The Western Conference is one 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 Cana ...

's two conferences, along with the Eastern Conference. As of 2023, the Western Conference contains fourteen teams. The conference has produced eleven

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 ...

champions and seventeen

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 Conference ...

winners in Major League Soccer's first 27 seasons. In 2000 and 2001, the conference was referred to as the ''Western Division'' when Major League Soccer briefly reorganized into three divisions.

2023 standings

Members

Current

Conference lineups by year

1996 (5 teams)

''Changes from 1995'': Creation of the Major League Soccer.

1997 (5 teams)

''Changes from 1996'': Kansas City changed their name from ''Wiz to ''Wizards''.

1998–99 (6 teams)

''Changes from 1997'': The Chicago Fire was added in the 1998 expansion.

2000–01 (as ''Western Division'') (4 teams)

''Changes from 1999'': The Western Conference renamed itself the Western Division upon the creation of the Central Division; Chicago Fire and

Dallas Burn Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wit ...

moved into the new division; The San Jose Clash renamed to the ''Earthquakes''.

2002–04 (5 teams)

''Changes from 2001'': The Western Division renamed back to Western Conference following the contraction of the Miami Fusion and the Tampa Bay Mutiny, resulting in the disbanding of the Central Division; Dallas Burn moved in from the Central Division.

2005 (6 teams)

''Changes from 2004'':

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. Gua ...

and

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 ...

were added in the 2005 expansion; Kansas City Wizards moved to the Eastern Conference; The

renamed to ''FC Dallas''.

2006–07 (6 teams)

''Changes from 2005'': The

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 franchis ...

was put on hiatus; The Houston Dynamo joined the league as an expansion franchise.

2008 (7 teams)

''Changes from 2007'': The San Jose Earthquakes return to MLS after its hiatus.

2009–10 (8 teams)

''Changes from 2008'': Seattle Sounders FC were added in the 2009 expansion.

2011–14 (9 teams)

''Changes from 2010'': The Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps FC were added in the 2011 expansion; Houston Dynamo moved to the Eastern Conference.

2015–16 (10 teams)

''Changes from 2014'':

ceases operations;

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse an ...

and the Houston Dynamo move in from the Eastern Conference.

2017 (11 teams)

''Changes from 2016'':

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American Soc ...

was added in the 2017 expansion.

2018–19 (12 teams)

''Changes from 2017'': Los Angeles FC was added in the 2018 expansion.

2020 (12 teams)

''Changes from 2019'':

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 ...

was added in the 2020 expansion, but moved to the Eastern Conference since the MLS is Back Tournament up to the end of the 2020 season.

2021 (13 teams)

''Changes from 2020'': Nashville SC moved to the Eastern Conference; Austin FC was added in the 2021 expansion; Houston Dynamo added "FC" to their name.

2022 (14 teams)

''Change from 2021'': Nashville SC moved in from the Eastern Conference.

2023 (14 teams)

''Changes from 2022'': Nashville SC moved back to the Eastern Conference as expansion side St. Louis City SC was added to the Western Conference.

Western Conference playoff champions by year

Note: The Conference Finals were a best-of-three series through 2001 (including the MLS semifinals in 2000 and 2001, when a conference playoff format was not used). Matches tied after regulation were decided by a

shoot-out A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only inv ...

. In 2002, a similar format was used except that draws were allowed and the team earning the most points advanced. From 2003 through 2011, the Finals were a single match. Matches tied after regulation went to

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 only ...

(

Golden goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sudd ...

extra time was implemented for 2003 only), then a shoot-out if necessary. Beginning in 2012, the finals were a two-match aggregate series. The away goals rule for series that finished even on aggregate was first implemented in 2014. Extra time and shoot-outs were used if necessary, although away goals did not apply in extra time. In 2019, the playoffs returned to a single match, single elimination format (including the Conference Finals), which were hosted by the higher placed team in the regular season. From 2015 to 2021, the Western Conference was represented in the MLS Cup by either

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 ...

or the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at ...

. ^E – Eastern Conference team.

Western Conference Champion counts by team

As of the 2020 season, a total of 13 different teams have competed in the Western Conference Finals, and 11 of those teams have won at least once. In the table below, teams are ordered first by the number of appearances in a Western Conference Finals, then by the number of wins, and finally by year. Note that this table does not include years that a Western Conference team appeared in the Eastern Conference in the playoffs (such as

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

), and it does include appearances by Eastern Conference teams.

(defunct),

and the

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 ...

have never made it to the Western Conference Finals.

Western Conference regular season champions by year

^ – MLS did not have draws until the 2000 season.
† – The LA Galaxy were declared winners of the Western Division in 2001 after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks forced the cancellation of the rest of the regular season. The MLS Cup Playoffs began on September 20.

References

External links

Complete MLS History
{{MLS Conference Champions Major League Soccer Sports in the Western United States Divisions of sports leagues