Less than a week before the start of the regular season, MLS revealed an expanded playoff format with best-of-three matchups in a revamped Round 1.
With the addition of expansion St. Louis City SC this season, bringing the total number of teams to 29, the playoffs will grow as well, with 18 clubs invited to continue playing at the conclusion of the regular season. A total of 14 teams composed the 2022 MLS Cup playoffs.
While the top seven teams from the Western and Eastern Conference will advance to Round 1, a new wild-card round will pit the eighth- and ninth-place teams from each conference against each other in a winner-take-all game. Those two winners will fill out the Round 1 field.
Round 1 will include eight best-of-three series in order to advance to the conference semifinals. There will not be ties in Round 1 games, while all 16 of those clubs will be guaranteed at least one home game.
The format then moves to single-elimination games for the conference semifinals and finals, as well as MLS Cup, which is scheduled to take place on Dec. 9. The 2022 MLS Cup was moved back to Nov. 5 last season as a concession to the World Cup, which began in late November.
Los Angeles FC earned their first title last season, defeating the Philadelphia Union on penalty kicks.
LAFC will begin their quest to repeat as champions on Saturday when they open their season against the rival Los Angeles Galaxy in a neutral-site game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. That contest is expected to break the MLS regular-season attendance record of 74,479 set by Charlotte FC in their inaugural game last season against the Galaxy.
–Field Level Media
