A new downtown stadium is scheduled to be ready for next year, but the original soccer-specific stadium will host one more big event with the 2020 MLS Cup being played at MAPFRE Stadium next Saturday.
Columbus Crew SC clinched that by defeating the New England Revolution 1-0 in the Eastern Conference Final Sunday afternoon. The Crew are guaranteed to host, no matter which team wins Monday's Western Conference Final, as they finished the regular season with a better points per game record than both the Seattle Sounders and Minnesota United.
- Columbus Crew - 41 points / 1.78 PPG
- Seattle Sounders - 39 points / 1.77 PPG
- Minnesota United - 34 points / 1.62 PPG
Of course, a few things had to fall the way of Caleb Porter's side to earn that right in the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs. But that door opened when the East's top two seeds — the Philadelphia Union and Toronto FC, as well as the top-seeded Western Conference side Sporting Kansas City — suffered earlier round defeats.
MAPFRE Stadium, which has been the site of big US men's national team World Cup qualifiers (including a few of those "Dos a Cero" matches against Mexico) has hosted MLS Cup twice before. In 2001, the San Jose Earthquakes defeated the LA Galaxy, while the Portland Timbers, then coached by Caleb Porter, knocked off the Crew in the 2015 final.
Now, there's just one part of the equation that remains: Who will the Crew face? The Seattle Sounders square off against Minnesota United in the Western Conference Final Monday (9:30 pm ET | TV & streaming info) at Lumen Field.
