As August comes to a close, the race to the MLS Cup Playoffs continues to heat up.
While this weekend’s focus was mainly on Seattle Sounders’ 3–0 win over Inter Miami in the Leagues Cup final, it also featured some thrilling regular-season matches.
From San Diego FC spoiling Son Heung-min’s home debut, to the Philadelphia Union keeping a slight lead in the Supporters’ Shield race after defeating FC Cincinnati 1–0 on the road, the weekend brought some of the most thrilling contests of the campaign.
Now, as September rolls around, the Supporters’ Shield race continues to be a tight battle, and the last stretch to the playoffs truly starts.
But, before all that, here’s how each club stacks up in the Sports Illustrated MLS Power Rankings after Matchday 31.
MLS Power Rankings Matchday 31: Clubs 30–16
30. St. Louis CITY SC (Previous: 30)
29. LA Galaxy (Previous: 28)
28. D.C. United (Previous: 29)
27. Atlanta United (Previous: 27)
26. CF Montréal (Previous: 25)
25. Real Salt Lake (Previous: 24)
24. Sporting Kansas City (Previous: 26)
23. New York Red Bulls (Previous: 22)
22. New England Revolution (Previous: 21)
21. Houston Dynamo (Previous: 23)
20. FC Dallas (Previous: 20)
19. Colorado Rapids (Previous: 18)
18. Toronto FC (Previous: 17)
17. Austin FC (Previous: 19)
16. San Jose Earthquakes (Previous: 14)
15. Portland Timbers (Previous: 15)
The Portland Timbers rotated their lineup this week, but still managed to claim a valuable point against a Western Conference heavyweight with a 1–1 draw against Minnesota United.
Marquee summer signing Kristoffer Velde was the shining light in this match, as he completed seven dribbles and drew six fouls, on a night where he caused significant trouble for Minnesota’s defenders. By the end of the match, Portland had mustered 16 shots and forced Minnesota goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair into a six-save performance.
While the Timbers only have two wins in their last 11 matches, holding San Diego FC to a scoreless draw and picking up a 1–1 draw with Minnesota shows they can compete with the best of the Western Conference.
14. Chicago Fire FC (Previous: 16)
The Chicago Fire weren’t in MLS action this week, but benefited in the power rankings from some poor performances from teams around them. They return to action on Sept. 6 against the New England Revolution, with hopes of bouncing back from last week’s 4–0 defeat against the Philadelphia Union.
13. New York City FC (Previous: 12)
After two straight wins and a shining effort against FC Cincinnati, New York City FC struggled against D.C. United, falling 2–1 at Yankee Stadium as their hopes of skipping the MLS Cup Playoffs Wild Card game took a hit.
Christian Benteke picked apart NYCFC’s defense with a perfect through-ball and dashed any hopes the Pigeons had of jumping as high as fifth place with a victory. Instead, they sit on 44 points, comfortably in eighth place, two points back of Columbus Crew.
A BRACE FOR PIRANI 🇧🇷pic.twitter.com/03fzPIaKuY
— D.C. United (@dcunited) August 31, 2025
If the playoffs started today, though, we’d get a Hudson River Derby Wild Card match.
12. Columbus Crew SC (Previous: 13)
The plans were clearly there for Columbus Crew, and they won’t be too disappointed with a scoreless draw on the road. However, new DP striker Wessam Abou Ali looked tentative in his few chances, and neither Diego Rossi nor Dániel Gazdag were able to convert their moments.
A draw isn’t the end of the world, but it also marked four winless MLS matches for the Crew.
They’re starting to drop down the Eastern Conference table and find themselves sitting seventh, just two points above the No. 8 and No. 9 spots, which play the one-game Wild Card match. However, they are also just four points off the top four, which would get them home advantage in the first-round best-of-three series.
They’re up against Atlanta United after the international break.
11. Nashville SC (Previous: 9)
Nashville SC found themselves in struggling form as August came to a close falling 1–0 to Eastern Conference bottom-feeders, Atlanta United, on a night where rookie goalkeeper Jayden Hibbert made six saves.
Sam Surridge remains in the lead for the MLS Golden Boot, but has a slim one-goal advantage on Lionel Messi.
For Nashville, the international break comes at a perfect time. They’ve lost four of their last five, and will now get a reset before looking to right their wrongs in their final five matches—three of which come against powerhouses Inter Miami, FC Cincinnati and Orlando City.
10. Seattle Sounders (Previous: 11)
Seattle Sounders became the first MLS team to win every available trophy, adding the Leagues Cup title to a cabinet that already includes two MLS Cups, four U.S. Open Cups, the Supporters’ Shield and the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Inter Miami certainly had Lionel Messi, but the Sounders had Paul Rothrock—and the latter proved better in the 3–0 win.
9. LAFC (Previous: 10)
LAFC had their chances and Son Heung-min saw plenty of the ball in his home debut, but it wasn’t enough to translate into a result as they fell 2–1 to Western Conference leaders San Diego FC at home.
While the Black and Gold finished with 2.72 xG compared to San Diego’s 0.66, they were hesitant in some of the most critical moments of the second half. In the first half, Denis Bouanga made the most of a ball played over the top by David Martínez, and Son showed his qualities in chance creation.
