Argentina superstar Lionel Messi. South Korea playmaker Son Heung-min. U.S. men’s team duo Tim Ream and Matt Freese.
You’ll likely be seeing them at next year’s 48-team World Cup, which will be the largest edition of the tournament ever. But before we get to that, they’ll all be aiming to lift the MLS Cup.
The first round of the MLS Cup playoffs kick off on Friday as 16 teams (eight from each conference) square off in a best-of-three series. The winners advance in the bracket, with all eyes set on the MLS Cup final on Dec. 6.
How will the first-round series shake out? Let’s break them down and make some predictions:
JUMP TO: Eastern Conference | Western Conference
Philadelphia Union (1) vs. Chicago Fire (8)
Perennial MLS Cup contenders under beloved longtime coach (and Philadelphia native) Jim Curtin, the low-spending Union fired Curtin after missing the playoffs last year, then orchestrated one of the greatest turnarounds in MLS history. Under first-year boss Bradley Carnell, Philly won the Supporters Shield as the top regular season performer for the second time in club history.
Now they have their sights on MLS Cup after coming agonizingly close in 2022, losing on penalties to LAFC in an epic final.
Beating the Fire is step one. Gregg Berhalter’s side dispatched Orlando with ease, giving the onetime MLS power its first postseason win in 16 years.
Outlasting the Union over three games, if it comes to that, with the decider away from home presents a far more difficult challenge for Berhalter’s side. Win or lose, it will provide valuable experience for the future.
Prediction: Philadelphia in 2
FC Cincinnati (2) vs. Columbus Crew (7)
Whether you prefer the “Hell is Real” rivalry or the “Battle of Ohio,” these in-state foes will have bragging rights on the line when they kick off their series inside what should be a raucous TQL Stadium in Cincy on Monday.
It’s a grudge match, to be sure, but both teams have quality. FCC won the Supporters Shield in 2023. The Crew captured that fall’s MLS Cup, then won the 2024 Leagues Cup and advanced all the way to that year’s Concacaf final.
Columbus fell back to earth this season, but that championship pedigree guarantees they’ll still be a tough out. Cincinnati remains the favorite, though, with star Brazilian attacker Evander the potential difference-maker over a series that neutrals are hoping goes the distance.
Prediction: Cincinnati in 3
Inter Miami (3) vs. Nashville SC (6)
Since hoisting that Supporters Shield last season, Miami has come up empty. The Herons were unceremoniously dumped out of the playoffs by ninth-seeded Atlanta United last October. They were eliminated at home by Vancouver in the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals. And while they were the only MLS side to survive group play at the high-profile FIFA Club World Cup over the summer, they were embarrassed by European champs Paris Saint-Germain — Messi’s former club — in their lone knockout stage test.
None of that matters now, as Miami opens the 2025 playoffs with a clean slate. History is on their side against Nashville. Messi scored twice in Tennessee last weekend to secure the Golden Boot. Miami also beat the Yellow-and-Blues in the Leagues Cup finale and U.S. Open Cup semis in 2023, and in Concacaf play last year.
Still, the underdogs like their chances. “This is an opportunity because we know them. We played them last week,” Nashville star Hany Mukhtar told MLSSoccer.com. “That is an advantage for us.”
Maybe, but Miami is hell-bent on winning American soccer’s most important piece of hardware and sending retiring veterans Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets off into the sunset on a high note.
Prediction: Inter Miami in 3
Charlotte FC (4) vs. New York City FC (5)
Even after The Crown transferred U.S. striker Patrick Agyemang to England’s Derby County midseason, there is plenty of reason for U.S. national team fans to tune into this one. With Tim Ream captaining Charlotte and the Pigeons having Matt Freese in goal, two projected World Cup starters for the USMNT will be vying for a place in the quarterfinals.
Harvard graduate Freese, who has manned the net in each of the USMNT’s last 10 games, is a finalist for the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year award. Ream, who turned 38 years young last month, continues going strong a year after returning to MLS from the Premier League.
Not much separates these clubs, as their spots in the final standings would suggest. So the difference could come down to the absence of Charlotte star Wilfried Zaha, who received a 90th minute red card on Decision Day that will rule him out of Tuesday’s opener in North Carolina.
Prediction: NYCFC in 3
San Diego FC (1) vs. Portland Timbers (8)
Expansion side San Diego surprised just about everybody by not just making the playoffs in their maiden campaign, but by finishing ahead of traditional Western Conference powers like the two big-spending Los Angeles franchises and a Seattle side that has reached four MLS Cup finals in the last decade.
San Diego’s instant success feels a lot like St. Louis’ two seasons ago. It also feels like the type of team that will get found out quickly in the postseason, when experience really matters. Add in the fact that the availability of star Mexican national team striker Hirving “Chucky” Lozano is uncertain because of a public blowup with SDFC coach Mikey Varas, and we’re picking Portland here.
Prediction: Timbers in 2
Vancouver Whitecaps (2) vs. FC Dallas (7)
Like Philadelphia, the ‘Caps missed the playoffs last year and made a coaching chance ahead of this season. And like Philly, Vancouver was an elite MLS team all season against all odds, reaching the Concacaf Champions Cup final and missing out on the Supporters Shield only on goal difference. The Canadian side improved throughout 2025, too. In the summer, they added Germany legend Thomas Muller to a spine that already included Defender of the Year finalist Tristan Blackmon and fellow U.S. national team regular Sebastian Berhalter.
On the other side, Dallas barely eked into the Top 7 in its own conference, narrowly avoiding the wild card game. It’s hard to see them stunning a vastly superior opponent and legitimate title challenger over three games when the travel and turf field that Vancouver plays on north of the border at BC Place are factored in.
Prediction: Whitecaps in 2
LAFC (3) vs. Austin FC (6)
Not much has gone right for LAFC since winning its only MLS championship back in 2022. Steve Cherundolo’s team returned to the MLS Cup final a year later, only to lose in Columbus. They’ve also lost three other finals since, though LAFC did claim the U.S. Open Cup for the first time in 2024.
Whether the Black & Gold can add to their trophy case on Dec. 6 and send Cherundolo off — he’s heading back to Europe with his German-born wife and children — with a second title in four years remains to be seen. But LAFC should at least be able to dispatch an Austin team that has been far from convincing in 2025; the Verde finished the regular season by losing three of their last four matches. The silver lining for ATX fans? The other result was a 1-0 victory over LAFC on the penultimate match day.
Prediction: LAFC in 2
Minnesota United (4) vs. Seattle Sounders (5)
For all the Sounders’ big-game experience — in addition to their playoff and Concacaf Champions Cup chops, Seattle faced PSG, Atletico Madrid and Brazilian titan Botafogo in this year’s Club World Cup — home field is still king in MLS. But don’t underestimate the Loons, who were quietly excellent all season, making a deep run if they can get past Brian Schmetzer’s side.
Despite winning just one of their last four matches, Minnesota is exactly the sort of team that can upset the perceived natural order in a parity-driven circuit, especially against an opponent that has conceded more goals than all but two of the 16 MLS Cup playoff entrants.
Prediction: Minnesota in 3
Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.
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