close
close

Bracket, teams, schedule, how to watch

Posted on by Vanessa
Bracket, teams, schedule, how to watch

play

This story has been updated with MLS playoff results through Friday, Oct. 25.

The 2024 MLS playoffs are about to come to a dramatic end to the regular season, which saw Lionel Messi and Inter Miami set a new league points record and top the table.

The postseason begins just three days after the end of the regular season when CF Montréal and Atlanta United face off in the wild card round on Tuesday night. The Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps meet on Wednesday in a clash between teams from the Pacific Northwest.

Miami will certainly be among the favorites, but they are far from alone. The Columbus Crew, the reigning MLS Cup champions, beat Messi and Co. This year, LAFC wants to repeat its trophy victory from 2022. After a few weak seasons, the LA Galaxy are back among the contenders, while the consistently outstanding FC Cincinnati wants to prove that it can deliver in the knockout competition.

Here's everything you need to know about the entire MLS playoff round, schedule, and how to watch the entire MLS Cup:

PLAYOFF TEAMS SET: The path to the MLS Cup leads through Lionel Messi and Inter Miami

MLS playoff series

Nine teams from each conference qualified for the 2024 MLS playoffs. The structure includes a single-elimination Wild Card round starting on Tuesday, October 22nd, followed by the best-of-three Round 1 starting on Friday, October 25th – with Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in action.

From then on, the single-game format returns for the Conference Semifinals, Conference Finals and MLS Cup (with the higher seed hosting all three rounds).

MLS Playoffs – Wild Card Round

  • CF Montreal vs. Atlanta United
  • Portland Timbers vs Vancouver Whitecaps

Note: The number 8 seed Vancouver Whitecaps forfeited home field advantage for the wildcard round due to a stadium availability conflict. Therefore, the No. 9 seed Portland Timbers will host the Western Conference wild card game.

MLS Playoffs – Round 1

Eastern Conference

  • Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United
  • Columbus Crew vs. New York Red Bulls
  • FC Cincinnati vs. New York City FC
  • Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC

Western Conference

  • LAFC vs. West Wild Card winners
  • LA Galaxy vs. Colorado Rapids
  • Real Salt Lake vs. Minnesota United
  • Seattle Sounders vs. Houston Dynamo

MLS Playoffs – Conference Semifinals

  • Winner of East No. 1-East No. 9 vs. winner of East No. 4-East No. 5
  • Winner of East No. 2-East No. 7 vs. winner of East No. 3-East No. 6
  • Winner of West #1-West #8/9 vs. Winner of West #4-West #5
  • Winner of West No. 2-West No. 7 vs. Winner of West No. 3-West No. 6

MLS Playoffs – Conference Finals

  • Highest remaining East seed vs. lowest remaining East seed
  • Highest remaining West seed vs. lowest remaining West seed

MLS Cup

  • East champions versus West champions

Note: MLS Cup hosting rights go to the team with the best regular season record.

MLS playoff schedule by day

Always east. Home teams listed first.

Tuesday, Oct. 22nd – Placeholder round

  • CF Montreal – Atlanta United 2-2 (Atlanta United advances 5-4 on penalties)

Wednesday, October 23rd – Placeholder round

  • Portland Timbers 0-5 Vancouver Whitecaps

Friday, October 25th – Round one, game 1

  • Inter Miami 2-1 Atlanta United

Saturday, Oct. 26 – Round one, game 1

  • LA Galaxy vs. Colorado Rapids, 11 p.m

Sunday, Oct. 27 – Round one, game 1

  • Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC, 7:30 p.m
  • LAFC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps, 9:45 p.m

Monday, October 28th – Round one, game 1

  • FC Cincinnati vs. New York City FC, 6:45 p.m
  • Seattle Sounders vs. Houston Dynamo, 9 p.m

Tuesday, Oct. 29 – Round One, Game 1

  • Columbus Crew vs. New York Red Bulls, 6:45 p.m
  • Real Salt Lake vs. Minnesota United, 9 p.m

November 1st – Round one, game 2

  • Charlotte FC vs. Orlando City, 7:30 p.m
  • Colorado Rapids vs. LA Galaxy, 9:30 p.m

November 2nd – Round One, Game 2

  • Atlanta United vs. Inter Miami, 7 p.m
  • Minnesota United vs. Real Salt Lake, 9 p.m
  • New York City FC vs. FC Cincinnati, time to be announced

November 3 – Round one, game 2

  • New York Red Bulls vs. Columbus Crew, 4:30 p.m
  • Houston Dynamo vs. Seattle Sounders, 6:30 p.m
  • Vancouver Whitecaps vs. LAFC, 8:45 p.m

November 8th – Round one, game 3 (if necessary)

  • Real Salt Lake vs. Minnesota United, 9 p.m
  • LAFC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps, 11 p.m

November 9th – Round one, game 3 (if necessary)

  • FC Cincinnati vs. New York City FC, 4 p.m
  • Orlando City vs. Charlotte FC, 6 p.m
  • Inter Miami vs. Atlanta United, 8 p.m
  • LA Galaxy vs. Colorado Rapids, 10 p.m

November 10 – Round one, game 3 (if necessary)

  • Columbus Crew vs. New York Red Bulls, 5 p.m
  • Seattle Sounders vs. Houston Dynamo, 7 p.m

23-24 November – Conference semifinals

  • Eastern Conference semifinals: Teams and time still open
  • Eastern Conference semifinals: Teams and time still open
  • Western Conference Semifinals: Teams and time still open
  • Western Conference Semifinals: Teams and time still open

Nov. 30 – Dec. 1 – Conference finals

  • Eastern Conference Finals: Teams and time still open
  • Western Conference Finals: Teams and time still open

December 7th – MLS Cup

How to watch MLS playoffs

Every game in the 2024 MLS Playoffs will be streamed on Apple TV.

Select games, including MLS Cup, will be broadcast on Fox and FS1 and streamed on Fubo. In addition, games involving Canadian clubs are broadcast in Canada by TSN (English) and RDS (French).

Watch select MLS playoff games with a Fubo subscription

We may occasionally recommend products and services that may be of interest to you. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may receive an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently and this has no influence on our reporting.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *