The 2000 Major League Soccer season was the fifth season of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. It was also the 88th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States, and the 22nd with a national first-division league. The 2000 season marked the first time in league history (and the first season of American first division soccer since 1974), that ties were allowed to stand. Following a ten-minute sudden death extra time, rather than going to a penalty shoot-out, a point was awarded to both teams. Additionally, the league was divided into three separate divisions, the East, Central and West divisions. The San Jose Clash rebranded as the Earthquakes, a throwback to the NASL team of the same name. The regular season began on March 18, and concluded on September 9. The 2000 MLS Cup Playoffs began on September 14, and concluded with

MLS Cup 2000 MLS Cup 2000 was the fifth edition of the MLS Cup, the championship soccer match of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top-level soccer league of the United States. It took place on October 15, 2000, at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Wash ...

on October 15. The

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The administrative offices are located in downtown K ...

won their first MLS Cup with a victory over the Chicago Fire.

Overview

Season format

The season began on March 18 and concluded with

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

on October 15. The 12 teams were split into three divisions. Each team played 32 games that were evenly divided between home and away. Each team played every other team in their division four times, for a total of 12 games. The remaining schedule consisted of three games against four select opponents in one of the other divisions, and two games against the remaining four teams. The eight teams with the most points qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. The quarterfinals and semifinals were played as a best-of-three series, and the winners advanced to

. In all rounds, draws were broken by penalty shootout if necessary. The

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

was not used in any round. The team with the most points in the regular season was awarded the

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 199 ...

. The winner of

, and the runner-up, qualified for the

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and sponsorships

Coaching changes

Standings

Eastern Division

Central Division

Western Division

Overall standings

Fixtures and results

Note: * = Match required extra time

MLS Cup Playoffs

Bracket

*Points system
Win = 3 Pts.
Loss = 0 Pts.
Draw = 1 Pt. *ASDET*=Added sudden death extra time (game tie breaker)
SDET**=Sudden death extra time (series tie breaker)
Teams will advance at 5 points.

Quarterfinals

Kansas City Wizards advance 7–1 on points. ---- Chicago Fire advance 6–3 on points. ---- MetroStars advance 6–0 on points. ---- Los Angeles Galaxy advance 6–0 on points.

Semifinals

Chicago Fire advance 6-3 on points. ---- Kansas City Wizards advance 1–0 in series overtime (SDET) after 4–4 tie on points.

MLS Cup

Player statistics

Goals

Hat-tricks

Assists

Clean sheets

Awards

Individual awards

Best XI

Player of the Month

Attendance

References

MLS Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:2000 Major League Soccer Season Major League Soccer seasons 1