It ’ s a long journey to the MLS championship . The REGULAR SEASON , 34 games for each of the 29 teams is over , but 18 teams still in the race fighting to stay alive in the 2nd half of the journey — the Playoffs . The 2023 Playoffs present some changes .
Overall , 18 teams qualified – the top 9 from the Eastern Conference and the top 9 from the Western Conference . Check the final regular season standings on pages 17 and 18 .
Seeds 1 to 7 in each conference automatically qualified for the Round One Best-of-3 series .
Seeds 8 and 9 in each conference qualified for the WILD CARD matches .
Four rounds will be played when it ' s all done , ending with MLS Cup at Lower . com Field in Columbus , Ohio . Wild Card matches : October 25-26 Round One Best-of-3 series matches :
October 28-November 12 Conference Semifinals and Conference Final :
November 25-December 2 MLS Cup : December 9
The league ' s championship match and postseason tournament are different than the Supporters ' Shield , which recognizes the year ' s best regular-season team . 2023 Supporters ’ Shield champion is FC Cincinnati .
Round One WILD CARD - Two single-game elimination matches hosted by the higher seed ( Eastern Conference No . 8 vs . No .
9 ; Western Conference No . 8 vs . No . 9 ) - If the score of a Wild Card game is tied at the end of regulation , no extra time will be played . There will go immediately to a penalty kick shootout to determine the winner .
- The winner of each Wild Card match will advance to the Round One Best-of-3 series to face the conference No . 1 seed .
Round Two Best-of-3 Game Series ( 16-24 games )
- Every Round Two game will have a winner : no ties , no aggregate score .
- The matches will be hosted in a home-away-home format : Match 1 : higher seed hosts Match 2 : lower seed hosts Match 3 : higher seed hosts
- If a match is tied at the end of regulation , no extra time will be played . Teams will participate in kicks from the penalty spot to determine the winner . - The first team to win two matches will advance . No need for a 3rd game . - Four teams from each conference will advance to the Conference Semifinals .
GOALNEWS 19