After eight months of action, Decision Day has arrived in Major League Soccer.
FC Cincinnati hosts CF Montréal in the final regular-season game Saturday, Oct. 18, at TQL Stadium. Their result will help determine their final seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs and their first-round pairing, which will be known soon after the final whistle as every team in the conference kicks off at 6 p.m.
Cincinnati is battling with Inter Miami CF for the No. 2 seed, with the other finishing as No. 3. The main prize is who gets home field if they play each other in the conference semifinals. Both teams already have home-field advantage over everyone else in the conference except for Philadelphia, a team FC Cincinnati wouldn’t face until the conference final.
The first round is a best-of-three series from Oct. 24 through Nov. 9. Cincy will host Game 1 then Game 3, if necessary, with the opponent hosting Game 2. The rest of the tournament is single-elimination. The playoff schedule will be announced sometime this weekend.
Cincinnati already has home field in a potential MLS Cup Final against every team in the Western Conference except Vancouver and San Diego. They can still finish ahead of both teams on Decision Day and ensure that they would play for the league championship at TQL Stadium if they advance. The Western Conference games start at 9 p.m. Oct. 18.
Where does FC Cincinnati stand in the MLS Eastern Conference?
Here are the updated playoff standings. The number in parentheses is the number of wins a team has, which is the first tiebreaker for seeding, then their Oct. 18 opponent is listed.
Eastern Conference
1. Philadelphia 66 (20) at Charlotte
2. Cincinnati 62 (19) vs. Montreal
3. Miami 62 (18) at Nashville
4. Charlotte 56 (18) vs. Philadelphia
5. New York City 56 (17) vs. Seattle
6. Nashville 54 (16) vs. Miami
7. Orlando 53 (14) at Toronto
8. Chicago 52 (15) at New England
9. Columbus 51 (13) vs. NY Red Bulls
Cincinnati will get the two seed ahead of Miami in any tie, because the Orange and Blue have one more win than Lionel Messi and company. So Cincy clinches the two seed with a win, or with a loss or draw combined with the same result or worse from Miami.
The two seed plays the seven seed in the first round, and the three faces the six. Entering Decision Day, Cincy could be paired against any of the other six playoff qualifiers currently in fourth place through ninth, and none of those teams play each other this weekend.
The only sure things are that Charlotte and NYCFC can drop to six but not seven, and Columbus can rise to seven but not six. Nashville, Orlando and Chicago could finish either six or seven.
Could there be a ‘Hell is real’ Columbus Crew vs. FC Cincinnati rematch in 2025 playoffs?
For those curious about the chances of a “Hell is Real” playoff series in the first round, that can only happen if Cincy gets the two seed.
Then, if the Crew earns the seven with a win, combined with losses by both Chicago and Orlando. Columbus loses any tie with Nashville and/or Orlando at 54 points.
How MLS Western Conference playoff standings affect FC Cincinnati
1. Vancouver 63 (18) vs. Dallas
2. San Diego 60 (18) at Portland
3. LAFC 59 (17) at Colorado
FC Cincinnati has clinched home field over LAFC because they would win a tie, with 62 points and 19 wins to LAFC’s 18. Cincy gets home field over Vancouver with a win, combined with a Vancouver loss or draw, or a draw combined with a Vancouver loss. In the latter, Cincy wins a tie at 63 points with 19 wins compared to Vancouver’s 18.
Cincy clinches home field over San Diego with a win, or if San Diego doesn’t win its game. With an SD win and Cincy draw, San Diego wins a tie at 63 points because both teams would have 19 wins, and San Diego will have a better goal differential (currently plus-19 to plus-9).
Has FC Cincinnati earned a 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup spot?
FC Cincinnati has officially earned a spot in next year’s Concacaf Champions Cup, the governing body announced Oct. 13. Cincy secured the spot based on MLS regular-season standings when LAFC lost to Austin Oct. 12.
There was some confusion over the weekend concerning how Concacaf would handle the Vancouver Whitecaps, because they earned a spot through winning the Canadian championship and also through the MLS standings. Concacaf cleared that up, giving the MLS spot priority because it’s based on a full season and not a tournament, then announcing they gave the Canadian spot to championship runner-up Vancouver FC from Canada’s premier league.
Cincy will play in the tourney for the third straight year, and the 2026 tourney will start in February. In the 2025 tourney, Cincinnati beat Honduras club Motagua in the first round then lost to Mexican power Tigres in the Round of 16.