MLS Cup 2018 was the 23rd edition of the
MLS Cup
The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...
, the championship match of
Major League Soccer (MLS), which took place on December 8, 2018. It was the final match of the
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 P ...
and was contested by
Atlanta United FC
Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference.
Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began pl ...
and the
Portland Timbers at
Mercedes-Benz Stadium in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, Georgia.
Atlanta, in their second MLS season, qualified for the playoffs as the second seed in the
Eastern Conference and defeated
New York City FC
New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned b ...
and
Supporters' Shield winners
New York Red Bulls
The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...
in the playoffs. Portland qualified as the fifth seed in the
Western Conference and defeated fourth-ranked
FC Dallas
FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...
, second-ranked
Seattle Sounders FC, and first-ranked
Sporting Kansas City to qualify for their second MLS Cup final.
Atlanta United won the match 2–0 for their first MLS Cup, before a crowd of 73,019. At the time, this was the largest single-match crowd in MLS history; the record was broken in 2022 when 74,479 people watched
Charlotte FC
Charlotte FC is an American professional soccer club based in Charlotte. The team competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The team is owned by David Tepper, who was awarded the expansion franchise ...
's inaugural home match in 2022.
As MLS Cup winners, Atlanta United would have received an automatic berth to the
2019 CONCACAF Champions League, though they had already secured a berth through an alternate qualifying process. Atlanta hosted the
2019 Campeones Cup
The 2019 Campeones Cup was the second edition of the Campeones Cup, an annual North American Association football, football match contested between the champions of the previous Major League Soccer season and the winner of the Campeón de Campeon ...
, which it won against
Club América, the winner of the Mexican
Campeón de Campeones
''Campeón de Campeones'' ( es, Champion of Champions) is an annual Mexican football competition established in 1942. In its current form, the winner of the Apertura season faces the winner of the Clausura season, for both Liga MX and Liga MX Feme ...
.
Road to the final
The
MLS Cup
The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...
is the post-season championship of
Major League Soccer (MLS), a professional club soccer league in the United States and Canada. The
2018 season was the 23rd in MLS history, and was contested by 23 teams in two conferences—the
east
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
and
west
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
. Each club played 34 matches during the regular season from March to October, facing each team in the same conference at least twice and teams in the other conference at least once. The playoffs, running from late October to early December, were contested between the top six clubs in each conference and included four rounds: a one-match knockout round for the lowest-seeded teams, two rounds of home-and-away series to determine the conference champions, and the one-match final.
The finalists,
Atlanta United FC
Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference.
Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began pl ...
and the
Portland Timbers, were both expansion teams that had played in the league for less than seven seasons. The two teams played each other once in the regular season, tying 1–1 in Atlanta on June 24. The match also marked the first time that two teams coached by managers from
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
faced each other in the MLS Cup final; both managers had never previously reached an MLS Cup final. The defending MLS Cup champions,
Toronto FC
Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...
, failed to qualify for the 2018 playoffs, while runners-up
Seattle Sounders FC were eliminated in the Conference Semifinals by Portland.
Atlanta United FC
Atlanta United FC
Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference.
Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began pl ...
entered the league as an
expansion team in 2017 and appeared in their first MLS Cup final in their second season.
The team became the first expansion team in eight years to qualify for the playoffs in their inaugural season, but were eliminated in the knockout round after losing to the
Columbus Crew
The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...
in a
penalty shootout
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
.
Atlanta started the season with a loss to the
Houston Dynamo that was followed by a run of eight matches without a defeat that lasted until May. The team continued to win, particularly at home, and overtook both
New York City FC
New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned b ...
and the
New York Red Bulls
The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...
in the
Supporters' Shield rankings by the end of the summer. A loss to the Red Bulls in late September and
Toronto FC
Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...
on the final day of the regular season left Atlanta without a Supporters' Shield, finishing second in the Eastern Conference to the New York Red Bulls.
Josef Martínez set a new league goal-scoring record, with 31 regular season goals, and was named to the
MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer.
Winners
*Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award for that season.
