2024 MLS Cup playoffs

The 2024 MLS Cup playoffs (branded as the Audi 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons) was the post-season championship of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top soccer league in the United States and Canada. It was the 29th edition of the MLS Cup playoffs, the tournament culminating at the end of the 2024 season. The playoffs began on October 22 and concluded with MLS Cup 2024 on December 7.^[1][2]

2024 MLS Cup playoffs

Tournament details
Country	United States Canada
Dates	October 22 – December 7
Teams	18
Defending champions	Columbus Crew
Final positions
Champions	LA Galaxy (6th title)
Runners-up	New York Red Bulls
Semifinalists	Orlando City SC Seattle Sounders FC
Tournament statistics
Matches played	29
Goals scored	74 (2.55 per match)
Attendance	697,403 (24,048 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Dejan Joveljić (6 goals)
← 2023 2025 →

The Columbus Crew entered the playoffs as the defending MLS Cup champions, but were eliminated by the New York Red Bulls in round one. Inter Miami CF entered as Supporters' Shield winners and Eastern Conference regular season leaders; they were eliminated in round one by Atlanta United FC. Western Conference regular season leaders Los Angeles FC were eliminated in the conference semifinals by Seattle Sounders FC.

The LA Galaxy won a record-extending sixth MLS Cup title after defeating the New York Red Bulls 2–1.^[3] The LA Galaxy broke the record for the most goals in a playoff campaign with 18 goals.

Format

Similar to the 2023 edition, the playoffs featured a field of eighteen teams—the top nine teams from each conference. The top seven teams in each conference automatically qualified for round one, while the eighth and ninth-placed teams in each conference contested a single wild card match for the right to play the best-ranked team in their conference, with only a penalty shoot-out occurring if the game was tied. Round one comprised a best-of-three format, with higher seeds playing against lower seeds. The round did not have the aggregate score kept, and tied matches proceeded directly to a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner. The remaining three rounds — the conference semifinals, the conference final, and MLS Cup — were single-elimination matches played with extra time and a penalty shoot-out if still tied.^[1][4] The team with the better regular season record hosted the match in all rounds except for the best-of-three series in round one, where the team with the lower regular season record hosted the second of three possible matches. All matches were broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass, a streaming service operated by Apple.^[1]

Qualified teams

The playoffs were contested by eighteen teams. The date listed indicates when each team qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference Atlanta United FC (October 19)[5] Charlotte FC (October 2)[6] FC Cincinnati (September 14)[7] Columbus Crew (September 14)[8] Inter Miami CF (August 24)[9] CF Montréal (October 19)[10] New York City FC (September 28)[11] New York Red Bulls (September 28)[12] Orlando City SC (September 28)[13]

Western Conference Colorado Rapids (September 21)[14] Houston Dynamo FC (September 28)[15] LA Galaxy (September 14)[16] Los Angeles FC (September 28)[17] Minnesota United (October 2)[18] Portland Timbers (October 5)[19] Real Salt Lake (September 21)[20] Seattle Sounders FC (September 28)[21] Vancouver Whitecaps FC (September 28)[22]

Conference standings

Eastern Conference MLS Eastern Conference table (2024) Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Inter Miami CF 34 74 2 Columbus Crew 34 66 3 FC Cincinnati 34 59 4 Orlando City SC 34 52 5 Charlotte FC 34 51 6 New York City FC 34 50 7 New York Red Bulls 34 47 8 CF Montréal 34 43 9 Atlanta United FC 34 40 Source: MLS

Western Conference MLS Western Conference table (2024) Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Los Angeles FC 34 64 2 LA Galaxy 34 64 3 Real Salt Lake 34 59 4 Seattle Sounders FC 34 57 5 Houston Dynamo FC 34 54 6 Minnesota United FC 34 52 7 Colorado Rapids 34 50 8 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 34 47 9 Portland Timbers 34 47 Source: MLS

Bracket

The higher seeded teams hosted single-elimination matches, with the MLS Cup host determined by overall points in the Supporters' Shield table. During the best-of-three round, the team with higher seed hosted the first match and the third match if necessary.

