Major League Soccer has been on a steady rise since its formation, but Lionel Messi's summer arrival from Paris Saint-Germain has skyrocketed the league's profile multiple times over.
The regular season has been and gone and the MLS playoffs are all but concluded, other than the final, which takes place on Saturday.
But how does it actually work? Football FanCast provides you with all the necessary information about the MLS Cup playoffs.
How the MLS regular season works
29 teams compete in MLS
MLS comprises of 26 teams from the United States and three teams from across the border in Canada.
It was founded in 1993, with its inaugural season commencing three years later in 1996. The US's 1994 World Cup was a major catalyst for the league's formation.
FIFA awarded the US the World Cup in exchange for their commitment to developing a top-level professional soccer league after the National American Soccer League (NASL) was scrapped in the mid-1980s.
How the MLS Eastern and Western Conferences work
15 teams in Eastern, 14 in Western
Each of the 29 teams in MLS play 34 games – 17 at home and 17 away. Sides in the Eastern Conference play each other twice and six cross-conference opponents once.
In the Western Conference, sides play each other twice and one-to-two additional inter-conference opponents. They're also required to play six-to-seven cross-conference opponents once.
Atlanta United
Austin FC
Charlotte FC
Colorado Rapids
Chicago Fire FC
FC Dallas
FC Cincinnati
Houston Dynamo FC
Columbus Crew
Los Angeles Football Club
D.C. United
LA Galaxy
Inter Miami CF
Minnesota United FC
CF Montréal
Portland Timbers
Nashville SC
Real Salt Lake
New England Revolution
St Louis City SC
New York City FC
San Jose Earthquakes
New York Red Bulls
Seattle Sounders FC
Orlando City SC
Sporting Kansas City
Philadelphia Union
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Toronto FC
Ranking the best stadiums in the MLS Western Conference
How the MLS playoffs work
The top seven from both conferences automatically qualify
After the regular MLS season has ended, the top seven sides from each conference automatically proceed to a best-of-three series.
The eighth and ninth-placed teams from each conference qualify for the single-knockout MLS Cup Playoffs Wild Card match. The two winners from each Wild Card match earn a spot in the aforementioned Round One best-of-three series.
This means that nearly two-thirds of all the teams in MLS remain in contention for the MLS Cup come the end of the regular season. Perhaps understandably, the format has come under fire, with the 34 regular-season matches for each team resulting in not much more than a playoff place – bar the honour of the Supporters' Shield for the side with the best overall record.
To put this into perspective, Western Conference 'winners' St Louis City were knocked out of the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs after being defeated by Sporting Kansas City home and away. Sporting KC finished seven places and 12 points behind the side which only joined as an expansion club this year.
Effectively, the only advantage the Missouri outfit gained from their Western Conference placing was the prospect of having home advantage in each round – something they did not even benefit from after losing in successive matches in their best-of-three tie.
Each match in the best-of-three series must determine a winner, with penalty kicks used as a decider in any drawn game.
The eight winners across the two conferences advance to the semi-finals and then the finals, where an Eastern and Western conference winner are crowned.
The two conference champions then meet at the MLS Cup, on 9th December, 2023. The team with the best regular season record in the regular – or Supporters' Shield – standings will host the game.
This year, the regular MLS season started on 25th February and ended on 21st October. Here are the two final conference tables:
FC Cincinnati
34
20
9
5
57
39
69
Orlando City SC
34
18
9
7
55
39
63
Columbus Crew
34
16
9
9
67
46
57
Philadelphia Union
34
15
10
9
57
41
55
New England Revolution
34
15
10
9
58
46
55
Atlanta United
34
13
12
9
66
53
51
Nashville SC
34
13
10
11
39
32
49
New York Red Bulls
34
11
10
13
36
39
43
Charlotte FC
34
10
13
11
45
52
43
CF Montréal
34
12
5
17
36
52
41
New York City FC
34
9
14
11
35
39
41
D.C. United
34
10
10
14
45
49
40
Chicago Fire
34
10
10
14
39
51
40
Inter Miami CF
34
9
7
18
41
54
34
Toronto FC
34
4
10
20
26
59
22
St Louis City SC
34
17
5
12
62
45
56
Seattle Sounders
34
14
11
9
41
32
53
Los Angeles Football Club
34
14
10
10
54
39
52
Houston Dynamo FC
34
14
9
11
51
38
51
Real Salt Lake
34
14
8
12
48
50
50
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
34
12
12
10
55
48
48
FC Dallas
34
11
13
10
41
37
46
Sporting Kansas City
34
12
8
14
48
51
44
San Jose Earthquakes
34
10
14
10
39
43
44
Portland Timbers
34
11
10
13
46
58
43
Minnesota United FC
34
10
11
13
46
51
41
Austin FC
34
10
9
15
49
55
39
LA Galaxy
34
8
12
14
51
67
36
Colorado Rapids
34
5
12
17
26
54
27
Ranking the best stadiums in the MLS Eastern Conference
Qualified teams for the MLS playoffs
16 teams qualify for the playoffs
This season's MLS Cup playoffs were played across seven weeks – the longest campaign since its formation.
