FTLOS HQ | Eighteen teams are officially in the hunt for the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy, and the road to glory is about to pop off. The MLS Playoffs are historically highly entertaining!
You know what else is entertaining? The FTLOS Event Calendar that highlights tournaments and events all across the country.
Even better — MLS and Apple TV are taking down the paywall for the postseason which was recently reported by SBJ. That’s right, fans can stream every playoff match if they already have Apple TV, but not MLS Season Pass. Nice move.
First Round: Best-of-Three
The top 7 teams from both the Eastern and Western Conferences are automatically through to Round 1, which features a best-of-three format.
Teams #8 and #9 in each conference face off in a wild card play-in game — one match to survive and move on to face the top seed.
Second Round: Conference Semifinals
Winners of the first-round series move on to the single-elimination Conference Semifinals.
Third Round: Conference Finals
Semifinal winners meet in the Conference Finals, another one-and-done showdown.
Fourth Round: MLS Cup Final
The last two standing will battle in a winner-take-all championship for the 2025 MLS Cup.
Upcoming Schedule
Wednesday, October 22 – Eastern Conference Wild Card
#8 Chicago Fire vs #9 Orlando City SC
7:30 PM CT
Wednesday, October 22 – Western Conference Wild Card
#8 Portland Timbers vs #9 Real Salt Lake
9:30 PM CT
Bracket Breakdown
Eastern Conference
#1 Philadelphia Union vs #8 Chicago Fire / #9 Orlando City SC
#2 FC Cincinnati vs #7 Columbus Crew
#3 Inter Miami vs #6 Nashville SC
#4 Charlotte FC vs #5 New York City FC
Western Conference
#1 San Diego FC vs #8 Portland Timbers / #9 Real Salt Lake
#2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs #7 FC Dallas
#3 LAFC vs #6 Austin FC
#4 Minnesota United vs #5 Seattle Sounders
Best of 3 Schedule:
Friday, October 24
#3 Miami vs #6 Nashville SC @ 7:30pm Central Gm 1
Sunday, October 26
#1 Philadelphia vs Wild Card Winner @ 4:30pm Central Gm 1
#2 Vancouver Whitecaps vs #7 FC Dallas @ 6:30pm Central Gm 1
#1 San Diego vs Wild Card Winner @ 8:30pm Central Gm 1
Monday, October 27
#2 Cincinnati vs #7 Columbus Crew @ 5:45pm Central Gm 1
#4 Minnesota United vs #5 Seattle Sounders – 8:00pm Central Gm 1
Tuesday, October 28
#4 Charlotte FC vs #5 New York City FC @ 5:45pm Central Gm 1
Wednesday, October 29
#3 Los Angeles FC vs #6 Austin FC @ 9:30pm Central Gm 1