Most appearances by a player
The following players have appeared ...
alongside teammate
Miguel Almirón
Miguel Ángel Almirón Rejala (born 10 February 1994) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Newcastle United and the Paraguay national team.
Almirón began his career a ...
, who recorded 12 goals and 14 assists.
Both players were also finalists for the
league's most valuable player award, which Martínez won. Head coach
Gerardo Martino was named
MLS Coach of the Year
The Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year Award is given by Major League Soccer to the best coach in any given season. The award has been given since the league's inception in 1996 and is determined by a vote from players, club personnel, and members of th ...
and announced his plans in October to leave the club following the end of the season.
The club faced third-place New York City FC in the Conference Semifinals, winning 1–0 at
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.
Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
on a goal by
Eric Remedi
Eric Daian Remedi (born 4 June 1995) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Argentine Primera División club Club Atlético Banfield.
Career Banfield
Remedi's senior career started in 2015 with Argenti ...
. Atlanta defeated New York City 3–1 in the second leg with two goals by Josef Martínez, securing a berth to the Conference Finals with a 4–1 aggregate win. Atlanta opened the Conference Finals against the New York Red Bulls with a 3–0 victory at Mercedes-Benz Stadium before a crowd of 70,016 spectators.
Despite losing 1–0 in the second leg, the club secured its first-ever MLS Cup berth and hosting rights with a 3–1 aggregate win.
Atlanta United FC was the first sports team from Atlanta to play for a league title at their home stadium since the
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...
in the
1995 World Series
The 1995 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1995 season. The 91st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Atlanta Braves and the Ameri ...
, which the team won to bring the city its only sports championship.
Other Atlanta-area sports teams, including the
Atlanta Falcons and the
Georgia Bulldogs college football team, had qualified for the championship games of their respective leagues but were defeated in "heartbreaking" losses that are sometimes attributed to a curse placed after the city hosted the
1996 Olympic Games
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
.
Portland Timbers
The
Portland Timbers entered MLS as an expansion team in 2011 and won their first MLS Cup in
2015, defeating the Columbus Crew. Head coach
Giovanni Savarese
Giovanni Savarese (born July 14, 1971) is a Venezuelan football manager and former player, who is the head coach for the Portland Timbers.
Club career Professional Breakthrough
Savarese made his professional debut at 15, with Venezuelan cl ...
was hired at the beginning of the season to replace
Caleb Porter
Caleb Porter (born February 18, 1975) is an American soccer coach who most recently served as the head coach of Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew from 2019 to 2022. He was previously head coach of the Portland Timbers from 2013 until 2017. ...
; Savarese previously led the
New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to
* New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada)
* New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...
to three playoff championships in the second-division
North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to:
*North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league
*North American Soccer League (2011–2017)
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...
, including one against the
Atlanta Silverbacks.
During the offseason, Portland traded away midfielder
Darlington Nagbe
Darlington Joephillip Nagbe (born July 19, 1990) is an professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer. Born in Liberia, he represented the United States national team.
Nagbe spent the first seven ...
and defender
Gbenga Arokoyo
Gbenga Arokoyo (born 1 November 1992) is a Nigerian footballer who plays for Swedish club Umeå FC as a defender.
Career
Arokoyo was signed by Kwara United from Kwara Football Academy in 2010. During his time at the club he was selected for ...
to Atlanta United FC for $1.65 million in
allocation money
Allocation money, in Major League Soccer, represents an amount of money that teams may use to sign players and/or allocate to their salaries to get under the salary cap.
Reasons for obtaining
MLS teams receive general allocation money for these r ...
, and also declined contract options for forward
Darren Mattocks
Darren Dimitri Mattocks (born 2 September 1990) is a Jamaican professional footballer who last played as a forward for Phoenix Rising FC and the Jamaica national football team.
College career
Mattocks played for the University of Akron where ...
and defender
Ben Zemanski
Ben Zemanski (born May 12, 1988 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American retired soccer player and current assistant coach for the Portland Pilots.
Career
College and Amateur
Zemanski attended the Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, where he ...
