By Staff Writer: James Schryver
After an exciting Decision Day in the MLS, all teams have been finalized for the 2023 Audi MLS Cup playoffs.
The two open wildcard slots in the Eastern Conference were clinched by the New York Red Bulls and Charlotte FC. While in the Western Conference, the wildcard spots belong to Sporting Kansas City and the San Jose Earthquakes. FC Dallas also squeaked by as a No. 7 seed.
The lineup of teams for the Eastern and Western conferences is as follows; Eastern: No. 1 FC Cincinnati, No. 2 Orlando City SC, No. 3 Columbus Crew, No. 4 Philadelphia Union, No. 5 New England Revolution, No. 6 Atlanta United, No. 7 Nashville SC, No. 8 New York Red Bulls, and No. 9 Charlotte FC. Western: No. 1 St. Louis SC, No. 2 Seattle Sounders FC, No. 3 LAFC, No. 4 Houston Dynamo, No. 5 Real Salt Lake, No. 6 Vancouver Whitecaps FC, No. 7 FC Dallas, No. 8 Sporting KC, and No. 9 San Jose Earthquakes.
On October 25th, the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds (Wildcards) will play each other from each conference. The winner from each conference will then move on to the next round where they will play the No. 1 seed from that conference. This round will be a best of three games.
No. 1 vs. Winner of No. 8 and 9
No. 2 vs. No. 7
No. 3 vs. No. 6
No. 4 vs. No. 5
This round will be played as a home-away-home format in favor of the higher seed. That is to say for Game 1: the higher seed hosts, Game 2: the lower seed hosts, and finally for Game 3: the higher seed hosts again. No ties will be accepted in this round. No extra time will be allowed at the end of regular time, so the winner will be decided in a penalty shootout. The winner of two games after the best of three rounds will advance.
The next round is the conference semifinals. The participants in this will be decided based upon the winner of each of the series. This round is a single game elimination and if the score is still tied by the end of regular time, two 15-minute extra time halves will be added. If the score is still tied, the two teams will go to the penalty spot. The games will look like this within each conference:
Winner of No. 1 vs. No. 8/9 VS. winner of No. 4 vs. No. 5
Winner of No. 3 vs. No. 6 VS. winner of No. 2 vs. 7
The winners of these games will then play in the conference final. This round works the exact same as the semifinal as far as extra time and penalty kicks are concerned. These winners will be the champions of their respective conferences.
The conference champions will move on to the final round: the MLS Cup presented by Audi. This game will mark the end of a very hard fought and long season as each team will be
competing to hoist the MLS Cup and bring it back to their respective city. If the game is still tied by full time two 15-minute periods will be added. If the score is still tied at the end of this, then a penalty shootout will ensue.
The wildcard games begin on October 25th. You can stream the entire tournament through MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.