# MLS Cup playoffs

The MLS Cup playoffs is the annual postseason elimination tournament of Major League Soccer. The MLS Cup, the league's championship game, is the final match of the tournament. Under the current format adopted for the 2023 season, 18 teams qualify for the tournament based on regular-season point totals — the nine highest-placed teams from each the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Audi is the title sponsor of this tournament.
Awarding a championship through a postseason tournament differs from most other soccer leagues around the world, where the team with the most points at the end of the season is deemed champion. MLS awards the regular-season champions with the Supporters' Shield and both champions earn a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, the continental tournament.

## Playoff system

Since 2023, the top nine teams from each of the Eastern and Western Conference qualify for the playoffs, playing in separate brackets. The wild-card round, conference semifinals, conference finals, and the MLS Cup are single-match eliminations hosted by the team with the better regular season record, while round one is a best-of-3 series with the higher seeds hosting the odd-numbered games with no re-seeding in any round. A penalty shoot-out is used if the teams are still tied in all games while extra time (divided into two 15-minute periods) is utilized from conference semifinals onwards.
The teams ranked 8th and 9th in each conference compete in the Wild-card round, with the winner advancing to face the best-ranked team in Round One while the other six teams play each other using the highest v. lowest matchups: 2 v 7, 3 v 6, and 4 v 5. The winners of the first-round series advance to the conference semifinals, then the conference finals, and finally the MLS Cup, a single match hosted by the finalist with the better regular-season record.
Previously, the top seven teams per conference qualified for the playoffs, with only the team with the best regular-season record in each conference earning a first-round bye to the conference semifinals. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the top ten teams from the Eastern and top eight teams from the Western conference qualified for the playoffs in the 2020 season, with single-elimination remaining intact. The top six Eastern teams earned byes to the first round while teams seeded 7–10 and competed in play-in games. The lowest-ranked team to advance from the play-in round advanced to play the conference's first-placed team while the highest-ranked remaining team from that round advanced to face the conference's runner-up. In the Western Conference, the top eight teams competed in their first round with no byes.
The conference semifinals and conference finals were formerly conducted in a home-and-away, aggregate-goal format. From 2014 to 2018, the away goals rule was used for these rounds. In both rounds, the higher-seeded team hosted the second leg. If the teams were tied after two games (180 minutes), the team that scored more goals on the road advanced. If there was still a tie after the away goals rule had been applied, the teams played 30 minutes of extra time (divided into two 15-minute periods), followed by a penalty shoot-out if necessary. The away goals rule did not apply to goals scored in these extra periods.

## Qualification

Eighteen teams qualify for the playoffs: the top nine teams from the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference that had earned the best points per game record during the 34-game regular season. The top seven teams in each conference get a first-round bye, advancing to the conference quarterfinals.

### Tie-breaking procedures

If at least two teams finish the regular season with an equal number of points, the following criteria are used to break the tie, with coin tosses (two teams) or drawing of lots (at least three teams) used if all of those below fail.
* Most wins
* Higher goal differential
* Higher goals scored
* Fewer disciplinary points
* Higher away goal differential
* Higher away goals scored
* Higher home goal differential
* Higher home goals scored
Note:
* If two clubs remain tied after another club with the same number of points advances during any step, the tie breaker reverts to step 1 for the two remaining clubs.
* Head-to-head competition results have not been used in tie-breakers since 2012.

## History

| Seasons | League teams | Playoff teams | % of teams | Matches played |
| 1996–1997 | 10 | 8 | 80% | 19 |
| 1998–2001 | 12 | 8 | 66.7% | 19 |
| 2002 | 10 | 8 | 80% | 17 |
| 2003–2004 | 10 | 8 | 80% | 11 |
| 2005–2006 | 12 | 8 | 66.7% | 11 |
| 2007 | 13 | 8 | 61.5% | 11 |
| 2008 | 14 | 8 | 57.1% | 11 |
| 2009 | 15 | 8 | 53.3% | 11 |
| 2010 | 16 | 8 | 50% | 11 |
| 2011 | 18 | 10 | 55.6% | 13 |
| 2012–2014 | 19 | 10 | 52.6% | 15 |
| 2015–2016 | 20 | 12 | 60% | 17 |
| 2017 | 22 | 12 | 54.5% | 17 |
| 2018 | 23 | 12 | 52.2% | 17 |
| 2019 | 24 | 14 | 58.3% | 13 |
| 2020 | 26 | 18 | 69.2% | 17 |
| 2021 | 27 | 14 | 51.9% | 13 |
| 2022 | 28 | 14 | 50% | 13 |
| 2023–2024 | 29 | 18 | 62.1% | 25–33 |
| 2025 | 30 | 18 | 60% | 25–33 |
* ↑ Temporarily expanded due to the shortened regular season.
* ↑ Teams played a best-of-3 first round these seasons, leading to a variable number of matches played each year depending on whether the 3rd game was required for each matchup.

## MLS playoff records

* Records include all knockout playoff matches, individual legs of aggregate-goal rounds, and MLS Cup appearances.

