With the 2026 MLS regular season still in progress, Red Bull New York (eighth) and FC Cincinnati (ninth) held the Eastern Conference Wild Card places. In the West, the provisional fixture was LA Galaxy (eighth) against Colorado Rapids (ninth). These were the matchups published by MLS on October 19 at 9 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time (ET), not confirmed postseason pairings.
Decision Day is scheduled for Saturday, November 7. Each conference has 15 clubs: the top seven advance directly to Round One of the playoffs; the eighth- and ninth-place teams contest a single-elimination Wild Card game for another place; teams finishing 10th through 15th miss the postseason. The order can change until every club's 34-game schedule is complete.
Data cutoff: the official matchup snapshot is from October 19, 2026, at 9 a.m. ET. Points and games played in the tables below were checked on October 21 against standings showing results through October 18. They exclude any matches that may have started or finished on October 21. Maximum possible points are arithmetic scenarios, not match predictions.
East: three teams tied at the Wild Card cutoff
Orlando City SC stood seventh with 41 points, five ahead of eighth-place Red Bull New York on 36. FC Cincinnati and Toronto FC also had 36, occupying ninth and tenth place, respectively. Columbus Crew (35), New York City FC (34) and D.C. United (33) were also in the group that could reach the Wild Card positions, depending on subsequent results.
| Pos. | Club | Played | Points | Remaining | Possible maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Orlando City SC | 30 | 41 | 4 | 53 |
| 8 | Red Bull New York | 30 | 36 | 4 | 48 |
| 9 | FC Cincinnati | 29 | 36 | 5 | 51 |
| 10 | Toronto FC | 30 | 36 | 4 | 48 |
| 11 | Columbus Crew | 30 | 35 | 4 | 47 |
| 12 | New York City FC | 30 | 34 | 4 | 46 |
| 13 | D.C. United | 29 | 33 | 5 | 48 |
Cincinnati had five matches left, compared with four apiece for Red Bull and Toronto. That gave Cincinnati an arithmetic ceiling of 51 points, not five guaranteed points: each remaining match will add zero, one or three points according to its result. In the 36-point tie shown here, total wins put Red Bull (10) ahead of Cincinnati (9) and Toronto (8) under MLS's first tiebreaking criterion.
West: the race also threatens seventh place
Seattle Sounders FC were seventh on 42 points, just two ahead of eighth-place LA Galaxy on 40. Colorado Rapids occupied the final Wild Card slot in ninth with 39, followed by Real Salt Lake (36). Portland Timbers, San Diego FC and Minnesota United FC each had 34 points and four games left in this snapshot.
| Pos. | Club | Played | Points | Remaining | Possible maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Seattle Sounders FC | 30 | 42 | 4 | 54 |
| 8 | LA Galaxy | 31 | 40 | 3 | 49 |
| 9 | Colorado Rapids | 30 | 39 | 4 | 51 |
| 10 | Real Salt Lake | 30 | 36 | 4 | 48 |
| 11 | Portland Timbers | 30 | 34 | 4 | 46 |
| 12 | San Diego FC | 30 | 34 | 4 | 46 |
| 13 | Minnesota United FC | 30 | 34 | 4 | 46 |
LA Galaxy had three games left, while Colorado and Real Salt Lake each had four. Therefore, Colorado's three-point lead over Salt Lake cannot be assessed in isolation: remaining fixtures and official tiebreakers matter too. Seattle's direct Round One position was not secure either, with only a two-point margin over the eighth-place team.
How can Decision Day change the matchups?
- If the team in tenth overtakes ninth in the final standings, a different club enters the Wild Card; equal points may trigger the official tiebreakers.
- If eighth and ninth swap places, the Wild Card host also changes: the eighth seed hosts the one-off game.
- A team finishing seventh avoids the Wild Card and enters the best-of-three Round One series directly; the eighth seed must first play an elimination game.
- If the conference leader changes, so does the next opponent for the Wild Card winner, who faces the first seed in Round One.
Those are conditional consequences of the competition rules, not forecasts of match results. All 30 clubs feature on Decision Day, November 7: Eastern Conference kickoffs are scheduled for 4 p.m. ET and Western Conference games for 7 p.m. ET, according to the league's published schedule.
Which tiebreakers determine a position?
At the end of the regular season, MLS rankings are based on points, with three for a win and one for a draw. If clubs are tied on points, total wins are the first tiebreaker, followed by goal difference and goals scored. Head-to-head results between clubs in the same conference come only after those criteria, followed by further measures including disciplinary points. Projecting results and sorting only by goal difference would therefore be misleading.
MLS provides for a points-per-game ranking if a club cannot complete its 34 matches because of cancellations. That exceptional provision does not make unplayed games equivalent to points already earned.
Which matchups were projected, and when is the Wild Card?
In the MLS bulletin dated October 19, Red Bull New York against FC Cincinnati was the projected Eastern Conference knockout match, with the winner going on to face Nashville SC, the conference leader in that snapshot. In the West, LA Galaxy against Colorado Rapids would decide Vancouver Whitecaps FC's opponent. These fixtures depend on all the relevant standings positions holding through the regular-season finale.
The Wild Card is scheduled for Wednesday, November 18. The eighth seed hosts the ninth in a single match; a tie after 90 minutes is settled by a penalty shootout with no extra time. The best-of-three Round One series are scheduled between November 20 and December 2. Ninth place therefore earns a postseason entry, but reaching the main series requires winning an additional round.
Which clubs had already clinched a place?
The MLS official tracker updated October 19 listed four Eastern Conference qualifiers: Chicago Fire FC, Inter Miami CF, Nashville SC and New England Revolution. Five Western Conference clubs had qualified: FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo FC, San Jose Earthquakes, St. Louis CITY SC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Clinching a playoff berth alone does not confirm a club's final seed or guarantee direct entry to Round One.
This snapshot remains subject to results through November 7. To update the picture after the date used in this analysis, readers need to revisit official standings, completed games and any league rulings instead of treating provisional fixtures as confirmed bracket positions.
Sources and references
- MLS: provisional playoff matchups, updated Oct. 19, 2026, 9 a.m. ET
- MLS: teams officially qualified as of Oct. 19, 2026
- MLS: 2026 competition guidelines and tiebreakers
- MLS: 2026 playoff dates and structure
- Cupbracket: conference standings and matches played, Oct. 21, 2026 snapshot, latest Oct. 18 results
- Standings Today: Eastern Conference standings on Oct. 21, 2026
- Standings Today: Western Conference standings, results through Oct. 18, 2026
