2022 MLS Cup playoffs

2022 MLS Cup playoffs
Tournament details
Country	United States; Canada
Dates	October 15 – November 5
Teams	14
Defending champions	New York City FC
Final positions
Champions	Los Angeles FC (1st title)
Runner-up	Philadelphia Union
Semifinalists	Austin FC; New York City FC;
Tournament statistics
Matches played	13
Goals scored	41 (3.15 per match)
Attendance	263,192 (20,246 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Sebastián Driussi; Maximiliano Moralez; (3 goals each)
	← 2021 2023 →

The 2022 MLS Cup playoffs (branded as the Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs for sponsorship reasons) was the 27th edition of the MLS Cup playoffs, the post-season championship of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top soccer league in the United States and Canada. The tournament culminated the 2022 MLS regular season. The tournament began on October 15 and concluded with MLS Cup 2022 on November 5, 16 days before the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.^[1]

New York City FC entered the playoffs as the defending MLS champions, but were eliminated in the conference finals by the Philadelphia Union. Los Angeles FC entered as Supporters' Shield winners and won their first MLS Cup, defeating the Philadelphia Union in a penalty shoot-out. The 2022 playoffs marked the first since 2008 where no teams from the Pacific Northwest region (including 2021 finalist Portland Timbers) qualified; Seattle Sounders FC failed to qualify for the first time in their MLS history, snapping a league-record thirteen-year playoff streak.^[2] Austin FC and FC Cincinnati reached the MLS Cup playoffs for the first time in 2022.

Qualified teams

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Conference standings

The top seven teams in the Eastern and Western Conference qualified for the MLS Cup playoffs, with the conference champions receiving first round byes. A green background denotes teams that qualified for the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League.

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Philadelphia Union	34	67
2	CF Montréal	34	65
3	New York City FC	34	55
4	New York Red Bulls	34	53
5	FC Cincinnati	34	49
6	Inter Miami CF	34	48
7	Orlando City SC	34	48

Source: MLS

Western Conference

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	Pts
1	Los Angeles FC	34	67
2	Austin FC	34	56
3	FC Dallas	34	53
4	LA Galaxy	34	50
5	Nashville SC	34	50
6	Minnesota United FC	34	48
7	Real Salt Lake	34	47

Source: MLS

Bracket

First round
October 15–17

Conference semifinals
October 20, 23

Conference finals
October 30

MLS Cup
November 5

E1

Philadelphia Union

1

E5

FC Cincinnati

0

E4

New York Red Bulls

1

E5

FC Cincinnati

2

E1

Philadelphia Union

3

Eastern Conference

E3

New York City FC

1

E3

New York City FC

3

E6

Inter Miami CF

0

E3

New York City FC

3

E2

CF Montréal

1

E2

CF Montréal

2

E7

Orlando City SC

0

E1

Philadelphia Union

3 (0)

W1

Los Angeles FC (p)

3 (3)

W1

Los Angeles FC

3

W4

LA Galaxy

2

W4

LA Galaxy

1

W5

Nashville SC

0

W1

Los Angeles FC

3

Western Conference

W2

Austin FC

0

W3

FC Dallas (p)

1 (5)

W6

Minnesota United FC

1 (4)

W3

FC Dallas

1

W2

Austin FC

2

W2

Austin FC (p)

2 (3)

W7

Real Salt Lake

2 (1)

Note: The higher seeded teams hosted matches, with the MLS Cup host determined by overall points.

First round

The second through fourth-seeded teams in each conference hosted the first-round matches. The team with the best record in each conference received a bye to the Conference semifinals.

Eastern Conference

October 15

12:00 p.m. EDT

New York Red Bulls	1–2	FC Cincinnati
Morgan 48'	Report	Acosta 74' (pen.) Vázquez 86'

Red Bull Arena, Harrison

Attendance: 17,113

Referee: Alex Chilowicz

October 16

8:00 p.m. EDT

CF Montréal	2–0	Orlando City SC
Koné 68' Mihailovic 90+9' (pen.)	Report

Saputo Stadium, Montreal

Attendance: 19,619

Referee: Ismail Elfath

October 17

7:00 p.m. EDT

New York City FC	3–0	Inter Miami CF
Pereira 63' Moralez 69' Héber 90+2'	Report

Citi Field, New York City

Attendance: 18,066

Referee: Rubiel Vazquez

Western Conference

October 15

12:00 p.m. PDT

LA Galaxy	1–0	Nashville SC
Araujo 60'	Report

Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson

Attendance: 22,280

Referee: Armando Villarreal

October 16

2:00 p.m. CDT

Austin FC	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Real Salt Lake
Driussi 31', 90+4' (pen.)	Report	Córdova 3', 15' (pen.)
Penalties
Driussi Fagúndez Rigoni	3–1	Silva Brody Ojeda Schmitt

