2018 MLS Cup playoffs

Main article: 2018 Major League Soccer season

The 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs (branded as the 2018 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons) began on October 31 and ended on December 8 with MLS Cup 2018, the 23rd league championship match for MLS. This was the 23rd version of the MLS Cup Playoffs, the tournament culminating the Major League Soccer regular season. Twelve teams, the top six of each conference, competed in the MLS Cup Playoffs.^[1]

2018 MLS Cup Playoffs

Tournament details
Country	United States
Dates	October 31 – December 8
Teams	12
Defending champions	Toronto FC (did not qualify)
Final positions
Champions	Atlanta United FC (1st title)
Runner-up	Portland Timbers
Semifinalists	New York Red Bulls Sporting Kansas City
Tournament statistics
Matches played	17
Goals scored	52 (3.06 per match)
Attendance	494,421 (29,084 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Josef Martínez Diego Valeri (4 goals each)
← 2017 2019 →

The first round of each conference had the third-seeded team hosting the sixth seed while the fourth-seed hosted the fifth seed in a single match to determine who advanced to the Conference Semifinals. In the Conference Semifinals, the top seed played the lowest remaining seed while the second played the next-lowest. The winners advanced to the Conference Finals. Both the Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals were played as a two-legged aggregate series, with the higher-seed hosting the second leg. The winners advanced to the MLS Cup, a single match hosted by the participant with the better regular season record which was played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.^[2]

Toronto FC were the defending MLS Cup champions, but failed to qualify for the playoffs. Atlanta United FC won their first MLS Cup title.

Qualified teams

Eastern Conference

• Atlanta United FC
• Columbus Crew SC
• D.C. United
• New York City FC
• New York Red Bulls
• Philadelphia Union

Western Conference

• FC Dallas
• Los Angeles FC
• Portland Timbers
• Real Salt Lake
• Seattle Sounders FC
• Sporting Kansas City

Conference standings

The top six teams from each conference advanced to the MLS Cup playoffs.

Eastern Conference Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 New York Red Bulls 34 71 2 Atlanta United FC 34 69 3 New York City FC 34 56 4 D.C. United 34 51 5 Columbus Crew 34 51 6 Philadelphia Union 34 50 7 Montreal Impact 34 46 8 New England Revolution 34 41 9 Toronto FC 34 36 10 Chicago Fire 34 32 11 Orlando City SC 34 28 Source: MLS

Western Conference Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Sporting Kansas City 34 62 2 Seattle Sounders FC 34 59 3 Los Angeles FC 34 57 4 FC Dallas 34 57 5 Portland Timbers 34 54 6 Real Salt Lake 34 49 7 LA Galaxy 34 48 8 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 34 47 9 Houston Dynamo 34 38 10 Minnesota United FC 34 36 11 Colorado Rapids 34 31 12 San Jose Earthquakes 34 21 Source: MLS

Bracket

	Knockout round					Conference semifinals							Conference finals							MLS Cup December 8 – Atlanta, Georgia
						E3	New York City FC	0	1	1
	10/31 – New York, New York
						E2	Atlanta United FC	1	3	4
	E3	New York City FC	3
	E6	Philadelphia Union	1
													E2	Atlanta United FC	3	0	3
	Eastern Conference
													E1	New York Red Bulls	0	1	1
						E5	Columbus Crew	1	0	1
	11/1 – Washington, D.C.
						E1	New York Red Bulls	0	3	3
	E4	D.C. United	2 (2)
	E5	Columbus Crew (p)	2 (3)
																				E2	Atlanta United FC	2
																				W5	Portland Timbers	0
						W5	Portland Timbers (p)	2	2	4 (4)
	10/31 – Frisco, Texas
						W2	Seattle Sounders FC	1	3	4 (2)
	W4	FC Dallas	1
	W5	Portland Timbers	2
													W5	Portland Timbers	0	3	3
	Western Conference
													W1	Sporting Kansas City	0	2	2
						W6	Real Salt Lake	1	2	3
	11/1 – Los Angeles, California
						W1	Sporting Kansas City	1	4	5
	W3	Los Angeles FC	2
	W6	Real Salt Lake	3

Knockout round

Summary

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Eastern Conference
New York City FC (E3)	3–1	Philadelphia Union (E6)
D.C. United (E4)	2–2 (2–3 p)	Columbus Crew SC (E5)
Western Conference
Los Angeles FC (W3)	2–3	Real Salt Lake (W6)
FC Dallas (W4)	1–2	Portland Timbers (W5)

Matches

FC Dallas	1–2	Portland Timbers
Hedges 90+4'	Report	Valeri 23', 71'

October 31, 2018 (2018-10-31)

21:30 EDT
(20:30 CDT)

Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas

Attendance: 10,297

Referee: Alan Kelly

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New York City FC	3–1	Philadelphia Union
Tajouri-Shradi 10' Villa 26' Moralez 78'	Report	Burke 83'

October 31, 2018 (2018-10-31)

19:00 EDT

Yankee Stadium, New York, New York

Attendance: 15,153

Referee: Robert Sibiga

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D.C. United	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Columbus Crew SC
Brillant 21' DeLeon 116'	Report	Higuaín 30', 96'
Penalties
Rooney Asad Stieber Acosta DeLeon	2–3	Higuaín Trapp Zardes Hansen Mullins

November 1, 2018 (2018-11-01)

20:00 EDT

Audi Field, Washington, D.C.

Attendance: 20,600

Referee: Allen Chapman

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Los Angeles FC	2–3	Real Salt Lake
Silva 31' Ramirez 54'	Report	Kreilach 21', 58' Zimmerman 69' (o.g.)