However, that all evaporated in the second half, as despite creating chances, they lacked the intensity to maintain the same level of performance as their California foes. However, the atmosphere was stellar; Son looked settled, and they were consistently threatening—just missing that final moment.
With the loss, they remain fifth in the Western Conference.
8. Inter Miami (Previous: 6)
Inter Miami will want to forget this weekend’s 3–0 loss in the Leagues Cup final. It’s apparent tensions are rising in south Florida, but now all their focus can be on finishing the season strong, potentially defending their Supporters’ Shield and making a run for the MLS Cup.
7. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (Previous: 7)
Vancouver Whitecaps weren’t on the pitch this week and will now have two weeks off for the international break. Thomas Müller returned to Germany to visit friends and family, while Sebastian Berhalter, Ali Ahmed and Jayden Nelson joined their respective national teams.
Ryan Gauld, Brian White and others remained in Vancouver to continue rehabbing injuries and will hope to be back for the club’s next match on Sept. 13 against the Philadelphia Union.
6. Charlotte FC (Previous: 8)
Charlotte FC might never lose again. At least, that’s the vibe this team is giving right now after winning their eighth game in a row, marking the second-longest single-season streak in MLS history outside of the shootout era.
Idan Toklomati scored in the 87th minute this weekend to grab the 2–1 win against the New England Revolution. He continues to excel since taking over the starting striker role from Patrick Agyemang who was sold to Derby County. Through 14 games this season, the Israeli international is up to eight goals and four assists.
Next match, they’ll look to keep the good times rolling with a win against Inter Miami, and tie the 2018 Seattle Sounders streak of nine wins for the longest MLS win streak ever.
5. Orlando City SC (Previous: 4)
Orlando City SC weren’t in action in MLS this weekend, but fell to the LA Galaxy in a Leagues Cup third-place match they will want to forget. It will now come down to the Supporters’ Shield race and the MLS Cup Playoffs to determine if they qualify for the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup.
4. FC Cincinnati (Previous: 3)
FC Cincinnati have spent an exorbitant amount of money over the last two transfer windows, but struggled under the bright lights in a top-of-the-table clash against the Philadelphia Union this weekend.
None of Kévin Denkey, Evander or new signing Brenner were able to make a real impact in the game, and some poor building out of the back fell victim to the Union’s high-press and eventual goal.
The loss put Cincinnati five points behind the Union for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. They are in a challenging position if they want to claim the top seed. However, this is a team built for the playoffs, and they’ll look to return to form in their final five matches after securing only four points in their last five.
3. Minnesota United (Previous: 5)
Robin Lod takes it out of the sky and finishes sweetly. 🔥@MNUFC are level! pic.twitter.com/E3Wgz6hf08
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 31, 2025
It was a transformative week for Minnesota United as they sold star striker Tani Oluwaseyi to La Liga’s Villarreal for up to $8.5 million, in a move that rocked their tactical setup.
While they still have Robin Lod and Kelvin Yeboah up top, adapting will be a key component in their last few matches of the season. But, there were little to no issues on Saturday night, as Lod scored in a 1–1 draw against the Portland Timbers to help Minnesota clinch a playoff spot.
The road forward may have some doubts without Oluwaseyi, but don’t expect head coach Eric Ramsay to stray too far away from the low-possession, counter-pressing focus, which has brought them immense success so far this season.
2. Philadelphia Union (Previous: 2)
The Philadelphia Union weren’t supposed to be this good this season, after parting ways with longtime head coach Jim Curtin. Yet, they became the first Eastern Conference team to clinch a playoff spot on Saturday with a 1–0 win over FC Cincinnati, marking a significant milestone under first-year head coach Bradley Carnell.
Shutting down Cincinnati’s talented lineup was no easy task. The Union allowed only 1.41 xG through the night. In the attack, they forced Cincinnati into a poor giveaway and got a stellar finish from Bruno Damiani. It was also a seventh clean sheet of the season for 19-year-old goalkeeper Andrew Rick.
Now, they turn their eyes to the remaining five games and hope their current one-point cushion atop the Supporters’ Shield standings will be enough to secure some silverware ahead of the playoffs.
1. San Diego FC (Previous: 1)
San Diego FC found a miracle win on Sunday, grabbing a 2–1 victory against LAFC in Son’s home debut for the Black and Gold. It was a critical result to keep pressure on the Philadelphia Union in the Supporters’ Shield race, as they now sit on 56 points atop the Western Conference.
Some will quibble with San Diego’s opening goal from Hirving “Chucky” Lozano, as it appeared to go off his hand before settling at his feet, but he still did well to finish the chance for his ninth goal of the season.
Meanwhile, Anders Dreyer continued to make his case for MLS MVP honors, providing an assist and the winning goal, which brings his league-leading goal contributions total to 30 in 29 games.
San Diego look to make history in their next match against second-place Minnesota United after the international break as they aim to surpass the record for most points by an expansion club. LAFC holds the record at 57 set in 2018.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as MLS Power Rankings: Supporters’ Shield Race Heats Up After Matchday 31.