. Savarese used the targeted allocation money to sign several young players, including midfielder
Cristhian Paredes
Cristhian Fabián Paredes Maciel (born 18 May 1998) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays for Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers.
Career Sol de América
He was formed in the Club Sol de América academy. While he was in ...
and forward
Samuel Armenteros
Kristiano Samuel Armenteros Nunez Mendoza (born 27 May 1990), known as Samuel Armenteros, is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Saudi Arabian club Al-Kholood.
Club career
Born in Masthugget, Gothenburg, Sweden, to a Cuban fath ...
, who were placed in the starting lineup. Portland started the season with five straight road games due to an expansion project at
Providence Park, which finished in three losses and two draws. After returning to Providence Park in April, the Timbers went on a fifteen-match unbeaten streak (tying a club record) that was broken by a loss to the
Vancouver Whitecaps
Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Mar ...
in August. By late September, however, Portland had only won three more matches and lost six—being outscored 15–5 in away games.
After winning 4–1 and 3–0 in successive matches against
Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 2 ...
to close out the season, the Timbers qualified for the playoffs as the fifth-seed in the Western Conference,
playing away to
FC Dallas
FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...
in the first knockout round. Despite a
red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction.
Red card may also refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers
* Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...
being shown to defender
Larrys Mabiala
Larrys Mabiala Destin (born 8 October 1987) is a professional footballer who plays for the Portland Timbers, having previously played for Turkish Süper Lig club Kayserispor as a defender, Paris Saint-Germain, Plymouth Argyle, and Nice. Born ...
, Portland won 2–1 on two goals by
Diego Valeri
Diego Hernán Valeri (born 1 May 1986) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.
From 2013 to 2021, Valeri played for Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers, and is regarded as one of the league' ...
and advanced to the semifinals to face
longtime rivals and defending Western Conference champions
Seattle Sounders FC. After winning the first leg 2–1 at home, the Timbers lost their aggregate lead during the second leg as the Sounders rallied to tie the series at 3–3 and force
extra time. The two teams both scored a goal in extra time, tying the series 4–4 on aggregate, and the match went into a
penalty shootout
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
that Portland won 4–2 after five rounds. The match in Seattle was called one of the best playoff matches in league history due to its dramatic finish. Portland then played top-seed
Sporting Kansas City in the Conference Finals, drawing 0–0 at home. The Timbers fell behind in the first half of the second leg, but rallied to win 3–2 on a pair of goals by Diego Valeri. The Timbers are the first fifth-seeded team to reach the MLS Cup final.
Summary of results
:''Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).''
Venue and ticketing
![Mercedes Benz Stadium time lapse capture 2017-08-13](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Mercedes_Benz_Stadium_time_lapse_capture_2017-08-13.jpg)
As Atlanta United FC had the better regular season record among the two competing teams, the 2018 final was hosted at
Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. It was the eleventh stadium to host the MLS Cup final and Atlanta was the ninth metropolitan area to host the match. The $1.5 billion stadium was opened in 2017 and is used by Atlanta United FC as well as the
Atlanta Falcons of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). The stadium features an
artificial turf field, a cylindrical video screen, and a retractable roof.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium has a maximum capacity of 71,000, but is downsized to 42,500 for most MLS matches. Atlanta set the league's
average attendance record of 53,002 in 2018, as well as the overall single-match attendance records for a regular season match (72,243 in July 2018) and a playoff match (70,526 in November 2018). It also hosted the
2018 MLS All-Star Game
The 2018 Major League Soccer All-Star Game was the 23rd edition of the annual Major League Soccer All-Star Game. It was held on August 1 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia and played against Italian club Juventus. The match was ...
in August, attended by a record 72,317 spectators; Atlanta became the third city to host both an MLS Cup and an All-Star Game in the same season. The stadium hosted the
2018 SEC Championship Game
The 2018 SEC Championship Game was played on Saturday, December 1, 2018, in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, to determine the 2018 football champion of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The game featured the East Division champion G ...
, a regional
college football championship, a week before the MLS Cup final on December 1, and later hosted
Super Bowl LIII, the NFL's championship game, in February 2019.