### Goals

Note: Players in bold are still active for an MLS club.
| Rank | Player | Years | Goals |
| 1 | Landon Donovan | 2001–2014 2016 | 25 |
| 2 | Carlos Ruiz | 2002–2008 2011 2013 2016 | 16 |
| 3 | Roy Lassiter | 1996–1999 2001–2002 | 13 |
| 4 | Jaime Moreno | 1996–2010 | 12 |
| 5 | Ante Razov | 1996–2009 | 11 |
| 6 | Brian McBride | 1996–2003 2008–2010 | 10 |
| 6 | Preki | 1996–2005 | 10 |
| 6 | Taylor Twellman | 2002–2010 | 10 |
| 9 | Jozy Altidore | 2006–2008 2015–2023 | 9 |
| 9 | Will Bruin | 2011–2023 | 9 |
| 9 | Robbie Keane | 2011–2016 | 9 |
| 9 | Jordan Morris | 2016–present | 9 |
| 9 | Raúl Ruidíaz | 2018–2024 | 9 |
| 9 | Bradley Wright-Phillips | 2013–2021 | 9 |

### Records

* Matches determined by shoot-out counted as win–loss, not draw
    As of the conclusion of 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs
MLS Cup playoff club records :
| Club | MLS Cups | MLS Cup apps | Win | Loss | Draw |
| Atlanta United FC | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| Austin FC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chicago Fire FC | 1 | 3 | 20 | 16 | 5 |
| Chivas USA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Colorado Rapids | 1 | 2 | 15 | 21 | 3 |
| Columbus Crew | 3 | 4 | 21 | 24 | 5 |
| D.C. United | 4 | 5 | 29 | 14 | 5 |
| FC Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| FC Dallas | 0 | 1 | 15 | 26 | 6 |
| Houston Dynamo FC | 2 | 4 | 17 | 10 | 6 |
| Inter Miami CF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| LA Galaxy | 5 | 9 | 43 | 25 | 6 |
| Los Angeles FC | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Miami Fusion | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Minnesota United FC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| CF Montreal | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| Nashville SC | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| New England Revolution | 0 | 5 | 20 | 20 | 7 |
| New York City FC | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 0 |
| New York Red Bulls | 0 | 1 | 19 | 28 | 8 |
| Orlando City SC | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Philadelphia Union | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| Portland Timbers | 1 | 3 | 12 | 8 | 4 |
| Real Salt Lake | 1 | 2 | 13 | 12 | 5 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 2 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 1 |
| Seattle Sounders FC | 2 | 4 | 22 | 14 | 5 |
| Sporting Kansas City | 2 | 3 | 21 | 25 | 8 |
| Tampa Bay Mutiny | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Toronto FC | 1 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 1 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |

### Appearances

    As of October 20, 2024
MLS playoff appearance records :
| Club | MLS playoff appearances | Active streak | Longest streak |
| Atlanta United FC | 6 | 2 | 3 |
| Austin FC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Charlotte FC | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Chicago Fire FC | 13 | 0 | 6 |
| Chivas USA | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Colorado Rapids | 16 | 1 | 5 |
| Columbus Crew | 18 | 2 | 4 |
| D.C. United | 15 | 0 | 4 |
| FC Cincinnati | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| FC Dallas | 20 | 0 | 7 |
| Houston Dynamo FC | 10 | 2 | 4 |
| Inter Miami CF | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| LA Galaxy | 21 | 1 | 10 |
| Los Angeles FC | 6 | 3 | 3 |
| Miami Fusion | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Minnesota United FC | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| CF Montréal | 6 | 1 | 2 |
| Nashville SC | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| New England Revolution | 17 | 0 | 8 |
| New York City FC | 8 | 1 | 7 |
| New York Red Bulls | 25 | 15 | 15 |
| Orlando City SC | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Philadelphia Union | 8 | 0 | 6 |
| Portland Timbers | 8 | 1 | 5 |
| Real Salt Lake | 14 | 4 | 7 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 11 | 0 | 5 |
| Seattle Sounders FC | 15 | 2 | 13 |
| Sporting Kansas City | 20 | 0 | 8 |
| St. Louis City SC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Tampa Bay Mutiny | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Toronto FC | 5 | 0 | 3 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 7 | 2 | 2 |
* Miami Fusion and Tampa Bay Mutiny folded after the completion of the 2001 season.
* Chivas USA folded after the completion of the 2014 season.

### MLS playoff shoot-outs

* MLS began implementing a shoot-out to determine the winner of a playoff series in 2004.
* From 2014 to 2018 the away goals rule was used (but not in extra time).
    As of November 10, 2024
Longest MLS Cup playoffs shoot-outs :
| Rank | Rounds | Home team | Score | Away team | Season / stage |
| 1 | 11 | Portland Timbers | 2–2 (7–6) | Sporting Kansas City | 2015 knockout round |
| 2 | 10 | Sporting Kansas City | 1–1 (7–6) | Real Salt Lake | 2013 MLS Cup |
| 2 | 10 | New York Red Bulls | 1–1 (7–8) | FC Cincinnati | 2023 first round |
| 4 | 9 | FC Cincinnati | 0–0 (5–6) | New York City FC | 2024 round one |
| 5 | 8 | Portland Timbers | 1–1 (7–8) | FC Dallas | 2020 first round |
| 6 | 7 | Chicago Fire | 0–0 (4–5) | Real Salt Lake | 2009 conference finals |
| 6 | 7 | Real Salt Lake | 1–1 (5–4) | Los Angeles Galaxy | 2009 MLS Cup † |
| 6 | 7 | Orlando City SC | 1–1 (6–5) | New York City FC | 2020 first round |
| 6 | 7 | New York Red Bulls | 1–1 (5–4) | Columbus Crew | 2024 round one |
| 6 | 7 | Houston Dynamo FC | 1–1 (6–7) | Seattle Sounders FC | 2024 round one |
| 5 games have been decided in 6 rounds 13 games have been decided in 5 rounds 10 games have been decided in 4 rounds 1 game has been decided in 3 rounds ||||||
† Game played at neutral location