Intro:
Teams have been fighting all throughout this season to make it to the final, MLS Cup, also known as the playoffs for the MLS (Major League Soccer). The season started on February 25, and Decision Day will be October 21rst, the end of the regular season. Decision Day is when the teams that make the playoffs will be finalized. 18 teams qualify for the cup, 9 from the western conference and 9 from the eastern conference.
New Format:
Founded in 1996, the MLS Cup is always full of action and surprises. This year’s cup is sure to be full of action, with its new best of 3 series in round 1. This means there will be three matches between each pair of competitors in round 1. 2 of the matches will be held at the higher seeds (ranking) home stadium, and one at the lower seeds (ranking) stadium. These matches, if tied at 90 minutes, will go straight to penalties. Another new part of the format for the MLS cup, is that seeds 8-9 will have to face off in a wild card match. Whoever wins this qualifies for round 1. Wild card matches will be held October 25&26. These new changes to the MLS Cup format are sure to add some extra tension and suspense to the early round.
Teams Who Have Qualified:
That leads to a big question? Who exactly has qualified for the MLS Cup? Starting in the Western conference, St. Louis City has not only solidified their spot in the cup, but they have also clinched the Number 1 seed. This is a great advantage for the playoffs because the higher seed between the 2 competitors hosts the match, therefore getting a home turf advantage. Other teams in the Western Conference who have clinched the playoffs are LAFC, Real Salt Lake, the Vancouver WhiteCaps, and the Houston Dynamo. So far 6 teams have qualified for the MLS Cup in the Western Conference. This leaves 1 spot that guarantees a chance in the playoffs, and 2 wild card spots up for grabs.
Meanwhile over in the Eastern Conference, FC Cincinnati has clinched the #1 seed, along with winning the supporters shield. The supporters shield is an award that is given out to the team with the best regular season record. This year FC Cincinnati is set to finish with a record of 21 wins, 5 loses, and 8 ties if they win their final regular season match against Atlanta United. Also Atlanta United, New England Revolution, the Philadelphia Union, Orlando City, the Columbus Crew, and Nashville SC have all clinched playoff spots. Meaning the only 2 spots left open in the MLS Cup Eastern Conference, are the 2 wildcard spots.
Teams Still Eligible:
There is still plenty of action happening in the last week of the regular season, including the race to grab the last available spots in the MLS Cup. The Eastern Conference side of the Cup is pretty much already made up, but there are still two wildcard spots available. Right now there are 5 teams still eligible for these spots: Montréal, The New York Red Bulls, Chicago Fire, Charlotte, and NYCFC. The team most likely to get one of the wildcard spots is Charlotte because they have 2 matches left against Miami. While all other teams in the Eastern Conference have 1 match left in the regular season. If Charlotte wins both games and clinches a wild card spot, that would leave one open wildcard spot for the other 4 teams to fight for. There is no room for error for the teams still eligible. The tensions will be high for these teams leaving them with the mindset of win or your season is over.
The Western Conference is still up for grabs with one guaranteed playoff spot still unclaimed. All teams still eligible in this conference are in a 1-2 point differential meaning the standings are tight, and it will probably come down to tiebreakers. Teams who are still eligible in the Western Conference are: the Portland Timbers, FC Dallas, the San José Earthquakes, Sporting Kansas City, and Minnesota. The team with the best chance to earn a wildcard spot in this side’s conference is FC Dallas with 2 regular season games left, one with Colorado, and the other with LA Galaxy. The other wildcard spot will hopefully go to our home team, Sporting Kansas City.
Our Home Team:
After a rough start at the beginning of the season, creating a losing streak, Sporting Kansas City has bounced back. More of Sporting’s players have gotten healthy during mid season including Alan Pulido and Gadi Kinda, both were recovering from knee injuries. Together they have put up 17 goals this season. This has definitely added a boost to Sporting Kansas City’s season. Overall, the end of the MLS regular Season and the MLS Cup are sure to be jam packed with action, as teams fight for the win.