The 2025 Major League Soccer regular season has come to an end after a Decision Day that finalized the standings for both the Eastern and Western Conferences. Now, the league gets set for the 2025 MLS
Cup Playoffs, with the champion being crowned at MLS Cup on December 6th.
There are several players involved with the U.S. national teams – both senior and youth – that will be involved in these playoffs. We guide you through the various matchups and who you could look for when the action begins this week on MLS Season Pass and Apple TV.
Eastern Conference
(1) Philadelphia Union vs. (8) Chicago Fire/(9) Orlando City
Former USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter has led the Chicago Fire back to the playoffs, ending the longest active playoff drought (that dubious honor now belongs to Wooden Spoon “winners” DC United). To get to the first round, Brian Gutierrez, Chris Brady and the rest of the Fire will have to get past Alex Freeman and Orlando City in the Eastern Conference Wildcard on Wednesday. The winner of that match will then get to take on Supporters’ Shield winners Philadelphia Union, who have Nathan Harriel and Indiana Vassilev. They will be missing Quinn Sullivan, who is out for the rest of the year due to injury, and they will lose Caven Sullivan as he joins the USMNT U-17s for the U-17 World Cup. But, the Union have been the best team for most of the year and they think this is finally the year they can lift the MLS Cup.
(2) FC Cincinnati vs. (7) Columbus Crew
Miles Robinson, Roman Celentano, and FC Cincinnati are the 2 seed in the East, and they draw a Hell Is Real Derby for the first round when they take on the Columbus Crew. Patrick Schulte, Max Arfsten, and Sean Zawadzki will hope to give former USMNT player Darlington Nagbe another trophy to take into retirement at the end of the season, but to do that, they must first take out their Ohio rivals.
(3) Inter Miami FC vs. (6) Nashville SC
Inter Miami – with MLS Golden Boot winner Lionel Messi and friends – are going up against former USMNT interim head coach BJ Callaghan and Nashville SC. Nashville, who won the US Open Cup, are hoping for more silverware from these playoffs. Nashville defender Walker Zimmerman will help out the defense as they try to stop Messi and upset Miami.
(4) Charlotte FC vs. (5) New York City FC
Tim Ream and Charlotte FC get the homefield advantage in this first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs against Matt Freese and New York City FC. This could be an intriguing matchup between the 4 and 5 seed in the East.
Western Conference
(1) San Diego FC vs. (8) Portland Timbers/(9) Real Salt Lake
The Western Conference Wildcard will see Real Salt Lake, the team full of current youth and senior national team players, take on the Portland Timbers. Real Salt Lake – featuring Diego Luna, Marcos Zambrano, and former USMNT defender DeAndre Yedlin – will hope to ride the wave and get the win in Portland to advance to face the 1 seed San Diego FC. Luca de la Torre, who didn’t get called in for the October window, is still very much in the mix for the USMNT, and he hopes that he can get San Diego FC to the title in the club’s first season.
(2) Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. (7) FC Dallas
Sebastian Berhalter, Tristan Blackmon, and Brian White both have had breakout seasons for the Vancouver Whitecaps, and their team is the 2 seed in the first round. Blackmon and White are currently battling injuries, and Vancouver will hope they are ready to go when they face FC Dallas. Dallas always has some American talent, and they will be counting on players like Shaq Moore, Paxton Pomykal, Nolan Norris, Sebastian Lletget, Christian Cappis, and Bernard Kamungo to get them deep into the playoffs.
(3) Los Angeles FC vs. (6) Austin FC
Timothy Tillman and Nkosi Tafari will look to help get LAFC back to the MLS Cup to send former USMNT legend and current LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo out as a champion. They will first go up against Austin FC, who will have to play without Brandon Vazquez after he was lost for the season in July due to an ACL tear.
(4) Minnesota United FC vs. (5) Seattle Sounders
Minnesota United is hoping they can get to MLS Cup this year, but they have a tough road. They will have to go up against Cristian Roldán, Jesús Ferreira, Jackson Ragen, and the Seattle Sounders, who always know how to compete in the playoffs.
The 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs begin with the Wildcard matches on Wednesday, with Round 1 beginning as early as Friday. Every match will be on MLS Season Pass and also be available for free for Apple TV subscribers.