November 1, 2018 (2018-11-01)

22:30 EDT
(19:30 PDT)

Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, California

Attendance: 22,000

Referee: Mark Geiger

Conference semifinals

Summary

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Eastern Conference
Columbus Crew SC (E5)	1–3	New York Red Bulls (E1)	1–0	0–3
New York City FC (E3)	1–4	Atlanta United FC (E2)	0–1	1–3
Western Conference
Real Salt Lake (W6)	3–5	Sporting Kansas City (W1)	1–1	2–4
Portland Timbers (W5)	4–4 (4–2 p)	Seattle Sounders FC (W2)	2–1	2–3 (a.e.t.)

Matches

Columbus Crew SC	1–0	New York Red Bulls
Zardes 61'	Report

November 4, 2018 (2018-11-04)

15:00 EST

MAPFRE Stadium, Columbus, Ohio

Attendance: 12,892

Referee: Nima Saghafi

New York Red Bulls	3–0	Columbus Crew SC
Muyl 17' Royer 73', 76'	Report

November 11, 2018 (2018-11-11)

19:30 EST

Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey

Attendance: 22,789

Referee: Alan Kelly

New York Red Bulls win 3–1 on aggregate.

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New York City FC	0–1	Atlanta United FC
	Report	Remedi 37'

November 4, 2018 (2018-11-04)

19:30 EST

Yankee Stadium, New York, New York

Attendance: 19,198

Referee: Kevin Stott

Atlanta United FC	3–1	New York City FC
Martínez 25' (pen.), 83' Almirón 42'	Report	Chanot 45'

November 11, 2018 (2018-11-11)

17:30 EST

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

Attendance: 70,526

Referee: Mark Geiger

Atlanta United win 4–1 on aggregate.

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Portland Timbers	2–1	Seattle Sounders FC
Ebobisse 17' Blanco 29'	Report	Ruidíaz 10'

November 4, 2018 (2018-11-04)

17:30 EST (14:30 PST)

Providence Park, Portland, Oregon

Attendance: 21,144

Referee: Ted Unkel

Seattle Sounders FC	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Portland Timbers
Ruidíaz 68', 90+3' Lodeiro 97' (pen.)	Report	Blanco 78' Asprilla 93'
Penalties
Ruidíaz Bruin Alonso Bwana	2–4	Melano Valeri Blanco Ridgewell Asprilla

November 8, 2018 (2018-11-08)

22:30 EST (19:30 PST)

CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Washington

Attendance: 39,452

Referee: Jair Marrufo

Tied 4–4 on aggregate. Portland Timbers win 4–2 on penalties.

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Real Salt Lake	1–1	Sporting Kansas City
Rusnák 51'	Report	Rubio 60'

November 4, 2018 (2018-11-04)

22:00 EST (20:00 MST)

Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah

Attendance: 14,045

Referee: Baldomero Toledo

Sporting Kansas City	4–2	Real Salt Lake
Rubio 14' Sallói 19', 90+7' Ilie 67' (pen.)	Report	Saucedo 60' Kreilach 72'

November 11, 2018 (2018-11-11)

15:00 EST (14:00 CST)

Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City, Kansas

Attendance: 19,918

Referee: José Carlos Rivero

Sporting Kansas City win 5–3 on aggregate.

Conference finals

Summary

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Eastern Conference
Atlanta United FC (E2)	3–1	New York Red Bulls (E1)	3–0	0–1
Western Conference
Portland Timbers (W5)	3–2	Sporting Kansas City (W1)	0–0	3–2

Matches

Atlanta United FC	3–0	New York Red Bulls
Martínez 32' Escobar 71' Villalba 90+5'	Report

November 25, 2018 (2018-11-25)

17:00 EST

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

Attendance: 70,016

Referee: Kevin Stott

New York Red Bulls	1–0	Atlanta United FC
Parker 90+4'	Report

November 29, 2018 (2018-11-29)

19:30 EST

Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey

Attendance: 22,137

Referee: Jair Marrufo

Atlanta United win 3–1 on aggregate.

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Portland Timbers	0–0	Sporting Kansas City
	Report

November 25, 2018 (2018-11-25)

19:30 EST

Providence Park, Portland, Oregon

Attendance: 21,144

Referee: Robert Sibiga

Sporting Kansas City	2–3	Portland Timbers
Sallói 20' Gerso 81'	Report	Blanco 52' Valeri 61', 90+9'

November 29, 2018 (2018-11-29)

21:30 EST

Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City, Kansas

Attendance: 20,091

Referee: Mark Geiger

Portland Timbers win 3–2 on aggregate.

MLS Cup

Main article: MLS Cup 2018

Atlanta United FC	2–0	Portland Timbers
Martínez 39' Escobar 54'	Report

December 8, 2018 (2018-12-08)

8:00 p.m. EST

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

Attendance: 73,019

Referee: Alan Kelly

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[3]
1	Josef Martínez	Atlanta United FC	4
	Diego Valeri	Portland Timbers
3	Sebastián Blanco	Portland Timbers	3
	Damir Kreilach	Real Salt Lake
	Raúl Ruidíaz	Seattle Sounders FC
	Dániel Sallói	Sporting Kansas City
7	Federico Higuaín	Columbus Crew SC	2
	Daniel Royer	New York Red Bulls
	Diego Rubio	Sporting Kansas City
	Franco Escobar	Atlanta United FC

MLS Cup Playoffs Best XI

Year	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
2018 [4]	Jeff Attinella (POR)	Aaron Long (NYR) Matt Besler (SKC) Leandro González Pírez (ATL) Franco Escobar (ATL)	Sebastián Blanco (POR) Miguel Almirón (ATL) Diego Chará (POR) Diego Valeri (POR)	Josef Martínez (ATL) Johnny Russell (SKC)