MLS playoff winners and losers: Expansion team one win from title game

• Expansion side San Diego FC is two wins away from making history.
• Lionel Messi has 12 goal contributions in Inter Miami’s four playoff games this season.
• The Vancouver Whitecaps won a dramatic playoff showdown against Los Angeles FC.

The road to MLS Cup is down to its final four.

After the events of the latest playoff games, here are the matchups for the conference finals:

• Inter Miami vs. New York City FC — Saturday, Nov. 29 at 6 p.m. ET
• San Diego FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps — Saturday, Nov. 29 at 9 p.m. ET

Of those four teams, only NYCFC has made a previous appearance in MLS Cup (winning it in 2021). The league’s championship game is set for Saturday, Dec. 6.

Here are the winners and losers from the conference semifinals of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs:

WINNERS

Expansion San Diego FC survives

San Diego FC’s quest to complete the greatest expansion season in league history continues after grinding out a 1-0 win over Minnesota United on Monday night. Anders Dreyer – who’d be your 2025 MLS MVP if Lionel Messi wasn’t in the league – supplied the winning goal in the 72nd minute. Now, San Diego is two wins away from matching the 1998 Chicago Fire as expansion teams to win MLS Cup.

Lionel Messi is a tour de force

Lionel Messi has pushed Inter Miami to the brink of its first MLS Cup appearance with what is turning into a playoff run for the ages. In Inter Miami’s 4-0 win over FC Cincinnati in an Eastern Conference semifinal, Messi had the game’s opening goal and assisted on the other three. With that stat line, Messi now has six goals and six assists in Miami’s four playoff games. This is a goal contribution tear that dates back to early October. In his past seven games, Messi has 11 goals and 11 assists. If the soccer G.O.A.T. keeps this pace up, Inter Miami will cruise to MLS Cup glory.

Vancouver Whitecaps win an epic

Hope you watched this showdown Saturday night rather than, say, that dreadful Washington-UCLA football game. This dramatic soccer football playoff was a chamber-of-commerce-type advertisement for the league.

The Vancouver Whitecaps advanced to the conference final for the first time in the club’s 15-season Major League Soccer existence. All it took was a thrilling win over a powerhouse such as Los Angeles FC in front of a club-record (for MLS era) crowd of 53,957 at BC Place. In doing so, Vancouver exorcized a playoff demon and moved one win away from the club’s first-ever MLS Cup appearance.

Vancouver jumped out to a 2-0 halftime lead, but LAFC’s Son Heung-Min scored twice in the second half, including a stoppage-time free-kick golazo that pushed the playoff game into extra time. Vancouver survived being down to nine players and LAFC’s persistent attacks on goal, as the visitors hit woodwork and couldn’t muster a go-ahead goal in extra time. Instead, the Whitecaps would prevail in a penalty shootout. It was the second consecutive playoff game they’d closed out via a shootout. After having its season end in the playoff at the hands of LAFC the previous two seasons, Vancouver finally got the best of one of the league’s flagship clubs.

NYCFC playing the spoiler role

After pulling off a mild upset in Round 1, New York City FC scored the biggest stunner of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs so far when it knocked off the Philadelphia Union, 1-0, in the conference semifinals. On the road against the 2025 Supporters’ Shield winners, NYCFC got a goal from Maxi Moralez in the 27th minute and then let their star ‘keeper Matt Freese earn a clean sheet to propel the club to its third conference final in team history. Its first such run resulted in an MLS Cup win.

Freese is trending to be the USMNT’s starting goalkeeper at next summer’s World Cup, and he’ll be tested when No. 5-seeded NYCFC looks to keep its unexpected playoff run going when it faces Lionel Messi and Inter Miami on Saturday, Nov. 29.

LOSERS

Philly sports teams on Sunday

Just hours after the Philadelphia Eagles blew a 21-point lead in a loss to the rival Dallas Cowboys, the Philadelphia Union were upset by New York City FC in their Eastern Conference semifinal. It was another disappointing end to a season for the Supporters’ Shield winners, which suffered its first home loss since March 16. After scoring five goals over two games in a Round 1 playoff win over the Chicago Fire, the Union could not muster a single goal against NYCFC and their U.S. national team goalkeeper Matt Freese.

Supporters’ Shield winners in the MLS Cup Playoffs

The Philadelphia Union loss also means that just two of the past 10 Supporters’ Shield winners have gone on to win MLS Cup (Toronto FC in 2017, LAFC in 2022). After four of the first seven Supporters’ Shield winners in league history won MLS Cup, there have only been four in the 23 seasons since.

Bitter finale for Steve Cherundolo at LAFC

Los Angeles FC’s success would be the envy of nearly every other club in Major League Soccer. During Steve Cherundolo’s four years as coach, LAFC won a Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup in 2022, and the U.S. Open Cup in 2024. LAFC also prevailed in a highly lucrative playoff against Club América of Liga MX for a spot in this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup. However, as Cherundolo’s tenure at LAFC came to a dramatic end in British Columbia, it must also be pointed out how much hardware LAFC left on the table. Cherundolo’s LAFC also lost the Concacaf Champions Cup final, Campeones Cup and MLS Cup in 2023, as well as a Leagues Cup final in 2024.

Being in near-constant contention for trophies is the standard that has been set at LAFC, and also the lofty expectations facing the Cherundolo’s yet-to-be-named successor for 2026.