The MLS Playoffs are in full swing with the final games of the first round wrapping up this weekend. As of Friday, four spots for the Conference Semifinals have been set, with four first-round matches remaining to determine the rest.
But as the remaining teams battle for the MLS Cup, the somewhat convoluted first round has led to some complaints. With fans, players and coaches alike raising eyebrows over the postseason structure, it begs the question: does anyone like the 2024 MLS playoff format?
The current format was introduced in 2023 and consists of several rounds. After a wildcard round, the remaining 16 teams will play in a best-of-three, home-away-home format for the first round. There, in the event of a draw, the teams immediately go to penalties; in the later rounds, extra time is added as normal. The remaining rounds – Conference Semifinal, Conference Final and the MLS Cup Final – are all single-game eliminations.
The two wild-card matches have been largely successful among fans: exciting single-elimination matches between two teams vying to get into the postseason field. In this season’s wild card round, the Vancouver Whitecaps delivered a memorable drubbing to Portland and Atlanta United won on penalties.
The problem lies with the first round – a long, awkward structure that has produced mixed results among fans and teams.
LAFC captain and USMNT star Aaron Long said he didn’t like the best-of-three series after LA’s win against the Whitecaps on October 27.
“We just don’t like best of three. I think both other options are better. Most guys are going that way,” Long said, via the Los Angeles Times. “I think most guys prefer if it’s just home and away or just one game.”
Galaxy coach Greg Vanny agreed with Long. “To be honest, I was always a big fan of the home and away games and the overall score,” he said, via the LA Times.
Problem No. 1: Aggregation
Previous versions of the MLS playoffs featured a home-and-away format, with two matches per round and a winner based on the aggregate score across both matches. Aggregation, while complicated, provides a greater sense of balance: every game you play is directly related to how far you get. In the current format, every game is played seemingly out of context.
Before the first-round matches, several players and coaches expressed cynicism about the lack of aggregate scores.
When asked about the playoff format on October 25, Charlotte FC coach Dean Smith said he wasn’t too excited about the structure.
“I’m not sure about the system, I have to admit,” Smith said via Charlotte Soccer Show. “I think if it’s too late and you win on goal difference, I think that should be it. The fact that you can win 6-0 and then draw at home and still not get through bothers me a little bit. But it is what it is.”
Smith said the team would practice penalty kill during the playoffs, something they didn’t focus on much during the regular season. But with games going straight to the PKs when a draw is reached, successful penalty kicks can make the difference between advancing or going home early.
Seattle Sounders captain and goalkeeper Stefan Frei also expressed some skepticism.
“You can lose the first game 5-0 and draw the next two games, win in PKs and you move on? I don’t like that,” Frei said on October 29 via Jeremiah Oshan of Sounder at Heart.
Penalties ultimately proved crucial for Frei and the Sounders, with both matches against the Houston Dynamo ending in a shootout. The higher-seeded Sounders ultimately won both shootouts – 0(5)-0(4) and 1(7)-1(6) – to advance to the conference semifinals.
However, prior to the tie, there was an offensive imbalance in both games: Houston had no shots on goal in the first game, and only one in the second. The result raised questions about whether the Dynamo were trying to win in regulation time, or just waiting for penalties to have a chance at victory – a strategy that other MLS teams have seemingly adopted in this current format.
Issue No. 2: Length
On November 1, the LA Galaxy became the first team to advance to the Conference Semifinals after defeating the Colorado Avalanche 4–1 – their second victory in the round. The next day, Minnesota United became second after beating Real Salt Lake in penalties. The two teams will meet in the next round, but according to the current schedule that match won’t take place until November 23 at the earliest – more than three weeks after clinching that spot.
There are external factors that explain why this play-off format will drag on for so long. Perhaps most disruptive is an international FIFA window from November 10 to 18. But the biggest factor is the sheer length of a three-week first round, with players traveling across the country twice in that period.
Under the current format, MLS teams will play between 25 and 33 postseason games in total; in 2022, teams played a total of 13 games.
Even with the added games, a best-of-three creates opportunities for upsets: All four of this weekend’s games come as the lower seed players earned a win at home in the second game of the series after losing on the road. Both MLS No. 1 seeds have their postseason on the line, with Inter Miami and LAFC both returning home for Game 3. But a home crowd for a win-or-go-home match is always an advantage, and it means an uphill battle for all four lower-ranked teams going into this weekend.
Upsets can also be completed in two matches – watch Minnesota beat Real Salt Lake, or the New York Red Bulls send home defending MLS champion Columbus Crew.
MLS will likely stick with the format for now, but with the crowded first-round structure so unpopular, you have to wonder if it might be time to switch things up again.
But for now, all of these teams are aiming for the MLS Cup final on December 7, even if the road to get there is more winding than they would like.