	Wild card single match					Round one best-of-three series							Conference semifinals single match					Conference finals single match					MLS Cup single match
						E1	Inter Miami CF	2	1	2
	E8	CF Montréal	2 (4)			E9	Atlanta United FC	1	2	3
	E9	Atlanta United FC	2 (5)										E9	Atlanta United FC	0
													E4	Orlando City SC	1
						E4	Orlando City SC	2	0 (1)	1 (4)			Eastern Conference
						E5	Charlotte FC	0	0 (3)	1 (1)
																		E4	Orlando City SC	0
																		E7	New York Red Bulls	1
						E3	FC Cincinnati	1	1	0 (5)
						E6	New York City FC	0	3	0 (6)
													E6	New York City FC	0
													E7	New York Red Bulls	2
						E2	Columbus Crew	0	2 (4)	–
						E7	New York Red Bulls	1	2 (5)	–
																							E7	New York Red Bulls	1
																							W2	LA Galaxy	2
						W1	Los Angeles FC	2	0	1
	W8	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	5			W8	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	1	3	0
	W9	Portland Timbers	0										W1	Los Angeles FC	1
													W4	Seattle Sounders FC (a.e.t.)	2
						W4	Seattle Sounders FC	0 (5)	1 (7)	–			Western Conference
						W5	Houston Dynamo FC	0 (4)	1 (6)	–
																		W4	Seattle Sounders FC	0
																		W2	LA Galaxy	1
						W3	Real Salt Lake	0 (4)	1 (1)	–
						W6	Minnesota United FC	0 (5)	1 (3)	–
													W6	Minnesota United FC	2
													W2	LA Galaxy	6
						W2	LA Galaxy	5	4	–
						W7	Colorado Rapids	0	1	–

Wild card round

Home team	Score	Away team
Eastern Conference
CF Montréal	2–2 (4–5 p)	Atlanta United FC
Western Conference
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	5–0	Portland Timbers

Eastern Conference

October 22

7:30 pm EDT

CF Montréal	2–2	Atlanta United FC
Martínez 63', 89' (pen.)	Report	Lennon 29' Gregersen 44'
Penalties
Martínez Pearce Saliba Corbo Vilsaint	4–5	McCarty Ríos Miranchuk Williams Lobzhanidze

Stade Saputo, Montreal, Quebec

Attendance: 16,566

Referee: Joe Dickerson

Western Conference

October 23

7:30 pm PDT

Vancouver Whitecaps FC	5–0	Portland Timbers
Gauld 20', 31', 59' White 24' Armstrong 51'	Report

Providence Park, Portland, Oregon^{[note 1]}

Attendance: 19,143

Referee: Rubiel Vazquez

Round one

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3
Eastern Conference
Inter Miami CF	1–2	Atlanta United FC	2–1	1–2	2–3
Columbus Crew	0–2	New York Red Bulls	0–1	2–2 (4–5 p)	—
FC Cincinnati	1–2	New York City FC	1–0	1–3	0–0 (5–6 p)
Orlando City SC	2–1	Charlotte FC	2–0	0–0 (1–3 p)	1–1 (4–1 p)
Western Conference
Los Angeles FC	2–1	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	2–1	0–3	1–0
LA Galaxy	2–0	Colorado Rapids	5–0	4–1	—
Real Salt Lake	0–2	Minnesota United FC	0–0 (4–5 p)	1–1 (1–3 p)	—
Seattle Sounders FC	2–0	Houston Dynamo FC	0–0 (5–4 p)	1–1 (7–6 p)	—

Eastern Conference

October 25

8:30 pm EDT

Inter Miami CF	2–1	Atlanta United FC
Suárez 2' Alba 60'	Report	Lobzhanidze 39'

Chase Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Attendance: 20,673

Referee: Allen Chapman

November 2

7:00 PM EDT

Atlanta United FC	2–1	Inter Miami CF
Williams 58' Silva 90+4'	Report	Martínez 40'

Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

Attendance: 68,455

Referee: Rubiel Vazquez

November 9

8:00 PM EST

Inter Miami CF	2–3	Atlanta United FC
Rojas 17' Messi 65'	Report	Thiaré 19', 21' Slisz 76'

Chase Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Attendance: 20,673

Referee: Lukasz Szpala

Atlanta United FC won the series 2–1.

