FC Cincinnati has clinched a home-field advantage for the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
A win in their final regular-season game against CF Montréal will secure the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The team is competing with Inter Miami CF for the second seed, holding a tiebreaker advantage due to more wins.
FC Cincinnati’s final seeding will impact potential home-field advantage in later playoff rounds, including the MLS Cup Final.
FC Cincinnati doesn’t play this week, but the Major League Soccer team will continue training for their regular-season finale, which is Oct. 18 against CF Montréal at TQL Stadium. That will be Decision Day in the league, with all 15 Eastern Conference teams playing at 6 p.m., and 14 of the 15 Western Conference clubs playing at 9 p.m. (Seattle plays NYCFC at 6 p.m.).
Cincinnati, 19-9-5 for 62 points, has clinched home-field advantage for the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs, which is a best-of-three series that runs from Oct. 24 to Nov. 9. Cincinnati will host Game 1 and then Game 3, if necessary.
Philadelphia has won the MLS Supporters’ Shield and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Cincy has a chance at the No. 2 seed in the East. With the second seed, Cincy would host everyone else in the Eastern Conference playoffs except Philly in the conference finals. The Orange and Blue could potentially have home field in the MLS Cup Final against every team in the Western Conference. A lot will depend on what happens on Decision Day.
Most of the league has this week off from games, but there are a handful of makeup games that will affect things.
With a win over Montréal, Cincinnati clinches the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and also clinches home-field advantage in the MLS Cup final over every team in the Western Conference except Vancouver. However, with a loss or draw against Montreal, things could get more complicated.
What is the MLS playoff schedule?
After the best-of-three first round, the rest of the tournament is a single game per round. The conference semifinals are Nov. 22-23, the conference finals Nov. 29-30, and the MLS Cup Dec. 6. The team with the better record hosts each game.
What are the MLS playoff tiebreakers?
The first tiebreaker for seeding in the Major League Soccer playoffs is the total number of wins, followed by goal differential (GD). That is good news for FC Cincinnati because they have the second-most wins in MLS (19) behind Philadelphia (20), but their goal differential of plus-9 is much worse than any team that they could end up tied with.
How does FC Cincinnati clinch the No. 2 seed in 2025?
FC Cincinnati is battling Inter Miami CF for the No. 2 seed in the conference. Cincy has 62 points with one game left, and Miami has 59 with two games left. Cincy can be no worse than No. 3. Miami can drop as far as fifth.
The No. 2 seed faces the No. 7 seed in the first round of the MLS playoffs, and the No. 3 plays the No. 6. The standings are tight to determine those seeds, and won’t be settled until Decision Day.
Cincinnati wins any tie with Miami, who currently has 17 wins, two fewer than them. In any tie between them, Cincy would have one more win.
Miami hosts Atlanta in a makeup game Oct. 11, then plays at Nashville on Decision Day Oct. 18. If Miami loses to Atlanta, the best they can finish is tied with Cincinnati with 62, and Cincy wins second. If Miami beats Atlanta, then Cincinnati must have the same result or better than Miami on Oct. 18 to claim the two seed. If Miami draws with Atlanta, Cincy must get at least a point against Montreal to take second place, or else hope Miami takes a loss or draw on Decision Day.
How does FC Cincinnati fare against Western Conference foes?
The top four in the Western Conference: 1. San Diego and Vancouver 60, 3. Minnesota 58, 4. LAFC 56.
Cincy will finish ahead of Minnesota, which has one game left and can get as high as 61 points. Cincinnati would win any tie with Vancouver or LAFC by ending up with more wins, and would lose to San Diego on goal differential. San Diego (60 points) has one game left, at Portland Oct. 18. With a San Diego win and a Cincy draw, they tie on points with 63, then both teams would have 18 wins and SD claims the tiebreaker on GD.
LAFC (56 points) has three games left, and 16 wins, three fewer than Cincy. This week, LAFC hosts Toronto Oct. 8 then plays at Austin Oct. 12. Then they end at Colorado Oct. 18. With one loss, LAFC can do no better than 62 points and a tie with Cincinnati, and Cincy would have more wins.
If LAFC wins all three of their games to finish with 65, Cincy would have to beat Montreal to tie them with 65, and Cincy would win the tiebreaker with 20 wins. With two wins and a draw, LAFC finishes with 63 points, and Cincy would need at least a point against Montreal to finish with 63 and win the tiebreaker.
Vancouver (60 points) has two games left, at Orlando Oct. 11, then hosting Dallas on Decision Day. Vancouver has 17 wins, two fewer than Cincy. If the Whitecaps win both games, they finish with 66 points and end up ahead of Cincinnati. If they draw both and finish with 62, Cincinnati would have more wins and claim the tiebreaker if needed.
With a win and a draw, the Whitecaps end with 64 points and Cincy would have to beat Montreal to finish ahead of them. With a win and a loss, Vancouver finishes with 63 and Cincy wins home field with a draw against Montreal, because that would give Cincy 63 and the Orange and Blue would claim the tiebreaker with more wins, 19 to 18.
Is FC Cincinnati in the 2026 Champions Cup?
FC Cincinnati has unofficially clinched a spot in the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup, which begins in February. Cincinnati played in that tournament this year, losing to Tigres in the Round of 16.
There are four spots awarded in the tournament based on regular-season points. Philadelphia claimed one by winning the Supporters’ Shield. The top team in the Western Conference gets one, then two “wild-card” berths go to the next best in the league in points, regardless of conference. The MLS Cup playoff champion also gets a berth.
Miami and Vancouver already have berths in the 2026 Cup based on performance in other tournaments this season. So LAFC and San Diego are the only teams that could finish ahead of Cincinnati who don’t already have a berth, and there would be three spots available, one reserved for a Western Conference team. If Minnesota wins the West, that means Cincy will finish ahead of all three of those clubs.