The MLS is Back Tournament Final, known as the MLS is Back Tournament Final presented by

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

for sponsorship reasons, was a soccer match held on August 11, 2020 at the

ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is a multi-purpose sports complex located in the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort, in Bay Lake, Florida, Bay Lake, Florida, United States, near Orlando, Florida, Orlando. The complex includes ni ...

near Orlando, Florida. It was the final match of the

MLS is Back Tournament The MLS is Back Tournament took place during the 2020 Major League Soccer season to mark the league's return to action after being suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 26 Major League Soccer teams, 24 participated in the tourna ...

, a competition marking the resumption of the

2020 Major League Soccer season The 2020 Major League Soccer season was the 25th season of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. The regular season began on February 29, 2020, and was originally planned to end on Octob ...

following the initial wave of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The match was played behind closed doors due to the pandemic and was broadcast on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

beginning at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Portland Timbers won the match 2–1 to win the MLS is Back Tournament and were presented the trophy after the game. As winners, Portland received $300,000 in prize money and also earned a spot in the

2021 CONCACAF Champions League The 2021 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2021 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 56th edition of the premier footbal ...

. They qualified for the United States' third berth, replacing the 2020 MLS Eastern or Western Conference regular season champions which are not the Supporters' Shield champions. The match was the first MLS final refereed by a woman, with

Kathryn Nesbitt Kathryn is a feminine given name and comes from the Greek meaning for 'pure'. It is a variant of Katherine. It may refer to: In television and film: * Kathryn Beaumont (born 1938), English voice actress and school teacher best known for her Disn ...

acting as an Assistant Referee.

Road to the final

Match

Portland played in a defensive posture for much of the game, allowing Orlando 64% of the possession but not letting them get into good shooting positions. In the 27th minute Portland scored first, 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 ...

scoring a header from a free kick 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' ...

. Orlando responded with a goal 12 minutes later via a move to the end-line by Nani and a pass to the near post that

Mauricio Pereyra Mauricio Ernesto Pereyra Antonini (born 15 March 1990) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional. Career Club Nacional Pereyra made his professional debut for Naci ...

finished. Portland scored again about 3/4 of the way through the game; Valeri sent a corner kick to

Eryk Williamson Eryk Tyrek Williamson (born June 11, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers. College Williamson attended the University of Maryland, where he played in the 2015 ...

, who controlled the ball and sent it toward goal, where

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 ...

redirected it to Dario Župarić for a tap-in through Nani's legs. Both of Portland's goals were scored by center backs. The game opened up after that, with Orlando committing more players forward in an attempt to level the score, but Portland's defense continued to hold them off until the final whistle. The game finished with Orlando having only one shot on goal – namely their goal – while Portland had six.

Details

Broadcasting

The match was broadcast on

Notes

References

External links

MLS is Back Tournament
{{Orlando City SC 2020 Major League Soccer season Portland Timbers matches Orlando City SC matches 2020 in sports in Florida August 2020 sports events in the United States Sports competitions in Florida Soccer in Florida