The 2007 Major League Soccer season was the 12th 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 95th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and the 29th with a national first-division league. This year marked the inaugural season for expansion franchise,

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

who began play in the Eastern Conference. Two new

soccer-specific stadium A soccer-specific stadium, mainly in the United States and Canada, is a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-purpose stadium whic ...

s opened as well. The

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

moved into Dick's Sporting Goods Park in the Denver-suburb of Commerce City and, before the season began,

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Constructed on the former Exhibition Stadium site and first opened in 2007, it is the home field of Toronto FC of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Toronto Ar ...

opened for expansion side,

. This season is often cited as the first in the modern-era of Major League Soccer because of the introduction of the Designated Player Rule which permitted each team to sign one big-ticket player without it counting against the

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Seve ...

. Six such players were signed for the 2007 season: David Beckham, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Juan Pablo Ángel, Luciano Emilio, Denílson and Guillermo Barros Schelotto. The regular season began on April 7, and concluded on October 21. The 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 25, and concluded with MLS Cup 2007 on November 18. For the first time in league history, the same two clubs consecutively won the

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 ...

and the

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

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

repeated as MLS Cup Champions by defeating the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

in the final and D.C. United won the Supporters' Shield by edging

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

by two points in the standings.

Overview

Season format

The season began on April 7 and concluded with

on November 18. The 13 teams were split into two conferences with 7 playing the Eastern Conference and 6 playing in the Western Conference. Each team played 30 games that were evenly divided between home and away. Each team played every other team twice, home and away, for a total of 26 games. The remaining four games were played against four regional rivals, two at home and two away. The top three teams from each conference automatically qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs. In addition, the two highest remaining point totals, regardless of conference, also qualified. In the first round, aggregate goals over two matches determined the winners. The conference finals were played as a single match, and the winners advanced to

. In all rounds, draws were broken with two 15-minute periods of extra time, followed by penalty kicks 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 ...

and 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 ...

. Additionally, the winner of

also qualified for the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. If a team qualified for multiple berths into the Champions' Cup, then additional berths were awarded to the highest overall finishing MLS team(s) not already qualified. Also,

, as a Canadian-based team, could not qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League through MLS, and had to instead qualify through the

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship () is an annual soccer tournament contested by Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It is contested by Major League Soccer sides Toronto FC, Va ...

. Automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup was awarded to the top three finishers in each conference. The rest of the U.S.-based MLS teams had to qualify for the remaining two berths via a series of play-in games. Qualification for the SuperLiga was determined by the overall table with the top four overall finishers qualifying for the 2008 edition.

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and sponsorships

Coaching changes

Standings

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Overall standings

MLS Cup Playoffs

¹ The Kansas City Wizards earned the eighth and final playoff berth, despite finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference.
They represent the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoff bracket, as only three teams in the Western Conference qualified for the playoffs.

Player statistics

Goals

Assists

Clean sheets

Awards

Individual awards

Best XI

Weekly awards

Monthly awards

Attendance

International competitions

CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2007

D.C. United
Defeated

Club Deportivo Olimpia Club Deportivo Olimpia is a professional association football in Honduras, Honduran football club based in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán Department, Francisco Morazán. The club is the nation's most successful team both ...

in the Quarterfinals
Lost Club Deportivo Guadalajara in the Semifinals.

Defeated Puntarenas FC in the Quarterfinals.
Lost C.F. Pachuca in the Semifinals. ----

SuperLiga 2007

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

Finished in fourth place and did not advance from
Group A after going 0-1-2 in group play. D.C. United
Runner-up of Group B after going 1-1-1 in group play.
Lost to

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

in Semifinals.

Winner of Group B after going 2-0-1 in group play.
Lost to C.F. Pachuca on penalty kicks in the Semifinals.

Winner of Group A after going 2-1-0 in group play.
Defeated D.C. United in the Semifinals
Lost to C.F. Pachuca on penalty kicks in the Final. ----

Copa Sudamericana 2007

D.C. United
Lost to Club Deportivo Guadalajara on away goals in the Round of 16. ----

Other competitions

2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

Eight of the twelve U.S.-based MLS teams entered the tournament in the third round. D.C. United
Lost to Harrisburg City Islanders in the third round.

Lost to

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

in the third round. Chicago Fire
Lost to Carolina RailHawks in the third round.

Lost to

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

in the third round.

Lost to Seattle Sounders (USL) in the third round

Defeated California Victory in the third round.
Lost to Seattle Sounders (USL) in the Quarterfinals.

Defeated Atlanta Silverbacks on penalty kicks in the third round,
Defeated

after extra time in the Quarterfinals,
Defeated Seattle Sounders (USL) after extra time in the Semifinals,
Lost to

in the Final.

Defeated Rochester Raging Rhinos in the third round.
Defeated Harrisburg City Islanders in the Quarterfinals.
Defeated Carolina RailHawks after extra time in the Semifinals.
Defeated

in the Final. ----

All-Star game

The 2007 MLS All-Star Game was held at Dick's Sporting Goods Park
in Commerce City, Colorado, home of the

on July 19.
The opponent was Celtic F.C. of the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

. Final Score:
MLS All-Stars 2-0 Celtic F.C.

External links

MLS 2007 Season Stats

References

{{Canada D1 soccer seasons 1 Major League Soccer seasons