The 2020 Columbus Crew SC season was the club's 25th season of existence and their 25th consecutive season in

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 ...

, the top flight of 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

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The first match of the season was on March 1 against

New York City FC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern C ...

. It was the second season under head coach

Caleb Porter Caleb Porter (born February 18, 1975) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach of Major League Soccer club New England Revolution. He was previously head coach of the Portland Timbers from 2013 until 2017. He won MLS Cup in 2015 with P ...

. Columbus were also set to compete in the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

, before its cancelation due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The 2020 season saw Columbus earn their second ever MLS Cup championship, their first since 2008. Columbus defeated

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

, 3–0 in the

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

Roster

Technical Staff

Non-competitive

Preseason

The Crew started preseason in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

. They then played games in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

as part of the 2020 Visit Tucson Sun Cup before returning to

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. The Crew brought in the following trialists during training camp: Derrick Etienne. Unsigned draft picks

Miguel Berry Miguel Berry (born 16 September 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for LA Galaxy in Major League Soccer. Youth and amateur career Berry was born in Barcelona, Spain to American parents. They moved back to the Un ...

, Remi Prieur and Danny Griffin also joined the team for preseason.

Midseason

Competitive

Overview

MLS

Standings

= Eastern Conference

=Overall table

Results summary

Results by round

Match results

On December 5, 2019,

the league ''The League'' is an American television sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football l ...

announced the home openers for every club, with Columbus playing

MAPFRE Stadium Historic Crew Stadium, previously known as Columbus Crew Stadium and Mapfre Stadium, is a soccer-specific stadium in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It primarily served as the home stadium of the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer from 1999 u ...

. The schedule for the remainder of the season was released by the league on December 19, 2019. Due to the

, the original schedule had to be shortened and was released in installments. The remainder of the regular season schedule was announced on September 22, 2020. ;Original Schedule ;Restarted Schedule

MLS is Back Tournament

MLS Cup Playoffs

First Round

Conference Semifinals

Conference Finals

MLS Cup

U.S. Open Cup

The 2020 edition of the U.S. Open Cup was canceled on August 17 due to concerns about the

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Under "Apps" for each section, the first number represents the number of starts, and the second number represents appearances as a substitute. , - , colspan=12 align=center, ''Players who left Columbus during the season:''

Disciplinary record

Clean sheets

Transfers

In

Out

Loan out

MLS Draft picks

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in. The picks for Columbus Crew SC are listed below:

Awards

MLS Player of the Week

MLS Goal of the Week

Postseason

;

MLS Newcomer of the Year Award The MLS Newcomer of the Year Award is awarded by Major League Soccer to a player who has professional experience in another league and has an outstanding season in his first season of play in MLS. The award was introduced in 2007; its votes are c ...

* MF

Lucas Zelarayán Lucas Manuel Zelarayán (; born 20 June 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Argentine Primera División club Belgrano. Born in Argentina, he represents the Armenia national team. He began his profession ...

;

MLS Goal of the Year Award The MLS Goal of the Year Award (currently commercially termed "AT&T MLS Goal of the Year") is handed out annually since its inception in 1996 to a player in Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association footbal ...

* MF

Darlington Nagbe Darlington Joephillip Nagbe (born July 19, 1990) is a professional association football, soccer player who plays as a midfielder for and captains Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew. Born in Liberia, he played for the United States men's nat ...

;

MLS Save of the Year Award The MLS Save of the Year Award is awarded by 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 ...

* GK

Eloy Room Eloy Victor Room (born 6 February 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Belgian Pro League club Cercle Brugge. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Curaçao national team. Club career Vitesse Room joined Vites ...

;

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. The selection is determined by a collection of media, players, and MLS club technical staffs. Winners Appearances by player The following players ...

*DF

Jonathan Mensah Jonathan Mensah (born 13 July 1990), commonly known simply as Jonathan, is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a defender. He previously played for Ashanti Gold, Free State Stars, Granada, Evian, Anzhi Makhachkala, Columbus Cre ...

Crew SC Team Awards

* Most Valuable Player –

* Golden Boot Winner –

Gyasi Zardes Gyasi A. Zardes (born September 2, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward. Born in Hawthorne, California, Zardes was part of the LA Galaxy youth academy before playing college soccer for Cal State Bakersfield. ...

* Defender of the Year –

* Kirk Urso Heart Award –

* Humanitarian of the Year – Black Players for Change (

and

accepting on behalf of the organization) * Academy Player of the Year – TJ Presthus

Kits

Notes

References

{{MLS Cup winning seasons Columbus Crew seasons

Columbus Crew SC The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 charter clubs of the league. ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2020s in Columbus, Ohio