Lionel Messi’s Return to MLS Cup Playoffs: Bracket, Decision Day Scores, and Key Takeaways

The playoff picture is officially set in Major League Soccer as Decision Day saw Sporting Kansas City, Charlotte FC, the New York Red Bulls, San Jose Earthquakes and FC Dallas all clinch their spots in the playoffs on the final day of the regular season. The Red Bulls have made the playoffs for 14 consecutive years, which is a new MLS record, breaking the previous record of 13 years held by the Seattle Sounders between 2009-2021. Peter Vermes was also able to lead a turnaround as the longest tenured MLS head coach guided his team to the playoffs against the odds.

The newly created wild-card round will see Sporting KC host the San Jose Earthquakes and the Red Bulls host Charlotte FC with the winners of those one-off matches then facing the No. 1 seeds in their respective conferences. The first round of the playoffs will be a best-of-three series with the first team to two wins moving on. There is no extra time so if a game is level at the end of regulation, it will go straight to penalties to determine the winner which isn’t something that the Vancouver Whitecaps will want to hear after Ryan Gauld missed not one but two penalties which would have secured a top four spot and homefield advantage in the first round for the Whitecaps.

After the first round, it will flip back to a single-elimination format for the remainder of the playoffs. Hosting rights for MLS Cup come down to points gained during the season so despite St. Louis City FC winning the West, they won’t host MLS Cup if they’re pitted against FC Cincinnati, Orlando City or the Columbus Crew.

In the Eastern Conference, the dust has settled and the following teams have clinched a playoff berth: FC Cincinnati, Orlando City SC, Philadelphia Union, Columbus Crew, New England Revolution, Atlanta United, Nashville SC, New York Red Bulls and Charlotte FC.

In the Western Conference, the following teams have clinched a playoff berth: St. Louis City SC, Los Angeles Football Club, Seattle Sounders FC, Houston Dynamo FC, Real Salt Lake, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, FC Dallas, Sporting Kansas City and the San Jose Earthquakes.

Eastern Conference table

Eastern Conference results  

New England Revolution 2, Philadelphia Union 1
New York City FC 1, Chicago Fire 0
FC Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 2
Nashville SC 0, New York Red Bulls 1
Columbus Crew 2, CF Montreal 1
Charlotte FC 1, Inter Miami 0
Toronto FC 0, Orlando City 2

Western Conference table 

Western Conference results

San Jose Earthquakes 1, Austin FC 1
Portland Timbers 1, Houston Dynamo 3
Vancouver Whitecaps 1, LAFC 1
St. Louis City FC 0, Seattle Sounders 2
Colorado Rapids 0, Real Salt Lake 1
Sporting Kansas City 3, Minnesota United 1
LA Galaxy 1, FC Dallas 4

Records broken

With their stoppage time victory over Nashville SC, the New York Red Bulls not only jumped above the red line to host a wild-card round match but they also made history. Not only do the Red Bulls own the longest active streak of playoff appearances in all of American sports but they now also hold the longest streak of consecutive playoff appearances ever in MLS with 14. For a season that has included many ups and downs including needing to move on from head coach Gerhard Struber, it’s an impressive accomplishment for the Red Bulls to make it and considering their form recently, teams won’t want to face them.

Welcome to the show

In only their second season in the league, Charlotte FC are now in the playoffs and they did it the hard way by handing Miami their first league defeat in a match that Lionel Messi has started. Scoring an early goal before surviving on heroics from keeper Kristijan Kahlina, this is the progress that Charlotte needed after dropping a midweek match away to the Herons. It feels even better to book your place in the playoffs when Messi had to be defeated to get there.

What a turnaround

It seemed like Sporting Kansas City and the longest tenured coach in the league Peter Vermes would be left on the outside looking in at the playoff picture but in a statement win over Minnesota United, Sporting was able to make it to book a place in the wild-card round. No one will want to face this side in the playoffs, especially St. Louis who lost to the Seattle Sounders on the final day. Sporting will still need another win to make it out of the wild-card round but getting there was half the battle.

Playoff schedule

All times Eastern, all matches can be streamed on MLS Season Pass

Wildcard round: Wednesday, Oct. 25
New York Red Bulls vs. Charlotte FC, Red Bull Arena (7:30 p.m.)
Sporting Kansas City vs. San Jose Earthquakes, Children’s Mercy Park (9:30 p.m)

Round one: Oct. 28-Nov. 12

No. 1 FC Cincinnati vs. Winner of the Eastern Conference wild-card match  
No. 2 Orlando City SC vs. No. 7 Nashville SC 
No. 3 Columbus Crew vs. No. 6 Atlanta United 
No. 4 Philadelphia Union vs. No. 5 New England Revolution 

No. 1 St. Louis CITY SC vs. Winner of the Western Conference wild-card match  
No. 2 Seattle Sounders FC vs. No. 7 FC Dallas
No. 3 LAFC vs. No. 6 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
No. 4 Houston Dynamo FC vs. No. 5 Real Salt Lake 

Conference semifinals: Nov. 25-26

Conference Finals: Dec. 2-3

MLS Cup Final: Dec. 9 (4 p.m.)