---

October 29

6:45 PM EDT

Columbus Crew	0–1	New York Red Bulls
	Report	Carballo 25'

Lower.com Field, Columbus, Ohio

Attendance: 19,050

Referee: Timothy Ford

November 3

4:30 PM EST

New York Red Bulls	2–2	Columbus Crew
Vanzeir 64' Forsberg 80' (pen.)	Report	Arfsten 55' Ramirez 90+6'
Penalties
Tolkin Eile Carmona Elias Manoel Forsberg S. Nealis Edelman	5–4	Rossi Ramirez Hernández Russell-Rowe Cheberko Arfsten Mățan

Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey

Attendance: 20,936

Referee: Filip Dujic

New York Red Bulls won the series 2–0.

---

October 28

6:45 PM EDT

FC Cincinnati	1–0	New York City FC
Asad 51'	Report

TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

Attendance: 21,413

Referee: Sergii Boiko

November 2

5:00 PM EDT

New York City FC	3–1	FC Cincinnati
Martínez 22' Thiago Martins 40' Rodríguez 90+7' (pen.)	Report	Orellano 65'

Citi Field, New York, New York

Attendance: 19,585

Referee: Ismir Pekmic

November 9

4:00 PM EST

FC Cincinnati	0–0	New York City FC
	Report
Penalties
Acosta Asad Santos Bucha Kelsy Robinson Valenzuela Awaziem Hadebe	5–6	Rodríguez Bakrar Parks Sands Thiago Martins Haak O'Toole Perea Ilenič

TQL Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

Attendance: 22,487

Referee: Drew Fischer

New York City FC won the series 2–1.

---

October 27

7:30 pm EDT

Orlando City SC	2–0	Charlotte FC
Torres 32' Ojeda 76'	Report

Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando, Florida

Attendance: 17,787

Referee: Drew Fischer

November 1

7:30 PM EDT

Charlotte FC	0–0	Orlando City SC
	Report
Penalties
Agyemang Świderski Westwood	3–1	Lodeiro Jansson Muriel McGuire

Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina

Attendance: 40,238

Referee: Guido Gonzales Jr.

November 9

6:00 PM EST

Orlando City SC	1–1	Charlotte FC
Torres 90+12'	Report	Świderski 81'
Penalties
Muriel Smith Torres Rafael Santos	4–1	Biel Świderski Westwood

Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando, Florida

Attendance: 20,021

Referee: Ismir Pekmic

Orlando City SC won the series 2–1.

Western Conference

October 27

6:45 PM PDT

Los Angeles FC	2–1	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Bouanga 30' (pen.) Olivera 57'	Report	Gauld 90+5'

BMO Stadium, Los Angeles, California

Attendance: 22,298

Referee: Jair Marrufo

November 3

5:45 PM PST

Vancouver Whitecaps FC	3–0	Los Angeles FC
Gauld 10' Hollingshead 13' (o.g.) Segura 68' (o.g.)	Report

BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia

Attendance: 20,695

Referee: Rosendo Mendoza

November 8

7:30 pm PST

Los Angeles FC	1–0	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Bogusz 62'	Report

BMO Stadium, Los Angeles, California

Attendance: 22,220

Referee: Joe Dickerson

Los Angeles FC won the series 2–1.

---

October 26

8:00 pm PDT

LA Galaxy	5–0	Colorado Rapids
Joveljić 32', 75' Nelson 52' Puig 54', 87'	Report

Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California

Attendance: 24,537

Referee: Lukasz Szpala

November 1

7:30 pm MDT

Colorado Rapids	1–4	LA Galaxy
Larraz 19'	Report	Gabriel Pec 8' Paintsil 45+3' Puig 90+1', 90+4'

Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colorado

Attendance: 16,010

Referee: Victor Rivas

LA Galaxy won the series 2–0.

---

October 29

7:00 pm MDT

Real Salt Lake	0–0	Minnesota United FC
	Report
Penalties
Arango Gonçalves Glad Julio Eneli Ojeda	4–5	Yeboah Trapp Boxall Jeong Sang-bin Oluwaseyi Díaz

America First Field, Sandy, Utah

Attendance: 19,195

Referee: Pierre-Luc Lauzière

November 2

8:00 pm CDT

Minnesota United FC	1–1	Real Salt Lake
Rosales 53'	Report	Eneli 75'
Penalties
Yeboah Dotson Trapp Jeong Sang-bin	3–1	Arango Gonçalves Crooks Luna

Allianz Field, Saint Paul, Minnesota

Attendance: 19,912

Referee: Tori Penso

Minnesota United FC won the series 2–0.