Q2 Stadium, Austin

Attendance: 20,738

Referee: Victor Rivas

October 17

8:30 p.m. CDT

FC Dallas	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Minnesota United FC
Quignon 64'	Report	Reynoso 53'
Penalties
Jara Lletget Hedges Ferreira Velasco	5–4	Reynoso Trapp Arriaga Benítez García

Toyota Stadium, Frisco

Attendance: 19,096

Referee: Ted Unkel

Conference semifinals

The higher-seeded teams in each match-up as determined by regular season ranking hosted the matches.

Eastern Conference

October 20

8:00 p.m. EDT

Philadelphia Union	1–0	FC Cincinnati
Flach 59'	Report

Subaru Park, Chester

Attendance: 19,289

Referee: Timothy Ford

October 23

1:00 p.m. EDT

CF Montréal	1–3	New York City FC
Mihailovic 85'	Report	Moralez 6' Héber 45+3' Talles Magno 61' (pen.)

Saputo Stadium, Montreal

Attendance: 19,619

Referee: Drew Fischer

Western Conference

October 20

7:00 p.m. PDT

Los Angeles FC	3–2	LA Galaxy
Bouanga 23', 80' Arango 90+3'	Report	Grandsir 44' Joveljić 85'

Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles

Attendance: 22,305

Referee: Allen Chapman

October 23

7:00 p.m. CDT

Austin FC	2–1	FC Dallas
Djitté 26' Driussi 29'	Report	Velasco 65'

Q2 Stadium, Austin

Attendance: 20,738

Referee: Joseph Dickerson

Conference finals

The higher-seeded teams in each conference as determined by regular season ranking hosted the matches.

Eastern Conference

October 30

8:00 p.m. EDT

Philadelphia Union	3–1	New York City FC
Carranza 65' Gazdag 67' Burke 76'	Report	Moralez 57'

Subaru Park, Chester

Attendance: 19,770

Referee: Allen Chapman

Western Conference

October 30

12:00 p.m. PDT

Los Angeles FC	3–0	Austin FC
Arango 29' Urruti 62' (o.g.) Opoku 81'	Report

Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles

Attendance: 22,175

Referee: Armando Villarreal

MLS Cup 2022

The highest-ranked team remaining in the overall table (Los Angeles FC) hosted the match.

November 5, 2022

1:00 p.m. PDT

Los Angeles FC	3–3 (a.e.t.)	Philadelphia Union
Acosta 28' Murillo 83' Bale 120+8'	Report	Gazdag 59' Elliott 85', 120+4'
Penalties
Tello Bouanga Hollingshead Ilie	3–0	Gazdag Martínez Wagner

Banc of California Stadium, Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Attendance: 22,384

Referee: Ismail Elfath

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals^[3]
1	Sebastián Driussi	Austin FC	3
1	Maximiliano Moralez	New York City FC	3
3	Cristian Arango	Los Angeles FC	2
	Denis Bouanga	Los Angeles FC
	Sergio Córdova	Real Salt Lake
	Jack Elliott	Philadelphia Union
	Héber	New York City FC
	Dániel Gazdag	Philadelphia Union
	Djordje Mihailovic	CF Montréal

References

^ "Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs Schedule". MLSSoccer.com. Major League Soccer. September 12, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
^ Booth, Chuck (October 10, 2022). "MLS Playoff Schedule: LAFC win Supporters Shield for best record; postseason begins Oct. 15". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
^ "Stats". MLSsoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved October 20, 2022.

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[1] "Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs Schedule". MLSSoccer.com. Major League Soccer. September 12, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022.

[2] Booth, Chuck (October 10, 2022). "MLS Playoff Schedule: LAFC win Supporters Shield for best record; postseason begins Oct. 15". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 10, 2022.

[3] "Stats". MLSsoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved October 20, 2022.

[1]

Tournament details

Country	United States Canada
Dates	October 15 – November 5
Teams	14
Defending champions	New York City FC
Final positions
Champions	Los Angeles FC (1st title)
Runner-up	Philadelphia Union
Semifinalists	Austin FC New York City FC
Tournament statistics
Matches played	13
Goals scored	41 (3.15 per match)
Attendance	263,192 (20,246 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Sebastián Driussi Maximiliano Moralez (3 goals each)
← 2021 2023 →