MLS Clubs

Inspirational Carlos Vela guides LAFC to first MLS Cup

LAFC reached its first MLS Cup thanks to two well-taken Carlos Vela corners — the first met by Chicho Arango, the second an unfortunate Maxi Urruti own goal — and a late Kwadwo Opoku strike to defeat Austin FC 3-0 in the Western Conference final. 

Thanks to its status as Supporters' Shield winner, LAFC will host MLS Cup at Banc of California Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 5 against the winner of the Eastern Conference final between the Philadelphia Union and NYCFC.   

Five outrageous playoff formats MLS should consider using

The MLS Cup Playoffs have never been set in stone. In the league’s 27 seasons, no fewer than four playoff formats have been used to varying degrees of success. The current system, which features a single elimination format with seven teams from each conference, is easy to understand and follow but could definitely use some improvement, at least according to MLS. 

NYCFC one win away from returning to MLS Cup after hammering Montréal

New York City FC went inside the belly of the beast Sunday at Saputo Stadium and showed off its playoff expertise by eliminating CF Montréal 3-1 to advance to the Eastern Conference finals against Philadelphia Union on Oct. 30 at Subaru Park in Chester.

Facing an intense atmosphere, NYCFC started out aggressively and got an early sixth-minute goal from veteran Argentine playmaker Maxi Moralez.

El Tráfico provides us with another classic — LAFC scores 93rd minute winner to advance to WCF

Cristian Arango scored in the third minute of second-half stoppage to lift Los Angeles FC to a dramatic 3-2 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Galaxy in a Western Conference semifinal on Thursday night.

Denis Bouanga scored the first two goals for LAFC and also contributed indirectly to Arango's match winner to lift the home side to their second Western Conference final since joining MLS in 2018.

Philadelphia Union bests FC Cincinnati and advances to second Eastern Conference final in-a-row

Leon Flach scored his first competitive goal of the year and the second of his MLS career to lift the Philadelphia Union to a 1-0 victory over visiting FC Cincinnati in their Eastern Conference semifinal on Thursday night.

Flach's goal lifts the East's top seed Philadelphia (19-5-10, 67 points) to their second consecutive conference finals, which they will host on Oct. 30 against the winner of Sunday's other East semifinal between CF Montreal and New York City FC.

Tonight's El Tráfico feels like the biggest MLS rivalry game ever

Los Angeles Football Club and the LA Galaxy will meet for the fourth time this season in Thursday night's Western Conference semifinal, but the dynamics are considerably different than their last match in early July.

Regular season West champions LAFC have added European stars like attacker Gareth Bale and defender Giorgio Chielini, as well as more under-the-radar additions up front in Cristian Tello and Denis Bouanga.

MLS salaries updated: Is it better to have one Insigne or an entire Philadelphia Union?

After a big summer window in Major League Soccer that saw the arrivals of household names like Lorenzo Insigne, Gareth Bale and Héctor Herrera, an updated list of the MLS highest paid players 2022 has been released by the Players Association.

Nobody kills the MLS Cup Playoffs quite like the New York market

It's October in North American soccer, meaning it's time for fans in this portion of the world to widely celebrate the one event that largely separates us from the rest of the planet: the playoffs.

It's been glorious.

10-man Real Salt Lake pushes Austin FC to the limit in dramatic penalty shootout

Austin FC has advanced to the Western Conference semifinals of the MLS Cup Playoffs after overcoming the realest of Real Salt Lake challenges: Pablo Mastroeni's team — a massive underdog away from home at Q2 Stadium — played down a man for 68 minutes, faced 38 shots and still managed to get it to a penalty shootout.    

The 5 Greatest MLS Cup Cinderella Stories

There’s an old cliché in football that the table doesn’t lie. In MLS — where the Supporters’ Shield is a nice accolade but pales significantly to lifting MLS Cup — that couldn’t be further from the truth.

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