The MLS Cup Playoffs is the annual

postseason The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

elimination tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of Major League Soccer. The final match of the tournament is 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 league's championship game. Under the current format adopted for the 2019 season, 14 teams qualify for the tournament based on regular-season point totals—the seven highest-placed teams from each the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference.

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is the title sponsor of this tournament. Awarding a championship through a postseason tournament differs from most other soccer leagues around the world, where the team with the most points at the end of the season is deemed champion. MLS awards the regular-season champions with the Supporters' Shield, and the winner must be a U.S.-based team in order to earn a direct berth in the CONCACAF Champions League, the continental tournament.

Playoff system

Since 2019 (but excluding

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

), the top seven teams from the Eastern Conference and top seven teams from the Western Conference qualify for the playoffs, playing in separate brackets. All rounds are single-match eliminations hosted by the higher seed and there is no re-seeding in subsequent rounds. Extra time (divided into two 15-minute periods) and 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 pe ...

are used if the teams were still tied. The teams ranked 2nd through 7th in each conference compete in the First Round, with the winners advancing to the Conference Semifinals along with the 1st seed who is given a bye. Winners of that round play in the Conference Finals which is then followed by

. The Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals were formerly conducted in a home-and-away, aggregate-goal format. From 2014 to 2018, the away goals rule was used for these rounds. In both rounds, the higher-seeded team hosted the second leg. If the teams were tied after two games (180 minutes), the team that scored more goals on the road advanced. If there was still a tie after the away goals rule has been applied, the teams played 30 minutes of extra time (divided into two 15-minute periods), followed by a penalty shoot-out if necessary. The away goals rule did not apply to goals scored in these extra time periods.

Qualification

Fourteen teams qualify for the playoffs: the top seven teams from the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference that had earned the best points per game record during the 34-game regular season. The top-seeded team in each conference gets a first-round bye, advancing to the conference semifinals, and will host the fourth-fifth seed winner from the first round.

Tie-breaking procedures

If at least two teams finish the regular season with an equal number of points, the following criteria are used to break the tie. # most wins # goal differential # goals scored # fewer disciplinary points # away goal differential # away goals scored # home goal differential # home goals scored # coin toss (2 clubs) or drawing of lots (3 clubs) Note: *If two clubs remain tied after another club with the same number of points advances during any step, the tie breaker reverts to step 1 for the two remaining clubs. *Head-to-head competition results have not been used in tie-breakers since

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History

MLS playoff records

* Records include all knockout playoff matches, individual legs of aggregate-goal rounds, and MLS Cup appearances.

Goals

Note: Players in bold are still active for an MLS club.

Records

* Matches determined by shoot-out counted as win–loss, not draw

Appearances

Miami Fusion The Miami Fusion was a professional soccer team based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They played in Major League Soccer (MLS) for four seasons, from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one of the league's first two expansion teams, their best seas ...

and

Tampa Bay Mutiny Tampa Bay Mutiny was a professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. They were a charter member of Major League Soccer (MLS) and played from 1996 to 2001. They played their home games at Tampa Stadium and then at Raymond James Stadium. The ...

folded after completion of the 2001 season *

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. G ...

folded after completion of the 2014 season

MLS playoff shoot-outs

* MLS began implementing a shoot-out to determine the winner of a playoff series in 2004. * From 2014 to 2018 the away goals rule was used (but not in extra time). Game played at neutral location

References

External links

MLS standings
{{Major League Soccer Annual sporting events in the United States National association football league cups Soccer cup competitions in the United States