The eight state championship
high school football
High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...
games were originally scheduled to take place over the weekend, but were postponed to December 11–12 by the
Georgia High School Association
The Georgia High School Association (GHSA) is an organization that governs athletics and activities for member high schools in Georgia, USA. GHSA is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations. The association has 463 pu ...
, who had prepared a backup date.
Ticket sales for the final began after the Eastern Conference Championship on November 29, 2018, with early access granted to
season ticket members and
personal seat license
A personal seat license, or PSL, is a paid license that entitles the holder to the right to buy season tickets for a certain seat in a stadium. This holder can sell the seat license to someone else if they no longer wish to purchase season ti ...
holders. The match was sold-out by the following morning, leaving
resell tickets in excess of $300.
The ticket allocation for supporters of the away team was initially limited to 900 seats, causing outcry from the
supporters groups of the four semifinalist teams. The
Timbers Army
The Timbers Army is an independent supporters group of Portland Timbers, a soccer club in Major League Soccer—the top tier of the United States soccer pyramid. Its members are known for their loud, enthusiastic support and the raucous atmos ...
, Portland's largest supporters group, sold out their allocation of 1,300 tickets within four minutes.
An additional 400 tickets were released in a lottery for Timbers season ticket holders, bringing the full away allotment to 1,700—an MLS Cup record. The Timbers also sent a "victory log" and mascot
Timber Joey
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including Beam (structure), beams and plank (wood), planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as fini ...
to Atlanta for the cup.
Broadcasting
The MLS Cup final was broadcast in English by
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
in the United States and
TSN in Canada.
UniMás
UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura from its launch on January 14, 2002, to January 6, 2013) is an American Spanish free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The network's programming, which i ...
and
Univision Deportes
TUDN (formerly Univision Deportes) is a sports programming division of Univision, a Spanish language broadcast television network owned by TelevisaUnivision USA, that is responsible for the production of televised coverage of sports events and m ...
carried the Spanish broadcast in the United States, while
TVA Sports
TVA Sports is a Canadian French-language sports specialty channel owned by the Groupe TVA, a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media. The channel is a general-interest sports network, and the first major competitor to RDS, the only other ...
carried the French broadcast in Canada. Fox's broadcast was led by play-by-play announcer
John Strong, color analyst
Stuart Holden
Stuart Alistair Holden (born August 1, 1985) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder, and is currently a lead TV game analyst for Fox Sports. Holden is part of the ownership group for Spanish La Liga soccer ...
, and sideline reporter
Katie Witham
Katie is an English feminine name. It is a form Katherine, Kate, Caitlin, Kathleen, Katey and their related forms. It is frequently used on its own.
People Sports
*Katie Boulter (born 1996), British tennis player
*Katie Clark (born 1994), Brit ...
. The pre-match show was anchored by
Rob Stone,
Alexi Lalas
Panayotis Alexander "Alexi" Lalas ( el, Αλέξης Λάλας; born June 1, 1970) is an American retired soccer player who played mostly as a defender. Lalas is best known for his participation with the United States men's national soccer te ...
, and
Maurice Edu
Maurice Edu (born April 18, 1986) is an American former professional soccer player. A highly touted prospect, Edu was the first overall pick in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft and won the MLS Rookie of the Year Award with Toronto. His performances for ...
, with guest appearances from
U.S. national team manager
Gregg Berhalter
Gregg Matthew Berhalter (, ; born August 1, 1973) is an American soccer coach and former player. He is also the current head coach of the United States men's national soccer team. Berhalter previously coached Columbus Crew SC in Major League Soc ...
and MLS commissioner
Don Garber
Donald P. Garber (born October 9, 1957) is an American sports executive who has served as the Commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999. Garber is also the CEO of Soccer United Marketing and a member of the United States Soccer Federation ...
. Fox used a total of 26 cameras for its broadcast, including a new
corner flag
A football pitch (also known as soccer field) is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is typically made of natural tu ...
camera, similar to
end zone
The end zone is the scoring area on the field, according to gridiron-based codes of football. It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines. There are two end zones, each being on an opposite side of the field. ...
pylon cameras used in
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
broadcasts. UniMás's broadcast was anchored by play-by-play commentators
Raúl Guzmán and
José Luis López Salido, alongside color analysts
Diego Balado
Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''.
