The last Saturday of the MLS season is known as Decision Day, one meant to separate the postseason haves from the have-nots. The penultimate matchday of the 2026 campaign, however, ensured that much has already been decided on that front.
Precisely who will be competing in the playoffs is nearly sorted already thanks to the most recent set of results, but some seeding, matchups and the all-important matter of home-field advantage (which goes to the top four seeds in each conference for the first round of the playoffs) remain unsettled. There’s also the historic matter of the Supporters’ Shield winner and its quest to become the league’s best regular-season club ever.
The Eastern Conference matchups (and the one inter-conference game, Montreal vs. Vancouver) will all kick at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, followed by the all-Western-Conference finales at 7 p.m. ET.
So with that, let’s helicopter around MLS with what transpired this weekend and how it’ll shape next weekend’s Decision Day — and, after the international window, the playoffs:
Out West: Three spots for five teams
3 spots up for grabs in the West on Decision Day. 👀
Which of the 6 teams will lock up the final 3 spots? pic.twitter.com/kggO0YInYL
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 2, 2026
Five teams are left fighting for the final three playoff spots in the Western Conference on the final day of the season: The LA Galaxy, Colorado Rapids, Seattle Sounders, Real Salt Lake and the Portland Timbers.
The LA Galaxy lifted themselves up to seventh place and control their own destiny to not just clinch a playoff place, but avoid the play-in game. They travel to face RSL in a de-facto playoff match for both sides to close out the regular season.
This weekend brought a big 4-1 win for the Galaxy over Austin FC, as Marco Reus had a hat trick of assists and is quietly up to eight goals and 15 assists in 30 appearances (2,085 minutes) this season. Sergi Roberto scored his first Galaxy goal while Chucky Lozano got on the scoresheet off the bench in his return from injury.
The Rapids, Sounders and RSL all lost, further plunging the playoff race into chaos. Colorado fell at home to the Chicago Fire 4-2 (with Robert Lewandowski breaking his scoring drought); Sounders got blitzed 5-1 by the Vancouver Whitecaps; RSL lost 2-1 on the road to the San Jose Earthquakes.
The Timbers took advantage, vaulting over them all into eighth place with an impressive home win over Houston, which finds itself in a battle for a top-four berth with St. Louis and San Jose.
Robert Lewandowski’s post career thoughts
Paul Tenorio
Out East: All playoff spots clinched
The Eastern Conference Audi MLS Cup Playoffs field is set 👏
Matchups will be decided on Decision Day. pic.twitter.com/EgGtLGC2vW
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 2, 2026
With Toronto FC’s 3-1 capitulation against Atlanta United and Red Bull New York turning a 2-0 lead into a 3-2 loss at Nashville, all of the nine postseason slots in the Eastern Conference have been clinched, leaving little to be decided on Decision Day.
One of those teams to clinch this weekend was one of the more uplifting stories of the season: the Columbus Crew.
The club’s season was seemingly dead in early May. The hiring of new head coach Henrik Rydstrom turned out to be a disaster. The club pulled the plug earlier than expected, giving Laurent Courtois a chance before the World Cup break with a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal on tap. He won that, guided the team to the Open Cup final (falling in penalties) and, now he has the club above the playoff line while riding a five-game winning streak.
Over the summer, crucial players Diego Rossi and Max Arfsten left, while third designated player Daniel Gazdag was dealt. The front office cooked with 11 new signings, led by DPs Brais Mendez and Santi Rodriguez, plus on-loan winger Anass Zaroury.
With seven wins out of eight matches, Columbus has secured a surprising but extremely satisfying playoff berth.
“There’s a good base,” Courtois said after the team’s 3-0 win over D.C. United. “This is a team. This shows cohesion and chemistry. Yes, everybody has individual characteristics, but for the most part, they have an identity which is the most important thing.”
Columbus, FC Cincinnati and Orlando City are jockeying for positions at the bottom of the playoffs. Cincinnati is currently in seventh and avoiding the play-in game, but it sits just two points ahead of the Crew and three ahead of Orlando, who got thrashed 4-0 by Charlotte FC on Saturday but clinched the playoffs on Sunday anyway when RBNY and Toronto lost. Charlotte, meanwhile, is still left carrying hopes of leap-frogging Chicago for fourth.
Then there’s the top of the conference, behind Nashville SC. Inter Miami battled back from a goal down to beat New England on a top-class Lionel Messi goal, and the reigning MLS Cup winners control their seeding fate as they lead the Revs by a point for second. They can finish no lower than third in the conference.
Pure cinema from Messi 🎬
The game-winner that catapulted @InterMiamiCF to second in the East. pic.twitter.com/lOLrmW3oSf
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 2, 2026
Nashville chases the points record
With an exhilarating comeback 3-2 win at home in the rain on the night the team lifted the Supporters’ Shield in front of their fans, Nashville SC tied the MLS single-season points record (74; Inter Miami, 2024). The club travels to Cincinnati needing just a draw to set a new standard.
