The higher seed are home for the first and — if necessary — third games of the series.The winners advance to the conference semifinals, with that round joining the conference final and MLS Cup Final as single-elimination matches at the home of the higher seed.

MLS Cup Playoffs action continues this evening with three first-round matchups around the league. Here is what went down. San Diego 2-1 Portland Timbers  Scorers: Valakari 23', Dreyer 30' ; Velde

Dayne St. Clair made one save before getting some help from the post twice after the Loons and Seattle played to a scoreless draw through 90 minutes.

With Chicago and Portland taking care of business, MLS's 2025 playoff bracket is complete. Here's the full schedule and road to MLS Cup

Daniel Ríos found the net in the first half, Thomas Müller and Kenji Cabrera scored in the second and the Vancouver Whitecaps blanked FC Dallas 3-0 in a best-of-three first-round opener of the MLS Cup

The road to the MLS Cup begins at home for the Philadelphia Union. The top-seeded Union open their 2025 postseason Sunday at Subaru Park against the Chicago Fire, hoping to capitalize on home-field advantage and a record-breaking regular season.

Two very strong Major League Soccer squads open up their first-round series on Monday night, as Minnesota United plays host to the Seattle Sounders in Game 1 of the MLS Cup Playoffs. These two clubs finished very close to each other in the Western Conference standings, and it could lead to a thrilling best-of-three series.

The vibes at San Diego FC’s Snapdragon Stadium have been great in 2025, and they were even better for the expansion club’s first-ever MLS Cup playoff match.

Jesús Bueno scored the decisive goal in a penalty-kick shootout after Philadelphia blew a two-goal lead late and the top-seeded Union beat the Chicago Fire on Sunday in a best-of-three first-round opener of the MLS Cup playoffs.