The 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs (branded as the 2019 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons) was the post-season championship of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

(MLS), the top soccer league in the United States and Canada. It was the 24th 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 tournament culminating at the end of the 2019 regular season. The playoffs began on October 19, 2019, and concluded with

MLS Cup 2019 MLS Cup 2019 was the 24th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), and took place on November 10, 2019, at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington, United States. The soccer match was contested by Seattle S ...

on November 10. The playoffs were contested by fourteen teams under a new format, with the top seven teams from both conferences qualifying based on their regular season performances. All rounds used

single-elimination A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

matches that were hosted by the higher remaining seed, and no rounds would be re-seeded unlike previous years. The first round (October 19–20) featured the second through seventh-seeded teams in each conference playing each other, with the first-placed teams in each conference receiving a bye. The winners of the first round advanced to the Conference Semifinals (October 23–24) along with the first-placed team from each conference. The winners of the Conference Semifinals then advanced to the Conference Finals (October 29–30) for an MLS Cup berth.

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 p ...

were the defending MLS Cup champions, having won their first title in

MLS Cup 2018 MLS Cup 2018 was the 23rd edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), which took place on December 8, 2018. It was the final match of the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs and was contested by Atlanta United FC and the Por ...

, but were eliminated by

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 ...

in the Conference Finals. The 2019 regular season

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 19 ...

champions were

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The club ...

, but they were also eliminated in the Conference Finals by

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

. For the first time in league history, the four conference finalists were all

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

s and did not feature any of the ten original teams from the inaugural season. Seattle hosted MLS Cup 2019 and won 3–1 in their third finals played against Toronto FC.

Qualified teams

;Eastern Conference *

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Su ...

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 compet ...

New York City FC New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned ...

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 2010 ...

;Western Conference *

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the leag ...

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American Soc ...

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at ...

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in ...

Conference standings

The top seven teams from each conference advanced to the MLS Cup Playoffs, with the top team in each conference receiving a first-round bye. Background colors denote playoff teams, with green also qualifying for the

2020 CONCACAF Champions League The 2020 CONCACAF Champions League (officially the 2020 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 55th edition of the premier footba ...

, and blue also qualifying for the

2020 Leagues Cup The 2020 Leagues Cup was planned to be the second edition of the Leagues Cup organized by Major League Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation. The tournament would have featured 16 teams, an increase from the inaugural edition that had eight ...

. Non-playoff Montreal Impact qualified for the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League as winners of the

2019 Canadian Championship The 2019 Canadian Championship was the twelfth edition of the Canadian Championship, contested from May 15 to September 25, 2019. Montreal Impact won their fourth Canadian Championship title (their tenth Voyageurs Cup) and earned a berth in the ...

. Eastern Conference Western Conference

Bracket

Results

First round

Eastern Conference

In the opening match of the playoffs, defending champions

hosted the

in a rematch of the final regular season match they played two weeks prior. The match was scoreless through the first half and after half-time until a

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondary ...

change and substitutions by Atlanta manager

Frank de Boer Franciscus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch football manager who was most recently the head coach of the Netherlands national team. A former defender, De Boer spent most of his professional playing career with Ajax, winning five Ered ...

allowed the hosts to score. Defender

Franco Escobar Franco Nicolás Escobar (born 21 February 1995) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo. Club career Newell's Old Boys Escobar began his career in the Newell's Old Boys aca ...

finished a through ball from

Ezequiel Barco Esequiel Omar Barco (born 29 March 1999) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder and winger (association football), winger for Argentine Primera División club Club Atlético River Plate ...

with a one-time shot in the 70th minute, which gave Atlanta the 1–0 victory. Fourth-seeded

hosted the fifth seed,

, at

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is home to Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Constructed on the site of the former Exhibit ...

in the second Eastern Conference playoffs match. Toronto took a lead in the first half through a goalkeeping error by

Bill Hamid Abdul Bilal "Bill" Hamid ( ; born November 25, 1990) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for D.C. United in Major League Soccer. Born in Annandale, Virginia, Hamid was the first D.C. United Academy player to sig ...

that resulted in a successful chance for

Marky Delgado Marco Antonio Delgado (born May 16, 1995), known as Mark Delgado or Marky Delgado, is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for LA Galaxy in Major League Soccer. Early life Delgado grew up watching his two older brot ...

, but D.C. equalized in second half

stoppage time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

with a sequence on a

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

corner kick that ended with a goal for Lucas Rodríguez. Toronto scored four unanswered goals in extra time, advancing with a 5–1 victory, with two goals from

Jonathan Osorio Jonathan Osorio (born June 12, 1992) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC and the Canada national team. He holds the Toronto FC club record for most appearances. Osorio als ...

and one apiece from

Richie Laryea Richmond Mamah Laryea ( ; Ga: ; born January 7, 1995) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a right-back or midfielder for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC, on loan from Premier League club Nottingham Forest, and the Canad ...

and

Nick DeLeon Nicholas Lee DeLeon (born July 17, 1990) is an American soccer player. Although he is capable of playing as a full-back, he typically plays as a wide midfielder, working towards the center. He is highly regarded for his work rate and 1-on-1 sk ...

. The

hosted the

on the following day and fell behind with a 3–1 halftime lead for the visitors, who took advantage of mistakes by goalkeeper

Andre Blake Andre Jason Blake (born 21 November 1990) is a Jamaican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer and the Jamaica national team. College soccer Blake spent three years playing college ...

. The Union responded with two unanswered goals in the second half to tie the match at full time. In first half stoppage time during extra time, substitute

Marco Fabián Marco Jhonfai Fabián de la Mora (; born 21 July 1989) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Liga MX club Mazatlán. He is an Olympic gold medalist. Fabián is a graduate of C.D. Guadalajara's youth a ...

scored from a chipped shot that gave the Union a 4–3 win, their first playoffs victory. ---- ---- ----

Western Conference

---- ----

Conference Semifinals

Eastern Conference

----

Western Conference

----

Conference Finals

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

MLS Cup 2019

Top goalscorers

There were 53 goals scored in 13 matches, with an average of 4.08 goals per match.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mls Cup Playoffs 2019 2019 Major League Soccer season

MLS Cup Playoffs