---

October 28

6:00 pm PDT

Seattle Sounders FC	0–0	Houston Dynamo FC
	Report
Penalties
Ruidíaz Rusnák Ragen C. Roldan A. Roldán	5–4	Ponce Dorsey Kowalczyk Sviatchenko Steres

Lumen Field, Seattle, Washington

Attendance: 30,026

Referee: Ted Unkel

November 3

5:30 pm CST

Houston Dynamo FC	1–1	Seattle Sounders FC
C. Roldan 90+3' (o.g.)	Report	C. Roldan 87'
Penalties
Ponce Dorsey Kowalczyk Ferreira Steres Raines Schmitt	6–7	C. Roldan Ragen A. Roldán Leyva Ruidíaz Minoungou Vargas

Shell Energy Stadium, Houston, Texas

Attendance: 18,859

Referee: Armando Villarreal

Seattle Sounders FC won the series 2–0.

Conference semifinals

The higher-seeded team as determined by regular season ranking hosted the match.^[1]

Home team	Score	Away team
Eastern Conference
Orlando City SC	1–0	Atlanta United FC
New York City FC	0–2	New York Red Bulls
Western Conference
Los Angeles FC	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Seattle Sounders FC
LA Galaxy	6–2	Minnesota United FC

Eastern Conference

November 23

5:30 PM EST

New York City FC	0–2	New York Red Bulls
	Report	Carballo 16' Vanzeir 25'

Citi Field, New York, New York

Attendance: 24,891

Referee: Allen Chapman

---

November 24

3:30 PM EST

Orlando City SC	1–0	Atlanta United FC
Enrique 39'	Report

Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando, Florida

Attendance: 25,055

Referee: Armando Villarreal

Western Conference

November 23

7:30 PM PST

Los Angeles FC	1–2 (a.e.t.)	Seattle Sounders FC
Hollingshead 50'	Report	Chanot 59' (o.g.) Morris 109'

BMO Stadium, Los Angeles, California

Attendance: 22,301

Referee: Guido Gonzales Jr.

---

November 24

3:00 PM PST

LA Galaxy	6–2	Minnesota United FC
Gabriel Pec 1', 50' Joveljić 18', 89' Paintsil 37', 86'	Report	Yeboah 6', 45+4' (pen.)

Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California

Attendance: 26,192

Referee: Rosendo Mendoza

Conference finals

The higher-seeded team as determined by regular season ranking hosted the match.^[1]

Home team	Score	Away team
Eastern Conference
Orlando City SC	0–1	New York Red Bulls
Western Conference
LA Galaxy	1–0	Seattle Sounders FC

Eastern Conference

November 30

7:30 PM EST

Orlando City SC	0–1	New York Red Bulls
	Report	Reyes 47'

Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando, Florida

Attendance: 25,046

Referee: Rosendo Mendoza

Western Conference

November 30

7:00 PM PST

LA Galaxy	1–0	Seattle Sounders FC
Joveljić 85'	Report

Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California

Attendance: 26,327

Referee: Drew Fischer

MLS Cup 2024

Main article: MLS Cup 2024

The highest-ranked finalist in the overall Supporters' Shield table (LA Galaxy) hosted the match.^[1]

December 7

1:00 p.m. PST

LA Galaxy	2–1	New York Red Bulls
Paintsil 9' Joveljić 13'	Report	S. Nealis 28'

Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California

Attendance: 26,812^[24]

Referee: Guido Gonzales Jr.^[25]

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[26]
1	Dejan Joveljić	LA Galaxy	6
2	Ryan Gauld	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	5
3	Joseph Paintsil	LA Galaxy	4
	Riqui Puig	LA Galaxy
5	Gabriel Pec	LA Galaxy	3
6	Felipe Carballo	New York Red Bulls	2
	Josef Martínez	CF Montréal
	Jamal Thiaré	Atlanta United FC
	Facundo Torres	Orlando City SC
	Dante Vanzeir	New York Red Bulls
	Kelvin Yeboah	Minnesota United FC

Notes

1. Due to a scheduling conflict at BC Place, the match was played at Providence Park, with the Vancouver Whitecaps serving as the home team.^[23]