angeles FC were eliminated in the conference semifinals by Seattle Sounders FC.
The LA Galaxy won a record-extending sixth MLS Cup title after defeating the New York Red Bulls 2–1. The LA Galaxy broke the record for the most goals in a playoff campaign with 18 goals.

## Format

Similar to the 2023 edition, the playoffs featured a field of eighteen teams—the top nine teams from each conference. The top seven teams in each conference automatically qualified for round one, while the eighth and ninth-placed teams in each conference contested a single wild card match for the right to play the best-ranked team in their conference, with only a penalty shoot-out occurring if the game was tied. Round one comprised a best-of-three format, with higher seeds playing against lower seeds. The round did not have the aggregate score kept, 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 — were single-elimination matches played with extra time and a penalty shoot-out if still tied. The team with the better regular season record hosted 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 were broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass, a streaming service operated by Apple.

## Qualified teams

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

## Conference standings

MLS Eastern Conference table (2024) :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Inter Miami CF | 34 | 74 |
| 2 | Columbus Crew | 34 | 66 |
| 3 | FC Cincinnati | 34 | 59 |
| 4 | Orlando City SC | 34 | 52 |
| 5 | Charlotte FC | 34 | 51 |
| 6 | New York City FC | 34 | 50 |
| 7 | New York Red Bulls | 34 | 47 |
| 8 | CF Montréal | 34 | 43 |
| 9 | Atlanta United FC | 34 | 40 |
MLS Western Conference table (2024) :
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | Pts |
| 1 | Los Angeles FC | 34 | 64 |
| 2 | LA Galaxy | 34 | 64 |
| 3 | Real Salt Lake | 34 | 59 |
| 4 | Seattle Sounders FC | 34 | 57 |
| 5 | Houston Dynamo FC | 34 | 54 |
| 6 | Minnesota United FC | 34 | 52 |
| 7 | Colorado Rapids | 34 | 50 |
| 8 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 34 | 47 |
| 9 | Portland Timbers | 34 | 47 |

## 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 hosted the first match and the third match if necessary.
| Wild card single match | Wild card single match | Wild card single match | Round one best-of-three series | Round one best-of-three series | Round one best-of-three series | Round one best-of-three series | Round one best-of-three series | Conference semifinals single match | Conference semifinals single match | Conference semifinals single match | Conference finals single match | Conference finals single match | Conference finals single match | MLS Cup single match | MLS Cup single match | MLS Cup single match |
| | | | E1 | Inter Miami CF | 2 | 1 | 2 | | | | | | | | | |
| E8 | CF Montréal | 2 (4) | E9 | Atlanta United FC | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| E9 | Atlanta United FC | 2 (5) | | | | | | E9 | Atlanta United FC | 0 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | E4 | Orlando City SC | 1 | | | | | | |
| | | | E4 | Orlando City SC | 2 | 0 (1) | 1 (4) | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | | | | | | |
| | | | E5 | Charlotte FC | 0 | 0 (3) | 1 (1) | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E4 | Orlando City SC | 0 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E7 | New York Red Bulls | 1 | | | |
| | | | E3 | FC Cincinnati | 1 | 1 | 0 (5) | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | | | | | | |
| | | | E6 | New York City FC | 0 | 3 | 0 (6) | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | E6 | New York City FC | 0 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | E7 | New York Red Bulls | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | E2 | Columbus Crew | 0 | 2 (4) | – | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | E7 | New York Red Bulls | 1 | 2 (5) | – | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | E7 | New York Red Bulls | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | W2 | LA Galaxy | 2 |
| | | | W1 | Los Angeles FC | 2 | 0 | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| W8 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 5 | W8 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 1 | 3 | 0 | | | | | | | | | |
| W9 | Portland Timbers | 0 | | | | | | W1 | Los Angeles FC | 1 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | W4 | Seattle Sounders FC (a.e.t.) | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | W4 | Seattle Sounders FC | 0 (5) | 1 (7) | – | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | | | | | | |
| | | | W5 | Houston Dynamo FC | 0 (4) | 1 (6) | – | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W4 | Seattle Sounders FC | 0 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | W2 | LA Galaxy | 1 | | | |
| | | | W3 | Real Salt Lake | 0 (4) | 1 (1) | – | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | | | | | | |
| | | | W6 | Minnesota United FC | 0 (5) | 1 (3) | – | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | W6 | Minnesota United FC | 2 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | W2 | LA Galaxy | 6 | | | | | | |
| | | | W2 | LA Galaxy | 5 | 4 | – | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | W7 | Colorado Rapids | 0 | 1 | – | | | | | | | | | |

