We’re nearly 75% of the way through the 2026 MLS season.
Yep, that’s right. It’s already almost the end of the season, the end of the year and time is moving faster than ever.
But instead of confronting your mortality, what if we confronted the Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs race?
Each week we’ll look at four teams either rising or falling in the standings, three players making an impact and three storylines to keep an eye on. A playoff race 4-3-3, if you will.
Four teams we're monitoring
- 6th in Eastern Conference
- 34 points (10W-11L-4D)
Just how high can these guys climb?
Over their last five matches, Orlando have earned 13 points and put themselves within striking distance – six points behind Charlotte FC – of a home playoff spot after wins over Atlanta United and Toronto FC last week.
Obviously, Antoine Griezmann deserves plenty of credit here. The French superstar has 8g/3a in his first 10 games with the Lions since arriving from Atlético Madrid this summer.
However, the rest of the attack has consistently capitalized on the space Griezmann creates. In particular, 19-year-old homegrown forward Justin Ellis deserves his flowers. He’s dished out an assist in each of the last four matches and is up to 10 helpers on the year.
Orlando haven’t just stepped it up in attack, though. Before Griezmann arrived, they allowed a league-worst 2.87 (!!!) goals per game through their first 15 games. In the 10 games since, they’ve allowed one goal per game. That’s the sixth-best mark in MLS over that span.
- 11th in Western Conference
- 29 points (8W-11L-5D)
When MLS took a break for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Real Salt Lake were third in the West.
Through 14 games, they’d earned 26 points. But y’all see their current point total up above, right? It won’t surprise you to know RSL went point-less against New York City FC and Houston Dynamo FC last week.
Losing Zavier Gozo in a $15 million transfer to Premier League side Crystal Palace certainly didn’t help things, but when you earn three points in 10 matches, it’s about more than just one player.
Little is clicking for this team right now, and it’s going to be even tougher to find their early-season form now that Diego Luna will reportedly miss multiple months due to a knee injury.
- 4th in Western Conference
- 41 points (12W-8L-5D record)
Did the Earthquakes steer into the skid last week? A 3-2 win at San Diego and a 1-0 win over Houston have them right back in a home playoff spot.
Things had gotten rough there for a while. Those wins make up six of their nine points since returning to play after the World Cup pause. The bounceback may not be a fluke, though. It seems like the product of Bruce Arena doing, well, Bruce Arena things and making the right changes on the fly. After getting thumped by Minnesota, 5-1, San Jose switched to a back three and found a little stability defensively. They’ve earned eight points in four games since the move.
Maybe it will be enough to keep them in the top four when all is said and done. They’re two points behind second-place Houston and one point ahead of sixth-place LAFC.
- 2nd in Eastern Conference
- 45 points (12W-4L-9D)
It’s tough to be genuinely “worried” about this team, but it’s fair to wonder how solid their grip is on a home playoff spot. They’re still second in the East, but fifth-place Chicago Fire FC are within six points of the Herons with nine games remaining.
Lionel Messi and friends earned two totally fine draws against Nashville and that same Chicago team last week. However, they’ve only won three times in 10 regular-season games since the World Cup, and two of those wins came against last-place CF Montréal.
With New England and Charlotte in good form directly below them in the standings, the Herons will likely need to do a little better than their current 1.4 points-per-game pace over the last 10 matches if they want to hold on to second place in the East.
Fortunately for Miami's home playoff hopes, fifth-place Chicago aren't running rampant either right now.
Three stars making an impact
We didn’t include the red-hot Philadelphia Union in our teams section simply because it would have been a full section discussing how good Cavan Sullivan has been. There’s a real argument that no one has been better or more influential since MLS returned to play from the World Cup pause.
The 16-year-old homegrown recorded 2g/4a in two Union wins last week, and became the league's third-youngest Player of the Matchday of all time. In particular, his backheel goal at San Diego was filthy.
That’s just more of the same. Cavan's got 5g/7a over the last seven matches, and the Union are in seventh place in the East and rapidly climbing.
The Revs are in close pursuit of Inter Miami’s second-place spot in the East. Turner is a key reason why.
New England got the better of NYCFC and Chicago last week as Turner made 10 saves in the two games. By nearly every available metric, Turner has been the best goalkeeper in MLS this year.
Navarro has immediately made himself at home. St. Louis spent $12 million to bring him in from Colorado in one of the surprise moves of the summer window. So far, all signs are that their investment will be well worth it.
Navarro made his first two starts for St. Louis last week, and he scored twice in each game as St. Louis earned four points. They’ve been one of the best teams in the league for a while now, mounting a league-best 15-match unbeaten streak, and he just might make them even better.
With St. Louis equal on points with fourth-place San Jose, Navarro will play a critical role in shaping the race for home playoff spots out West.
Three storylines to track
The thing about nine teams making the playoffs per conference is you have to actually put nine teams in the playoffs. And right now, six teams are within two points of each other in the race for ninth in the West.
San Diego are on top of the pile right now with 30 points, and Seattle are lurking all the way in 14th with 28 points. Maybe suddenly-hot Austin FC can climb over some folks? Maybe RSL and Seattle can bounce back into form?
Your guess is as good as any right now.
The race for a home playoff spot in the West is messy, too.
Houston are second with 43 points, while sixth-place LAFC have 40 points. LAFC have been struggling as of late, but they have enough talent (i.e. Son Heung-Min and Denis Bouanga) to snap back into shape in an instant.
Will Philly and Orlando stay hot enough to catch the top of the East?
Few teams have been better lately, but the gap between them and the top spots in the East is still pretty notable. Orlando are six points behind fourth-place Charlotte, and Philly are seven points behind Charlotte. It’s doable if they stay on track, though.
At this point, it’s hard to see either team slowing down all that much. Will the rest of the pack slow down enough to let them catch up?
