The 2025 MLS Cup playoffs are at the final stages as teams dream of what potential glory might taste like on Dec. 5.
Championship parades aren’t being prepared just yet with the Western and Eastern Conference finals looming. The Vancouver Whitecaps, San Diego FC, Inter Miami and New York City FC remain with each team boasting qualities that could lead to glory.
Of those four, there’s one previous champion and three that have never raised the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy. The next two matches should bring plenty of excitement for supporters across the league.
Sports Illustrated ranks each of the remaining teams in the MLS Cup playoffs and their chances to lift the biggest prize in American soccer.
4. New York City FC
There have been plenty of good moments for New York City FC this season, but winning MLS Cup this season would surpass even the loftiest of expectations.
It was an impressive showing for NYCFC to get past the Philadelphia Union. Much of that fell on U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper Matt Freese, who made four game-saving stops, allowing Maxi Moralez’s lone goal to stand as the decider.
Freese needs to limit the damage from Lionel Messi, who has six goals and six assists in the postseason, if they’re to make the final.
If they had Alonso Martínez, they would have a better shot at defeating Inter Miami. The Costa Rican picked up a season-ending injury representing his country leaving NYCFC without their star man.
That said, NYCFC are a team better suited to play Miami than either of Nashville or Cincinnati, and should not get beaten as badly, if they are to fall. Should they advance, it will be another tough test against Vancouver Whitecaps FC or San Diego FC––and on the road again.
3. San Diego FC
San Diego FC are a very good team, and they’re the best expansion team ever to hit MLS, but they are not the favorites in terms of MLS Cup, despite their No. 1 seeding in the Western Conference.
The Portland Timbers showed that San Diego can be handled with a Game 2 win in the first round, and San Diego have been worse at home than they have on the road––an unusual feat, and something they will have to weather against Vancouver in the conference final.
After needing all three games in the first round, they also struggled to get past Minnesota United’s counter-pressing low-block in the second game as well. They could be the type of team suited to play against Inter Miami in a final, but getting past the Whitecaps could be a challenge, given their similar styles.
MLS Newcomer of the Year Anders Dreyer has been in spectacular form already, with four goals and two assists in the four playoff matches, after posting 19 goals and as many assists in the regular season.
Led by manager Mikey Varas, they will look to put any doubts to bed and become just the second-ever expansion team to win MLS Cup and the fourth Western Conference regular-season leader to win the Western Conference Final in the last 20 years.
2. Vancouver Whitecaps
The Vancouver Whitecaps have an advantage none of the other remaining teams in the MLS Cup playoffs have: They’ve won a trophy this season.
By claiming their fourth-straight Canadian Championship, the Whitecaps got a sense of what it means to win with their current group. At the same time, they’re on a mission to avenge their 5–0 loss against Cruz Azul from the Concacaf Champions Cup final in June.
Now, they’re riding a wave of momentum like never before, having beaten LAFC in a thrilling penalty shootout to eliminate the side that ended their season in 2023 and 2024 and clinch their spot in the final four for the first time since joining MLS in 2011.
With Thomas Müller forcing a mentality change on the group, the reintegration of DP midfielder Ryan Gauld and the return of leading scorer Brian White, there’s reason to believe, even with star center back Tristan Blackmon suspended for the Western Conference final.
Meanwhile, their structure under first-year head coach Jesper Sørensen has been their guiding light this season, and getting their best players back into the starting lineup could offer a massive boost.
Beating LAFC felt like their MLS Cup final in many ways, and with the confidence and form they have, they should be able to topple San Diego. If they advance further, they could have over 54,000 at home against New York City FC, or visit a Miami team they beat twice across the Champions Cup semifinal.
1. Inter Miami
Lionel Messi and his Barcelona friends are on a mission. The Argentine No. 10 in particular has put together the best-ever season by an attacking player in league history, and continues to show his hunger to win a trophy.
If Miami were to fall short, it would mark just the second time in his professional career that he ended a calendar year without lifting a team trophy. The only other time that happened was in the COVID-impacted 2020 season.
Messi racked up 29 goals and 19 assists in 29 games in the regular season, and has added another six goals and as many assists in the first two rounds against Nashville SC and FC Cincinnati. Meanwhile, the retirement-bound duo of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba have elevated their play in the most significant moments as well.
Although manager Javier Mascherano has had his missteps this season, the Herons are turning it around, and plenty of that has come down to him and his decision to lead Mateo Silvetti up top alongside Messi, instead of Luis Suárez.
Getting past New York City FC won’t be as easy as their first two rounds, but they’re the outright favorites to win MLS Cup and would do so in their final match at Chase Stadium.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Which Team Will Win MLS Cup? Every Conference Finalist—Ranked.
