The domestic soccer league in the United States is unique when compared with leagues from other countries. Instead of having just one high-tier league at the top of the soccer pyramid where the best teams in the country compete, the Major League Soccer (MLS) league in the United States uses two separate high-tier leagues. Namely, these are the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Owing to the presence of two high-tier leagues, at the end of the regular season, there won’t be any one undisputed league winner. As such, to come up with one undisputed best domestic soccer team in the country, a postseason tournament is hosted pitting the top teams from both the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference. This postseason tournament is affectionately known as the MLS Cup Playoffs. The other MLS tournament is of course the MLS All Star.
A Brief History of the MLS Cup Playoffs
The MLS Cup Playoffs tournament has been played since 1996, the year that the current MLS league was founded. From 1996 up to 2010, the top four ranked teams from both the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference competed in the Playoffs to determine the overall league winner. The number of competing teams in the Playoffs gradually increased from 2010 to the current 18 in 2023.
MLS Cup Playoffs Format
Starting in 2023, 18 teams qualify and play in the MLS Cup Playoffs. Of the 18 teams, 9 come from the Western Conference and the other 9 comes from the Eastern Conference. Only the top-ranked 9 teams are picked. In case there are two or multiple teams that finish with equal points for the 9th spot on the standard league table, a set of tiebreakers is used to determine which team gets the nod to play in the Playoffs. The tie-breakers used in order of the first to the last include:
- Most Wins
- Higher goal differential
- Higher goal scored
- Fewer disciplinary points
- Higher away goal differential
- Higher away goals scored
- Higher home goal differential
- Higher home goals scored
All MLS Cup Playoffs are single-match eliminations hosted by the team that performed better during the regular season (the tiebreakers are used if the two paired teams recorded the same number of points from their respective conference leagues).
The 1st phase of the Playoffs is the Wild Card. Just like the regular season, the Wild Card sees teams placed in two conferences. The top 7 ranked teams from both the Eastern and Western Conference are given byes for the Wild Card. This therefore means only the 8th and 9th ranked teams play the Wild Card. Winners from the Wild Card advance to Round One. Winners from Round One advance to the Conference Semi-Finals and subsequently the Conference Finals.
The two finalists from the Conference Finals then face each other in the MLS Cup to determine the overall winner. The finalist with the better regular season record hosts the MLS Cup final match.
MLS Cup Playoffs Schedule
The MLS Cup Playoffs is a postseason tournament which is played at the end of the regular 34-game MLS season. Typically, the Playoffs start towards the end of October and end with the MLS Cup match played in the first week of December.
MLS Cup Playoffs Prizes
The rationale behind organising the MLS Cup Playoffs is for one undisputed team to emerge as the overall best team in the MLS. This is necessitated by the fact that the regular season is divided into two conferences that is, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. The team that wins the MLS Cup wins the MLS Cup Trophy as well as get an automatic berth in the following season’s CONCACAF Champions League. The 2022 MLS Cup winners Los Angeles FC is reported to have received $300,000 in prize money. The runners-up pocketed $150,000, the Conference finalists received $100,000, the Conference semi-finalists received $47,500 while the teams that reached the First Round received
$20,000.
Top Teams in the MLS Cup Playoffs
The most successful team in the MLS Cup Playoffs is LA Galaxy. LA Galaxy has won the MLS Cup a record 5 times. D.C. United is not far off as it has 4 titles. The other teams that have won at least one MLS Cup include Atlanta United FC, Chicago Fire FC, Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew, Houston Dynamo FC, New York City FC, Portland Timbers, Red Salt Lake, San Jose Earthquakes, Seattle Sounders FC, Sporting Kansas City, Toronto FC and Los Angeles FC (the current defending champions).
MLS Cup Playoffs Interesting Facts
- Landon Donovan has scored the most goals in the MLS Cup Playoffs (25)
- LA Galaxy holds the proud record of having appeared in the most MLS Cup Final matches (9) – winning 5 of them, also a record
- New York Red Bulls has qualified for the most MLS Cup Playoffs (23).