The 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs (branded as the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons) was the post-season championship of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

(MLS), the top

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

league in the United States and Canada. It was the 28th edition of the

MLS Cup Playoffs The MLS Cup Playoffs is the annual postseason elimination tournament of Major League Soccer. The final match of the tournament is the MLS Cup, the league's championship game. Under the current format adopted for the 2019 season, 14 teams qualif ...

, the tournament culminating at the end of the 2023 season. The playoffs began on October 25 and concluded with

MLS Cup 2023 MLS Cup 2023 was the 28th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), played on December 9, 2023, at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The association football, soccer match between hosts Columbus ...

on December 9.

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The club ...

entered the playoffs as the defending MLS Cup champions.

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The ...

entered as

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 19 ...

winners, but were eliminated by

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 the Conference Finals.

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 ...

and

St. Louis City SC St. Louis City SC (stylized as St. Louis CITY SC) is an American professional men's soccer club based in St. Louis, Missouri. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference and will join in 2023 as an expans ...

reached the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time in 2023, the latter qualifying in their debut MLS season. Columbus Crew won a third MLS Cup title after defeating Los Angeles FC 2–1.

Format

The playoffs featured a new format from previous years with an expanded field of 18 teams—the top nine teams from each conference. The eighth and ninth-placed teams in each conference contested a single wild card match with only a

penalty shoot-out 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 pen ...

occurring if the game was tied. Round One comprised a

best-of-three There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

format with higher seeds playing against lower seeds, for the first time since 1999. The round did not have the

aggregate score There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

kept, and tied matches proceeded directly to a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner. The remaining three rounds — the Conference Semifinals, Conference Final, and MLS Cup — were

single-elimination A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

matches played with

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

and a penalty shoot-out if still tied. The higher seed hosted the match in all rounds except for the best-of-three series in Round One, where the lower seed hosted the second of three possible matches. All matches were broadcast globally on

MLS Season Pass MLS Season Pass is a soccer streaming television, streaming service operated by Apple Inc. which will include live matches from Major League Soccer. The service will be available in over 100 countries at launch and will feature every MLS regular s ...

, a streaming service operated by

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

. The introduction of a best-of-three round and the expanded field, which allowed 62% of the league's 29 teams to qualify for the playoffs, were criticized for being more confusing and diluting the competition. It was the first major revamp of the playoff format since

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, when all rounds were switched to single-elimination matches. The format added more matches, including home games for lower seeds, and was developed with fan input according to MLS officials; other outlets noted that new broadcaster

Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

would benefit from the additional matches. The new playoff format was announced on February 21, 2023, shortly before the start of the regular season; earlier media reports indicated that another format with a round-robin group stage was also considered. Unlike regular season matches, playoff matches did not have a sixth substitute added for periods of extra time. Players were suspended for a match after accumulating three

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...

s; the suspension applied to the next match, whether it was in the playoffs or the 2024 regular season. In the event that a playoff match could not be played and neither team had forfeited or is at fault, the team with the higher

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

during the 2023 regular season would advance.

Qualified teams

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

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 ...

(September 23) *

(October 21) *

(September 20) *

(August 30) *

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is a Major League Soccer team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The team began play in the league in 2020 as a continuation of the USL club of the same name and plays its home matches at Geodis Park. It is principally owned ...

(September 30) *

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 compet ...

(September 23) *

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 ...

(October 21) *

Orlando City SC Orlando City SC is an American professional soccer club in Orlando, Florida, that competes as a member of the Eastern Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). Orlando City SC began play in 2015 as the 21st franchise in MLS, succeeding the USL ...

(September 20) *

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

(September 20) ;Western Conference *

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

(October 21) *

Houston Dynamo FC Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establis ...

(October 4) *

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 20 ...

(October 4) *

(September 20) *

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

(October 21) *

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

(October 4) *

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

(October 21) *

Vancouver Whitecaps FC 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 Marc ...

(October 4)

Conference standings

Eastern Conference Western Conference

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 round

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Round One

, - , colspan="6" bgcolor=#87CEFA align=center, Eastern Conference , - , colspan="6" bgcolor=#FFAEB9 align=center, Western Conference

Eastern Conference

''FC Cincinnati won the series 2–0.'' ---- ''Orlando City SC won the series 2–0.'' ---- ''Columbus Crew won the series 2–1.'' ---- ''Philadelphia Union won the series 2–0.''

Western Conference

'' Sporting Kansas City won the series 2–0.'' ---- ''Seattle Sounders FC won the series 2–1.'' ---- ''Los Angeles FC won the series 2–0.'' ---- ''Houston Dynamo FC won the series 2–1.''

Conference semifinals

The higher-seeded team as determined by regular season ranking hosted the match. , - , colspan="3" bgcolor=#87CEFA align=center, Eastern Conference , - , colspan="3" bgcolor=#FFAEB9 align=center, Western Conference

Eastern Conference

----

Western Conference

----

Conference finals

The higher-seeded team as determined by regular season ranking hosted the match.

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

MLS Cup 2023

The highest-ranked finalist in the overall Supporters' Shield table (

) hosted the match.

Top goalscorers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mls Cup Playoffs 2023 2023 Major League Soccer season

MLS Cup Playoffs