Playoff bracket set
Take a look at the matchups for the Wild Card and Round One.
Inter Miami set MLS single-season points record
Inter Miami CF have set the MLS regular-season points record, concluding their 2024 campaign with 74 points following Saturday's 6-2 victory over the New England Revolution.
Inter Miami awarded spot in FIFA 2025 Club World Cup
FIFA has awarded Inter Miami CF a spot at the 2025 Club World Cup, filling the place allotted to the host country. The decision ensures two Major League Soccer teams will participate in the expanded, 32-team tournament hosted across the United States from June 15 to July 13, 2025. Seattle Sounders FC are the other MLS representative after winning the 2022 Concacaf Champions Cup.
CF Montréal, Atlanta United clinch playoff spots
CF Montréal are back in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, clinching their spot with Saturday's 2-0 Decision Day win over New York City FC. They’ll take on Atlanta United in the Wild Card round on Tuesday after Atlanta dramatically clinched an Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs berth with a 2-1 Decision Day win at rival Orlando City.
D.C. United's Benteke wins 2024 MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi
D.C. United striker Christian Benteke has won the 2024 MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi after scoring 23 goals, becoming the league's top scorer in his second full season with the Black-and-Red.
We’re going to do The Recap conference by conference today. It just makes sense on the unnamed day after Decision Day. And we’re going to start in the West because dear god LA. Let’s talk it out.
This one is pretty straightforward. The best team in the West beat the worst. Jackson Yueill scored early and the very, very, very funny scenario where San Jose gifted the Galaxy the top spot in the West stayed in play for way longer than expected, but LAFC started doing LAFC things eventually and that was that. Everyone expected that. What we might not have expected is everyone in the building to stick around and stare at their phones for a few extra minutes while this happened…
It seemed for a moment like the Galaxy had rescued this. They only needed a point to clinch the top spot in the West. When Gabriel Pec converted a stoppage-time penalty, it seemed like they had done just that much to the disappointment of their folks on their phones at BMO Stadium in LA. But, moments later, Daniel Steres somehow got on the end of a cross and sent it into the net to give a big win for Houston, deliver a crushing blow to the Galaxy, and set off celebrations in the black and gold half of LA.
LAFC have finished on top of the Western Conference standings for the second time in the last three seasons and will have home-field advantage at least until MLS Cup. The Galaxy may have just had a ton of momentum sapped out of them. And Houston got rewarded with fifth place and a Round One matchup with Seattle.
LAFC will face the winner of Vancouver-Portland in the Wild Card. The Galaxy will take on Colorado in Round One.
A goal from Diego Luna and an own goal delivered a late win for RSL as they clinched the third spot in the West and handed a late loss to Vancouver as they reminded us why they aren’t built for a playoff run.
RSL will take on a red-hot Minnesota side in Round One, while Vancouver needs to win their Wild Card matchup with Portland just to earn the right to face LAFC.
A gorgeous, slaloming goal from Antony canceled out an early header from Yeimar as Portland gave themselves a small joy by keeping Seattle from earning the third-place spot in the West. Instead, the Sounders finished fourth and will host a Houston side that pulled off the night's miracle on Saturday. Portland will face Vancouver in the Wild Card on Wednesday for a chance to go to Round One against LAFC.
Man, let me tell you, you absolutely do not want a piece of the Loons right now. This team has been flying since the summer window and they eased right into the sixth spot in the West after spending most of the summer in a freefall.
What a weird season for a team that started out red-hot, cratered, and is now hotter than ever while looking like a genuine threat entering the playoffs. It feels unfortunate for RSL that they have to face Minnesota in Round One.
Everything about Colorado right now gives off a sense of people sitting around asking if anyone smells a gas leak right before the building blows up. Nothing looks good, nothing looks easy, and they’re going to be heavy, heavy underdogs to the Galaxy in Round One. It sure seems like that run to third place in Leagues Cup sapped everything out of them. There’s still a good team somewhere in here, but I’m not sure we’re going to see them again until 2025.
That’s that for these teams. It’s worth seeking out Joaquín Fernández’s own goal though.
The East had just a couple of things to sort. Let’s talk it out.
I like that for a moment Inter Miami did a little bit where they made anyone who hadn’t watched them this year think they were in some actual danger of missing out on the points record when they went down 2-0. Just really strong character work on their part.
Anyway, that 2-0 deficit obviously didn’t stick, and Miami sealed the points record with a 74-point season. Congrats to the Herons on a record that will stand for… well, probably just until they break it again next year, right?
As the top seed in the East, they’ll face the winner of…
Well, they aren’t going to face D.C. United. Not after they laid a total egg against Charlotte at home in a must-draw game. Pep Biel, Patrick Agyemang and Liel Abada all found the net for The Crown in a highly encouraging Decision Day performance that earned them the fifth spot in the East and a Round One meeting with Orlando. If their attack really is round into form, they’ll be dangerous in the playoffs.
While D.C. faltered, Montréal were taking care of business. Caden Clark and Josef Martínez continued their impressive form to power Montréal to a late-season run to the playoffs. New York City FC looked much less impressive and ended the year in sixth place. They’ll head to Cincinnati in Round One. The second half of the season gave us a reminder they may just not have the experience (see: consistency) to be a true threat in the postseason.
Once Montréal got up, all they could do was sit and wait to see who they’d be hosting in the Wild Card round. And they ended up with…
Well, they won’t face Philadelphia. A win would have gotten the Union in. It looked like they were on track for that after Quinn Sullivan’s early opener, but the Yamil Asad resurgence continued and Jakob Glesnes opened the second half with a disastrous own goal.
And that’s how the Union’s season came to a close. Philly missing the playoffs may be the single-most surprising result of the year. They gave it one more shot with a group that had won so much, but it’s time to reset and start a new era.
Their loss opened the door for…
I absolutely cannot believe it.
This Atlanta side somehow found a way into the playoffs after going down to Orlando and pulling out a win. And they did it in a fashion totally unfamiliar to them. This team had only scored four goals inside the first 30 minutes of matches all season. They scored twice inside the first 16 in this one.
Even more remarkably, they held onto a lead against an Orlando side that has been one of the hottest in the league. Fortunately for Orlando, the NYCFC loss meant they didn’t have to do anything to clinch a home playoff spot.
The Lions will take on that same NYCFC team in Round One. The Five Stripes will take on CF Montréal on Tuesday in Montreal for the right to face Inter Miami in Round One.
This one didn’t do much of anything beyond reminding us that the Red Bulls have been riding the struggle bus for months now and the Crew are incredible regardless of circumstance.
We’ll see this same matchup in Round One. The Crew will be heavy favorites.
Nashville had more fun during this 90-minute cardio session.
- Matt Doyle released his Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs tiers.
- LAFC rode an "emotional rollercoaster" to the Western Conference summit.
- Meanwhile, the Galaxy dealt with heartbreak on Decision Day.
- Atlanta United took a “surreal” path into the playoffs.
- Josef Martínez sent CF Montréal into the playoffs.
- Inter Miami and Lionel Messi achieved MLS history after Messi delivered a Decision Day hat trick.
- Here are the hosting scenarios for MLS Cup.
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