All of the rounds have played out now, other than the final, which commences on Saturday the 9th of December between Columbus and LAFC.
FC Cincinnati
St. Louis City SC
Orlando City SC
Seattle Sounders
Columbus Crew
Los Angeles Football Club
Philadelphia Union
Houston Dynamo FC
New England Revolution
Real Salt Lake
Atlanta United
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
New York Red Bulls
FC Dallas
Nashville SC
Sporting Kansas City
Charlotte FC
San Jose Earthquakes
Latest MLS Cup playoff results & fixtures
As the MLS Cup draws to a close, FFC takes a look at playoff scorelines over the last couple of months ahead of Saturday's final at the Lower.com Field in Columbus.
NY Red Bulls 5-2 Charlotte
Sporting KC 0-0 San Jose (4-2 on pens)
Game 1
FC Cincinnati 3-0 NY Red Bulls
Game 2
NY Red Bulls 1-1 FC Cincinnati (7-8 on pens)
Game 1
Philadelphia Union 3-1 New England Revolution
Game 2
New England Revolution 0-1 Philadelphia Union
Game 1
LAFC 5-2 Vancouver Whitecaps
Game 2
Vancouver Whitecaps 0-1 LAFC
Game 1
Houston Dynamo 2-1 Real Salt Lake
Game 2
Real Salt Lake 1-1 Houston Dynamo (5-4 on pens)
Game 3
Houston Dynamo 1-1 Real Salt Lake (4-3 on pens)
Game 1
St Louis City 1-4 Sporting KC
Game 2
Sporting KC 2-1 St Louis City
Game 1
Orlando City 1-0 Nashville
Game 2
Nashville 0-1 Orlando City
Game 1
Seattle Sounders 2-0 FC Dallas
Game 2
FC Dallas 3-1 Seattle Sounders
Game 3
Seattle Sounders 1-0 FC Dallas
Game 1
Columbus Crew 2-0 Atlanta United
Game 2
Atlanta United 4-2 Columbus Crew
Game 3
Columbus Crew 4-2 Atlanta United
FC Cincinnati
1-0
Philadephia Union
Orlando City
0-2
Columbus Crew
Houston Dynamo
1-0
Sporting Kansas City
Seattle Sounders
0-1
LAFC
The Conference finals saw Columbus fight back from two nil down to secure a 3-2 away victory at FC Cincinnati whilst the reigning champions LAFC beat the visiting Houston Dynamo 2-0.
The two victors are scheduled to meet this Saturday to determine a winner of the MLS Cup.
FC Cincinnati
2-3
Columbus Crew
LAFC
2-0
Houston Dynamo
The MLS Cup final will get underway this Saturday at 9pm GMT, as the defending champions LAFC make the trip to Columbus' own patch the Lower.com Field.
Columbus
vs
LAFC
MLS Cup history
Los Angeles FC are the reigning champions
27 teams have been crowned MLS Cup winners, and LA Galaxy are the current record holders for the most triumphs with five, closely followed by D.C. United on four.
Los Angeles FC won their first cup last year and have the chance to retain the trophy on Saturday, as they take on two-time winners Columbus.
D.C. United
D.C. United
Chicago Fire
D.C. United
Kansas City Wizards
San Jose Earthquakes
LA Galaxy
San Jose Earthquakes
D.C. United
LA Galaxy
Houston Dynamo
Houston Dynamo
Columbus Crew
Real Salt Lake
Colorado Rapids
LA Galaxy
LA Galaxy
Sporting Kansas City
LA Galaxy
Portland Timbers
Seattle Sounders
Toronto FC
Atlanta United
Seattle Sounders
Columbus Crew
New York City FC
Los Angeles FC