...
and
Marcelo Balboa
Marcelo Balboa (born August 8, 1967) is an American former professional soccer who played as a defender in the 1990s for the United States national team, becoming its captain. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
After retiring ...
.
The match was also broadcast on the
SiriusXM
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sa ...
satellite radio network, with commentary from
Joe Tolleson
Joe Tolleson is an American sports broadcaster. He has been the play-by-play broadcaster for New York City Football Club on the YES Network since their inaugural season in 2015 and the public address announcer for the New York Rangers since 2002. ...
,
Tony Meola
Antonio Michael "Tony" Meola (; ; born February 21, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He represented the United States national team at the 1990, 1994, and 2002 World Cups. From 1996 to 2006, he ...
, and
Brian Dunseth
Brian William “Dunny” Dunseth (born March 2, 1977) is an American television soccer commentator and former player.
Career
College
Dunseth played college soccer at California State University, Fullerton, and was one of the first players t ...
. The MLS Cup final was broadcast on television in over 170 countries, mainly on
Eurosport
Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territories, ...
and
Fox Sports Latin America
Fox Sports is a group of channels available in Latin American and operated by The Walt Disney Company Latin America, a unit of the Disney International Operations. The network is focused on sports-related programming including live and pre-reco ...
. The Dutch Eurosport broadcast marked the last match for commentator
Frank Kramer, who spent most of the MLS Cup final giving monologues and telling stories instead of commenting on the match.
The Fox broadcast on
terrestrial television
Terrestrial television or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the signal transmission occurs via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV receiver having an ante ...
earned a 1.2 metered market rating, the highest for an MLS Cup final since 1998. The broadcast drew an average of approximately 1.56 million viewers, representing a 91 percent increase from Fox's last broadcast in
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
.
Match
Summary
![AUFC MLS Cup ceremony](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/AUFC_MLS_Cup_ceremony.jpg)
The match began at 8:00 p.m.
Eastern Time
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...
in Atlanta, with cold weather and freezing rain outside brought by a
winter storm
A winter storm is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental climates, these storms are not necessa ...
.
Alan Kelly, recipient of the 2018
MLS Referee of the Year Award
The MLS Referee of the Year is a Major League Soccer award presented to the best Referee (association football), referee annually since 1997. Since 2008, the league has also presented an Assistant Referee of the Year award. The awards are voted on ...
, was head referee of the match; it was his second MLS Cup final, having previously officiated the
2016 final in Toronto. Both teams fielded similar lineups to those used in the Conference Finals, with Atlanta using an identical 5–3–2 formation and Portland replacing defender
Bill Tuiloma
Bill Poni Tuiloma (born 27 March 1995) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or defensive midfielder for Charlotte FC in Major League Soccer.
Tuiloma has represented New Zealand internationally since 2013, and w ...
with
Larrys Mabiala
Larrys Mabiala Destin (born 8 October 1987) is a professional footballer who plays for the Portland Timbers, having previously played for Turkish Süper Lig club Kayserispor as a defender, Paris Saint-Germain, Plymouth Argyle, and Nice. Born ...
in their 4–2–3–1 formation. Atlanta midfielder and
homegrown player Andrew Carleton
Andrew James Carleton (born June 22, 2000) is an American professional soccer player who plays for Las Vegas Lights in the USL Championship. Carleton has featured on several United States youth national teams.
Early life
Carleton was born ...
was suspended by the club for violating a team rule. Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja performed the
national anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...
prior to kickoff, reprising her role from an earlier
LA Galaxy game in September.
Club owner
Arthur Blank
Arthur M. Blank (born September 27, 1942) is an American businessman and a co-founder of the home improvement retailer The Home Depot.
He also currently owns two professional sports teams based in Atlanta, Georgia - the Atlanta Falcons of the ...
was honored at the "Golden Spike" ceremony prior to the match while both sets of supporters unveiled their
tifo
Tifo () is the phenomenon whereby tifosi of a sports team makes a visual display of any choreographed flag, sign or banner in the stands of a stadium, mostly as part of an association football match.
