Analysis
MLS 2026 regular season final: LA Galaxy lose 2-1 at Real Salt Lake and drop from seventh to 11th and out, as Salt Lake, Seattle and Portland take the West's last three places
All 30 clubs have played 34 games, 510 in all. LA Galaxy, the only one of the six clubs chasing the West's last three places that could clinch on its own going into Decision Day, lost 2-1 at Real Salt Lake and stayed on 44 points, while Salt Lake climbed from 11th to ninth on 45. Portland finished seventh and go straight to Round One; Seattle are eighth. In the East, Columbus won 4-3 at Chicago to take seventh, and Cincinnati slipped to ninth and will play eighth-placed Orlando in the Wild Card. Nashville's 77 points are the most in the league.
Clinch Desk · Sun, Nov 8
The regular season is over. All 30 MLS clubs have played 34 games, 510 in total. On Decision Day the East's nine playoff clubs, already settled, all went through with only the order changing. In the West six clubs were chasing three places. Portland, Seattle and Real Salt Lake made it, and LA Galaxy, Minnesota and Colorado did not.
Every figure here is from the final table after all 30 clubs had played 34 games. The table is the MLS standings supplied under a licensed data agreement (BALLDONTLIE), ordered as MLS does: points, then wins, goal difference and goals scored. The Decision Day scores come from matching the change in each club's goals for and against across its final game with the fixtures on this site's schedule page. In each conference the top nine reach the MLS Cup Playoffs: first to seventh go straight to Round One, and eighth and ninth meet in a one-game Wild Card at the eighth-placed club.
The 15 Decision Day games (home team first). East: Chicago 3-4 Columbus, Cincinnati 0-2 Nashville, Inter Miami 3-3 Charlotte, D.C. United 0-1 New York City, Red Bull New York 3-0 Atlanta, Philadelphia 4-1 Toronto and Orlando 1-0 New England, with Montréal losing 2-0 at home to Vancouver. West: Austin 0-2 Portland, FC Dallas 3-1 Colorado, Real Salt Lake 2-1 LA Galaxy, Minnesota 3-1 San Jose, Seattle 2-1 LAFC, Houston 0-1 St. Louis and San Diego 0-1 Sporting Kansas City.
East final table. First to seventh, straight to Round One: Nashville (77 points), Inter Miami (60), New England (58), Chicago (55), Charlotte (54), Philadelphia (50) and Columbus (47). Nashville finished 23-8-3 with 71 goals scored and 25 conceded, and 77 is the highest points total in either conference. Of the four clubs chasing the last two direct places, Philadelphia beat Toronto 4-1 to finish sixth, and Columbus won 4-3 at Chicago to move from eighth to seventh. Cincinnati, seventh before the day, lost 2-0 at home to Nashville and stayed on 46, level with Orlando, who beat New England 1-0. Orlando have 13 wins to Cincinnati's 12, so Orlando are eighth and Cincinnati ninth. Below them Red Bull New York and New York City (42), Toronto (39), Atlanta and D.C. United (33) and Montréal (26) are done.
West final table. First to seventh: Vancouver (64 points), FC Dallas (58), St. Louis (54), San Jose (52), Houston (51), LAFC (47) and Portland (46). St. Louis won 1-0 at Houston to go from fourth to third, and San Jose lost 3-1 at Minnesota to drop from third to fourth. Son Heung-min's LAFC lost 2-1 at Seattle but held sixth. Portland won 2-0 at Austin to climb from eighth to seventh and go straight to Round One. Seattle's win took them to 46 as well, but Portland have 13 wins to Seattle's 12, so Seattle are eighth.
The last place went to Real Salt Lake. Facing elimination with a defeat, Salt Lake beat LA Galaxy 2-1 at home to reach 45 and rise from 11th to ninth. The Galaxy, seventh before the day and certain to clinch with a win, stayed on 44 and finished 11th. Minnesota beat San Jose 3-1 and still finished a point short of Salt Lake on 44. Minnesota and the Galaxy are level on 44 points and 11 wins, and goal difference (-2 against -7) puts Minnesota 10th and the Galaxy 11th. Colorado, ninth before the day, lost 3-1 at Dallas and finished 12th on 43.
The playoff draw. The East Wild Card is eighth-placed Orlando against ninth-placed Cincinnati, at Orlando. Round One: Nashville against the Wild Card winner, Inter Miami against Columbus, New England against Philadelphia and Chicago against Charlotte. The West Wild Card is eighth-placed Seattle against ninth-placed Real Salt Lake, at Seattle. Round One: Vancouver against the Wild Card winner, FC Dallas against Portland, St. Louis against LAFC and San Jose against Houston. Round One is a best of three, with Games 1 and 3 at the higher seed.
How to read these numbers. This site works only from results and league rules, with no probabilities or predictions. The table applies points, wins, goal difference and goals scored, but not the later tiebreakers such as disciplinary points, and no place in this final table needed those. The playoff format and draw are on the playoffs page, the conference tables at, results on the schedule page and the method on the methodology page. The scenarios before Decision Day are in our previous piece. Club pages: LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, Seattle, Portland, Cincinnati and Columbus.
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