Every 2023 MLS playoff matchup, three ways: the season race carried on into the postseason, who beat their seeding, and the bracket.
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The same race these clubs ran all season, carried on through the postseason on one scale and on real dates.
Where each club finished the season against how far it went, ranked on record rather than seed.
Who played whom, round by round, which no line chart can say.
Columbus Crew won the 2023 title from a regular season record of 16-9-9. 18 teams reached the playoffs and the bracket ran 5 rounds. Every matchup below is taken from the MLS stats API; nothing on this page is estimated.
| Round | Won by | Result | Opponent | Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Card Round | Sporting Kansas City | 0-0, 4-2 on penalties | San Jose Earthquakes | October 25, 2023 |
| Wild Card Round | Red Bull New York | 5-2 | Charlotte FC | October 25, 2023 |
| First Round | FC Cincinnati | 2-0 in games | Red Bull New York | October 29 to November 4, 2023 |
| First Round | Orlando City | 2-0 in games | Nashville SC | October 30 to November 7, 2023 |
| First Round | Columbus Crew | 2-1 in games | Atlanta United | November 1 to November 12, 2023 |
| First Round | Sporting Kansas City | 2-0 in games | St. Louis CITY SC | October 29 to November 5, 2023 |
| First Round | Philadelphia Union | 2-0 in games | New England Revolution | October 28 to November 8, 2023 |
| First Round | Seattle Sounders FC | 2-1 in games | FC Dallas | October 30 to November 10, 2023 |
| First Round | Los Angeles Football Club | 2-0 in games | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | October 28 to November 5, 2023 |
| First Round | Houston Dynamo FC | 2-1 in games | Real Salt Lake | October 29 to November 11, 2023 |
| Conference Semifinals | FC Cincinnati | 1-0 | Philadelphia Union | November 25, 2023 |
| Conference Semifinals | Columbus Crew | 2-0 | Orlando City | November 25, 2023 |
| Conference Semifinals | Los Angeles Football Club | 1-0 | Seattle Sounders FC | November 26, 2023 |
| Conference Semifinals | Houston Dynamo FC | 1-0 | Sporting Kansas City | November 26, 2023 |
| Conference Finals | Columbus Crew | 3-2 | FC Cincinnati | December 2, 2023 |
| Conference Finals | Los Angeles Football Club | 2-0 | Houston Dynamo FC | December 2, 2023 |
| MLS Cup | Columbus Crew | 2-1 | Los Angeles Football Club | December 9, 2023 |
The left column ranks this field by regular season record, not by seed number: seeding rules differ by era, so this site uses records everywhere instead. The right column groups clubs by the round they went out in, which is not the same as the number of rounds they won, because a bye carries a club further without it winning anything. The figure beside a name is places moved between the two columns, and part of it is only where a club sat inside its band. Nothing here is a prediction. The data notes carry the whole method.