Tifos are most commonly seen in important m ...
s.
Atlanta opened the first half with the majority of possession, but shared "cautious" attacking chances with Portland.
In the 14th minute, Atlanta forward
Josef Martínez was allegedly tripped by Timbers defender Larrys Mabiala in the penalty area, but a penalty kick was not called by referee Alan Kelly or the
video assistant referee
The video assistant referee (VAR) is a match official in association football who reviews decisions made by the referee.
The assistant video assistant referee (AVAR) is a current or former referee appointed to assist the VAR in the video ope ...
.
Atlanta continued to increase its possession of the ball and pressed for further attacks, including a chance for
Miguel Almirón
Miguel Ángel Almirón Rejala (born 10 February 1994) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Newcastle United and the Paraguay national team.
Almirón began his career a ...
in the 28th minute that was volleyed into the hands of Portland goalkeeper
Jeff Attinella
Jeff Attinella (born September 29, 1988) is an American former professional soccer player who previously played as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers.
Career College and amateur
Attinella is a product of the University ...
.
A slide tackle in the 39th minute by defender
Michael Parkhurst
Michael Finlay Parkhurst (born January 24, 1984) is an American former soccer player who played as a defender. The 2005 MLS Rookie of the Year and 2007 MLS Defender of the Year Award, Parkhurst was capable of playing both as a center back and ...
reached Martínez in the penalty area, who dribbled around Attinella and scored the match's opening goal.
Portland responded in the 42nd minute with a cross by
Sebastián Blanco
Sebastián Marcelo Blanco (born 15 March 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who currently plays for Major League Soccer side Portland Timbers.
Club career Lanús
Blanco made his breakthrough into the Lanús first team in 2006. In 2 ...
to
Jeremy Ebobisse
Jeremy Edward Nirina Ebobisse Ebolo (born February 14, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club San Jose Earthquakes.
Youth and amateur
Born in Paris, France, Jeremy Ebobisse moved ...
, who headed the ball into the hands of Atlanta goalkeeper
Brad Guzan
Bradley Edwin Guzan (; born September 9, 1984) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC.
A college soccer second-team All-American for the South Carolina Gamecocks, Gu ...
.
Portland attempted to find an equalizing goal early in the second half with a chance for Ebobisse in the 51st minute that was saved by Guzan.
Atlanta won a free kick that was taken by Almirón and headed by Martínez to right-back
Franco Escobar
Franco Nicolás Escobar (born 21 February 1995) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo.
Club career Newell's Old Boys
Escobar began his career in the Newell's Old Boys acad ...
, who scored to give the team a 2–0 lead in the 54th minute.
Portland made three substitutions to bring on attacking players and saw several chances to score, including missed shots in the 73rd minute for
Diego Valeri
Diego Hernán Valeri (born 1 May 1986) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.
From 2013 to 2021, Valeri played for Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers, and is regarded as one of the league' ...
and the 82nd minute for
Alvas Powell.
The rest of the second half featured end-to-end plays that resulted in saves or missed shots as Atlanta looked to use up remaining time in the match.
Martínez and Almirón were substituted late in the match to
standing ovation
A standing ovation is a form of applause where members of a seated audience stand up while applauding after extraordinary performances of particularly high acclaim. In Ancient Rome returning military commanders (such as Marcus Licinius Crassus a ...
s from the crowd.
After the final whistle, Atlanta's substitute players rushed onto the field and were presented with the
Philip F. Anschutz Trophy
The Philip F. Anschutz Trophy is a silver trophy that is awarded to winners of MLS Cup. Since the inaugural MLS Cup in 1996, three trophies have been used: the Alan I. Rothenberg Trophy from 1996 to 1998, a second version of the Rothenberg Tro ...
by league commissioner
Don Garber
Donald P. Garber (born October 9, 1957) is an American sports executive who has served as the Commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999. Garber is also the CEO of Soccer United Marketing and a member of the United States Soccer Federation ...
