A wildly entertaining MLS regular season came to a conclusion last weekend when the last two playoff spots were clinched on the final day of the campaign.
But that was just the entree. Now comes the main course in the form of the playoffs, which always seem to offer up several plot twists and few upsets every year.
Here’s what you need to know about the 2025 MLS Cup playoffs.
Playoff format
The top seven teams in each of the Eastern and Western Conferences clinched playoff berths, while the eighth and ninth seeds will face off in a one-game wild card on Wednesday.
The winners of both wild-card games move on to the first round, made up of best-of-three series (rather than single-elimination contests). In the best-of-three, no games can end in draws. If a match is tied at the end of regulation time, it’ll go straight to a penalty shootout.
Both the conference semifinals and finals are one-legged affairs. The highest remaining seed will host the MLS Cup Final on Dec. 6, as has been the case since 2012. All of these games will go to 30 minutes of extra time, followed by a penalty shootout (if necessary) if they are tied after 90 minutes of regulation time.
Wild-card matchups
East: Chicago Fire (No. 8) vs. Orlando City (No. 9)
West: Portland Timbers (No. 8) vs. Real Salt Lake (No. 9)
First-round matchups
East: Philadelphia Union (No. 1) vs. wild-card winner
East: Charlotte FC (No. 4) vs. New York City FC (No. 5)
East: Inter Miami (No. 3) vs. Nashville SC (No. 6)
East: FC Cincinnati (No. 2) vs. Columbus Crew (No. 7)
West: San Diego FC (No. 1) vs. wild-card winner
West: Minnesota United (No. 4) vs. Seattle Sounders (No. 5)
West: Los Angeles FC (No. 3) vs. Austin FC (No. 6)
West: Vancouver Whitecaps (No. 2) vs. FC Dallas (No. 7)
Lionel Messi hungry for MLS success with Inter Miami
The 2024 MLS campaign was supposed to belong to Lionel Messi.
The World Cup winner took MLS by storm in his first full season, winning the MVP award by scoring 20 goals (finishing second in the Golden Boot race) and guiding Inter Miami to its first Supporters’ Shield trophy (regular season championship) with a league-record 74 points. But Messi and his teammates choked in the playoffs, losing to eighth-seeded Atlanta United in the best-of-three first round series.
Miami finished third this year (just a single point out of first place) and Messi seems poised to become the first player in league history to win consecutive MVP awards after scoring a league-leading 29 goals. What’s more, the Herons haven’t forgotten last season’s playoff disappointment and are eager to make amends in the hopes of officially proving what most people already believe: that they’re the best team in MLS.
Vancouver Whitecaps carrying the flag for Canada
The Vancouver Whitecaps were one of the hottest teams in MLS this season, especially down the last stretch, when they went unbeaten in eight games before losing their final match.
The summer signing of free agent German international Thomas Müller, one of the most decorated players of the past 20 years, elevated the already red-hot Whitecaps to new levels. A lot of critics slept on this team at the start of the year, and now Vancouver has a chance to make them eat their words.
The Whitecaps will also be Canada’s lone representative in the playoffs because both CF Montreal and Toronto FC tanked in the Eastern Conference this season. The MLS Cup has come north of the border only once in league history, when TFC won it all in 2017. This Whitecaps side could give that Toronto team a run for its money, so don’t bet against them bringing the MLS Cup back to Canada for the first time in eight years.
San Diego FC, not your average expansion club
San Diego FC entered the MLS history books in 2025 by setting a record for the most points (63) by an expansion franchise. The league newcomers topped LAFC's previous record of 57 points, set in 2018. They also won the most games (19) of any expansion team in one season, surpassing St. Louis City SC's record (17) in 2023, en route to capturing the Western Conference title.
Should San Diego win MLS Cup, it would join the 1998 Chicago Fire as the second-ever expansion team to hoist the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy. But San Diego’s accomplishment would be far more impressive, given that MLS had only 12 teams back then and the league wasn’t nearly as strong or had the same kind of star power as it does today.
At the heart of San Diego’s success is a pair of MLS newcomers. Danish attacker Anders Dreyer finished the season with 19 goals (third overall) and 19 assists (tied for first with Messi), and Mexican forward Hirving Lozano chipped in with nine goals and 10 assists.
Philadelphia Union looking to win rare ‘double’
This season marked an amazing turnaround by the Philadelphia Union, who finished 12th in the Eastern Conference and 23rd in the league table (out of 29 teams) in 2024, when it collected only 37 points.
The club went under a major roster overhaul in the off-season, and Bradley Carnell was hired to take over from long-time coach Jim Curtin. The results speak for themselves: The Union won the Supporters’ Shield as the best team in the regular season, improving by a whopping 29 points over last season.
Only seven teams in league history have gone on to win the MLS Cup after winning the Supporters' Shield, with both the L.A. Galaxy and D.C. United pulling it off twice. Led by the best defence in MLS (just 35 goals against this year), the Union will be looking to add their name to the exclusive list of clubs who’ve won the “double.”
Player to watch: LAFC’s Denis Bouanga
If it weren't for Messi winning the Golden Boot, forward Denis Bouanga might be the odds-on favourite to win the MVP award.
The Gabon international finished tied in the MLS scoring race by scoring 24 goals for LAFC. In doing so, Bouanga became the first player in league history to score at least 20 goals in three consecutive seasons. Incredibly, the 30-year-old forward has 73 goals and 20 assists in 113 regular season and playoff matches since joining LAFC from French club Saint-Étienne in the summer of 2022.
Bouanga finished the 2025 regular season in sizzling form with a six-game scoring streak that saw him bag 10 goals and record two hat tricks. He has reached another level since L.A. signed former Premier League star Son Heung-min, forming one of the most lethal attacking duos in the league that is now ready to wreak havoc in the playoffs.
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 26 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer.
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