## Wild card round

| Home team | Score | Away team |
| Eastern Conference |||
| CF Montréal | 2–2 (4–5 p) | Atlanta United FC |
| Western Conference |||
| Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 5–0 | Portland Timbers |

### Western Conference
## Round one

| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 |
| Eastern Conference ||||||
| Inter Miami CF | 1–2 | Atlanta United FC | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 |
| Columbus Crew | 0–2 | New York Red Bulls | 0–1 | 2–2 (4–5 p) | — |
| FC Cincinnati | 1–2 | New York City FC | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 (5–6 p) |
| Orlando City SC | 2–1 | Charlotte FC | 2–0 | 0–0 (1–3 p) | 1–1 (4–1 p) |
| Western Conference ||||||
| Los Angeles FC | 2–1 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 |
| LA Galaxy | 2–0 | Colorado Rapids | 5–0 | 4–1 | — |
| Real Salt Lake | 0–2 | Minnesota United FC | 0–0 (4–5 p) | 1–1 (1–3 p) | — |
| Seattle Sounders FC | 2–0 | Houston Dynamo FC | 0–0 (5–4 p) | 1–1 (7–6 p) | — |

### Eastern Conference

Atlanta United FC won the series 2–1.
New York Red Bulls won the series 2–0.
New York City FC won the series 2–1.
Orlando City SC won the series 2–1.

### Western Conference

Los Angeles FC won the series 2–1.
LA Galaxy won the series 2–0.
Minnesota United FC won the series 2–0.
Seattle Sounders FC won the series 2–0.

## Conference semifinals

The higher-seeded team as determined by regular season ranking hosted the match.
| Home team | Score | Away team |
| Eastern Conference |||
| Orlando City SC | 1–0 | Atlanta United FC |
| New York City FC | 0–2 | New York Red Bulls |
| Western Conference |||
| Los Angeles FC | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | Seattle Sounders FC |
| LA Galaxy | 6–2 | Minnesota United FC |

### Western Conference
## Conference finals

The higher-seeded team as determined by regular season ranking hosted the match.
| Home team | Score | Away team |
| Eastern Conference |||
| Orlando City SC | 0–1 | New York Red Bulls |
| Western Conference |||
| LA Galaxy | 1–0 | Seattle Sounders FC |

### Western Conference
## MLS Cup 2024

The highest-ranked finalist in the overall Supporters' Shield table (LA Galaxy) hosted the match.

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Dejan Joveljić | LA Galaxy | 6 |
| 2 | Ryan Gauld | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 5 |
| 3 | Joseph Paintsil | LA Galaxy | 4 |
| 3 | Riqui Puig | LA Galaxy | 4 |
| 5 | Gabriel Pec | LA Galaxy | 3 |
| 6 | Felipe Carballo | New York Red Bulls | 2 |
| 6 | Josef Martínez | CF Montréal | 2 |
| 6 | Jamal Thiaré | Atlanta United FC | 2 |
| 6 | Facundo Torres | Orlando City SC | 2 |
| 6 | Dante Vanzeir | New York Red Bulls | 2 |
| 6 | Kelvin Yeboah | Minnesota United FC | 2 |