.
Martínez was named the match's
most valuable player for his performance, while Atlanta captain Michael Parkhurst won his first MLS Cup after four earlier attempts with the
New England Revolution
The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...
and Columbus Crew.
Details
Post-match
Atlanta United FC became the 13th club to win the MLS Cup,
and only the second team in the city to win a major professional sports championship. The other sports title for Atlanta was won by the
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...
in the
1995 World Series
The 1995 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1995 season. The 91st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Atlanta Braves and the Ameri ...
.
It was also the city's second soccer championship, following the
North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to:
*North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league
*North American Soccer League (2011–2017)
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...
title won by the
Atlanta Chiefs at
Atlanta Stadium
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
in 1968. Atlanta were the second-youngest franchise to win an MLS Cup, following the
Chicago Fire's
1998 title in their first season.
The match's announced attendance of 73,019 spectators set a new MLS Cup record, surpassing
MLS Cup 2002
MLS Cup 2002 was the seventh edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), which took place on October 20, 2002. It was hosted at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and contested by the New England Re ...
in New England.
Super Bowl LIII, held two months later at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, drew 3,000 less attendees than the MLS Cup final due to the use of a different seating configuration. The
Georgia World Congress Center Authority later reported that attendance figure for the match was 69,004, lower than the ticket distribution figure given earlier.
A
victory parade
A victory parade is a parade held to celebrate a victory. Numerous military and sport victory parades have been held.
Military victory parades
Among the most famous parades are the victory parades celebrating the end of the First World War a ...
was held two days later in
Downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta is the central business district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The larger of the city's two other commercial districts ( Midtown and Buckhead), it is the location of many corporate and regional headquarters; city, county ...
, with an estimated crowd of 15,000 following the team bus from the
Georgia Aquarium
Georgia Aquarium is a public aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It exhibits hundreds of species and thousands of animals across its seven major galleries, all of which reside in more than of water. It was the largest aquarium in the wo ...
to
Centennial Olympic Park and a rally outside Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The rally included speeches from Arthur Blank, Georgia governor
Nathan Deal
John Nathan Deal (born August 25, 1942) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 82nd governor of Georgia from 2011 to 2019. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party in 1992 a ...
, and Atlanta mayor
Keisha Lance Bottoms, and culminated in outgoing coach Gerardo Martino hammering in the team's ceremonial
golden spike
The golden spike (also known as The Last Spike) is the ceremonial 17.6- karat gold final spike driven by Leland Stanford to join the rails of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States connecting the Central Pacific Railroad ...
. Several players celebrated after the parade with a party at the
Magic City strip club in Atlanta, where they brought the cup onstage.
As MLS Cup winners, Atlanta United FC qualified for the
2019 CONCACAF Champions League. The team had already qualified based on aggregate points for the 2017 and 2018 seasons and its original berth was transferred to the
New York Red Bulls
The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...
, who finished as runners-up in the aggregate table. Atlanta hosted the
2019 Campeones Cup
The 2019 Campeones Cup was the second edition of the Campeones Cup, an annual North American Association football, football match contested between the champions of the previous Major League Soccer season and the winner of the Campeón de Campeon ...
in August against
Club América, the winner of the Mexican
Campeón de Campeones
''Campeón de Campeones'' ( es, Champion of Champions) is an annual Mexican football competition established in 1942. In its current form, the winner of the Apertura season faces the winner of the Clausura season, for both Liga MX and Liga MX Feme ...
. They defeated Club América 3–2, becoming the first MLS team to win the Campeones Cup and the first American team to defeat a Liga MX club in a competition final since 1998. Atlanta also qualified for the
2019 MLS Cup Playoffs
The 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs (branded as the 2019 Audi 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 24th edition of the ...
, but were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Final by
Toronto FC
Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...
.
References
External links
MLS Cup Playoffs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mls Cup 2018
2018 in Atlanta
2018 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state)
2018 Major League Soccer season
Atlanta United FC matches
December 2018 sports events in the United States
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
Portland Timbers matches
Sports competitions in Atlanta