The chase to rewrite the record book has been the one thing Nashville has left to suspense over the last couple months, with such a commanding and deserved lead in the Shield race. With no worry about fixture congestion, as MLS pauses in between Decision Day and the playoffs for the November FIFA window, coach B.J. Callaghan can go all-in next weekend in pursuit of the record.
In the big picture of this season, the road to MLS Cup goes through Nashville, which bodes well for the Music City side. In 17 home MLS regular-season games, Nashville went undefeated at 15-0-2, taking the most home points in a single season in league history.
Nashville SC lifts the Supporters’ Shield to celebrate an MLS regular season that could be record-setting (Steve Roberts / Imagn Images)
More from the past weekend
New England, Vancouver, Miami clinch Champions Cup spots
Nashville SC (Supporters’ Shield winner) and St. Louis City (U.S. Open Cup winner) have company in next season’s Concacaf Champions Cup, with Vancouver clinching the top seed in the Western Conference and New England and Miami mathematically the next highest finishers on points in the regular season.
The MLS Cup winner, if it’s none of those sides, will take the league’s sixth and final spot and, most importantly, a bye into the round of 16 of the regional competition.
For Miami in particular, it’s a chance at redemption after a round-of-16 exit against Nashville this year when the club had stated its intent to build on MLS supremacy with regional clout. As it’s currently the Concacaf region’s only pathway to the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup, there’s an urgency for an MLS side to join the past two Champions Cup winners, Toluca and Cruz Azul, in the global field. Only two chances, 2027 and 2028, remain.
Saint-Maximin scores and sees red
Allan Saint-Maximin receives a red card for grabbing his crotch at an opponent pic.twitter.com/Y3AgGcSNwu
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) October 31, 2026
Charlotte FC star winger Allan Saint-Maximin received the most bizarre red card of the season this weekend, making a lewd gesture by grabbing at his crotch towards an opponent.
VAR intervened and recommended the head referee go check the incident, which resulted in the red card. Charlotte head coach Dean Smith didn’t appreciate the use of VAR or the red.
“The lad said something to (Saint-Maximin) and he said something back or did something back,” Smith said. “And for me it’s a pathetic red card. … Why VAR gets involved with that when the referee’s involved and can hear and see everything, I don’t know. That’s not the reason VAR is here.”
This comes after the attacker scored a lovely solo goal, missed a penalty and attempted to rainbow an opponent. A purely box-office performance from one of the league’s most entertaining players, who will sit out Decision Day but should be available for the playoffs. It surely must have brought back harrowing memories for Charlotte fans of Wilfried Zaha’s actions last Decision Day, which earned him a red card and a one-game playoff suspension.
NYCFC’s season ends with a whimper
One of the biggest disappointments in 2026, particularly the second half of the year, is NYCFC. The new low came at home, with the club unable to hang onto a lead against a lifeless CF Montréal side that has one win in its last 13 games.
NYCFC made the Eastern Conference final last season and pushed Inter Miami hard. It has one of the best attackers in the league in Nico Fernandez Mercau, who was in the Golden Boot race by the World Cup break, but has just three goals in the team’s last 15 games. The club spent around $10 million to sign DP winger Benie Traore in the summer, but he hasn’t made nearly the impact as expected.
The core of the team is anchored by in-prime players like Matt Freese, James Sands, Thiago Martins and Keaton Parks, plus a cadre of young talent in attack around Fernandez Mercau.
The second half of the season was inexplicable. NYCFC drifted further and further down the standings, with just two wins in its last 16 matches. Costly mistakes from the core group down the stretch sunk the season.
“We’re all very sad and disappointed we didn’t make it,” head coach Pascal Jansen said.
Parks and Martins each expressed a murky future, with Parks outright saying he’s likely playing somewhere else, as he has not gotten a new contract offer. Martins expressed a similar sentiment.
Changes will come. Changes are necessary. Club legend Maxi Moralez, 39, suffered a torn ACL earlier this year. Will he return? Brazilian winger Talles Magno has to make way to clear out a DP spot … right? What happens with Fernandez Mercau, who will have suitors abroad? Will Jansen remain head coach?
NYCFC’s new stadium opens next summer. As recently as three months ago, the club seemed very well set up to continue its run of success ahead of Etihad Park’s opening. It can get back on track in time, but the future is much cloudier than it once was.
In closing: a very sad social media post
November plans are penciled in. 📅 pic.twitter.com/7cbmLVsnHO
— D.C. United (@dcunited) November 1, 2026
This is… tough.
D.C. United missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season — a remarkable feat in a parity-driven league where so many clubs make the postseason — losing its last five matches, all against teams bunched up around the playoff line with them.
