The 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs (branded as the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th edition of the

MLS Cup Playoffs The MLS Cup Playoffs is the annual postseason elimination tournament of Major League Soccer. The final match of the tournament is the MLS Cup, the league's championship game. Under the current format adopted for the 2019 season, 14 teams quali ...

, the post-season championship of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top soccer league in the United States and Canada. The tournament culminated the 2020 MLS regular season. The playoffs began on November 20 and concluded with

MLS Cup 2020 MLS Cup 2020 was the 25th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), and was played at Mapfre Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The match was originally set to take place on November 7, 2020, but was postponed to De ...

on December 12. On October 29, the league announced that the final regular season standings and playoff qualification would be determined by points per game rather than by overall points. This was due to eight MLS clubs, all in the Western Conference, being unable to play all of their scheduled 23 regular season matches in time due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Seven postponed matches were cancelled altogether in order for the playoffs to be able to start on the scheduled date. The 2020 regular season Supporters' Shield champions were the Philadelphia Union, who were eliminated in the first round by the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

. Seattle Sounders FC were the defending MLS Cup champions, having won their second title in MLS Cup 2019. They were beaten by

Columbus Crew SC The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

3–0 in the MLS Cup final. As a result, Columbus Crew SC earned their second MLS Cup title, and first since

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Qualified teams

;Eastern Conference *

Inter Miami CF Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami, known as Inter Miami CF or simply Inter Miami, is an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. Established in 2018, the club began play in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the 2 ...

* Montreal Impact *

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* Orlando City SC * Philadelphia Union *

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

;Western Conference *

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...

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* Los Angeles FC * Minnesota United FC * Portland Timbers * San Jose Earthquakes * Seattle Sounders FC * Sporting Kansas City

Conference standings

The top ten teams in the Eastern Conference and the top eight teams in the Western Conference advanced to the MLS Cup Playoffs, with the teams ranked seventh to tenth in the East going through an initial play-in round. Background colors denote playoff teams, with green also qualifying for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League, and blue also qualifying for the

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. The Portland Timbers and non-playoff

Atlanta United FC Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began pl ...

qualified for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League as winners of the

MLS is Back Tournament The MLS is Back Tournament took place during the 2020 Major League Soccer season to mark the league's return to action after being suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 26 Major League Soccer teams, 24 participated in the tourna ...

and 2019 U.S. Open Cup, respectively.

qualified after being nominated by Canada Soccer by virtue of being the MLS finalists of the

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. Eastern Conference Western Conference

Play-in round

This round was only applied to the Eastern Conference. The seventh-placed team,

, played the tenth-placed team,

, while the eighth-placed team, the

, faced the ninth-placed team, the Montreal Impact. The lowest-ranked team to advance from this round, the New England Revolution, advanced to play the conference's first-placed team, the Philadelphia Union. The highest-ranked remaining team, Nashville SC, advanced to face the conference's second-placed team,

. ----

Playoffs proper bracket

First round

The top four teams in each conference hosted the first round matches.

Eastern Conference

---- ---- ----

Western Conference

---- ---- ----

Conference Semifinals

The higher-seeded teams in each match-up hosted the tie.

Eastern Conference

----

Western Conference

----

Conference Finals

The higher-seeded teams in each conference hosted the matches.

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

MLS Cup 2020

As the highest-ranked team remaining in the overall table,

hosted the match.

Top goalscorers

There were 50 goals scored in 17 matches, for an average of 2.94 goals per match.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MLS Cup Playoffs 2020 2020 Major League Soccer season

MLS Cup Playoffs