The stage is set for the home-away-home format in the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs Round One Best-of-3 Series, guaranteeing at least one home game for all teams. If a match is tied at the end of regulation during the Best-of-3 Series matches, no extra time will be played, and teams will participate in kicks from the penalty spot to determine the winner. The first team to win two matches in the Best-of-3 Series will advance to the Conference Semifinals.Â
Where to Watch: MLS Season Pass will feature English- and Spanish-language coverage of every Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs Round One match (16-24 games). Vancouver Whitecaps FC matches will also be offered with French commentary. Best-of-3 Series Game 1 matches will be available for free on the Apple TV app, while Best-of-3 Series Games 2 and 3 will stream on MLS Season Pass. In addition to matches on Apple TV, select playoff games will also be available through FOX Sports in the U.S. (FS1 and FOX Deportes) and on TSN and RDS in Canada.Â
The complete Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs Round One Best-of-3 Series schedule can be found **here**.
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Eastern Conference Round One Best-of-3 Series Matchups
No. 1 FC Cincinnati vs. No. 8 New York Red Bulls
- Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. ET at TQL Stadium on MLS Season Pass/FS1/FOX Deportes/TSN/RDS
FC Cincinnati became the first team across MLS, the NFL, the NBA, MLB, and the NHL to finish last in its respective league in three consecutive seasons before winning a regular season title within the two years that followed. Now looking to become the ninth team to win both the Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup presented by Audi, Cincinnati will host a scorching New York Red Bulls who carved up Charlotte FC in an Eastern Conference Wild Card match win that ended 5-2. This will be a rematch of last year's first round, with the Red Bulls hoping to avenge their 2022 postseason loss to Cincinnati with a Best-of-3 Series victory.
No. 2 Orlando City SC vs. No. 7 Nashville SC
- Game 1: Monday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. ET at Exploria Stadium on MLS Season Pass/FS1/ FOX Deportes /TSN/RDS
Since 2012, a No. 2 seed has won MLS Cup four times, which is the most of any seed over those 11 seasons, and Orlando City SC enters the postseason having won the most points of any MLS team since May 6 (49). Nashville SC will trust in their ironclad center back partnership of U.S. Men’s National Team defender Walker Zimmerman and 23-year-old Jack Maher to keep out a free-scoring Duncan McGuire and provide their own goal-scoring threat, Hany Mukhtar, with opportunities to find his touch in the playoffs.
No. 3 Columbus Crew vs. No. 6 Atlanta United
- Game 1: Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Lower.com Field on MLS Season Pass/FS1/ FS2 (Spanish)/TSN/RDS
The Best-of-3 Series between the Columbus Crew and Atlanta United is likely to be decided by the team that can withstand the other’s prolific offense. The Crew boasts an offensive trident of Cucho Hernández, Alexandru Matan, and Diego Rossi , who have produced a combined 45 goal contributions in 2023. Atlanta, though, are led by the Greek freak Giorgos Giakoumakis (17 goals), who was the only player to score 15 or more goals in less than 2,000 minutes played in 2023, and World Cup-winning midfielder Thiago Almada, whose 30 goals and assists in 2023 only trailed Luciano Acosta (31) for most in the league this season.
No. 4 Philadelphia Union vs. No. 5 New England Revolution
- Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. ET at Subaru Park on MLS Season Pass
These sides know each other well in postseason action as the New England Revolution recorded a shocking 2-0 win at Subaru Park over a Supporters’ Shield-winning Philadelphia Union in 2020. Philadelphia has reached the Eastern Conference Final and MLS Cup in 2021 and 2022, respectively, and are hungry to go one step further by winning MLS Cup presented by Audi in 2023. The Revolution, though, defeated the Union on Decision Day 2023 and may have already cooked up the formula needed to cause yet another postseason upset against the Union.
Western Conference Round One Best-of-3 Series Matchups
No. 1 St. Louis CITY SC vs. No. 8 Sporting Kansas City
- Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 29 at 10 p.m. ET at CITYPARK on MLS Season Pass/FS1/FOX Deportes/TSN/RDS
St. Louis CITY SC continue their historic inaugural MLS season as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, looking to become the first expansion team to advance to the Conference Semifinals in Year One since Nashville SC in 2020. To get there, they will have to get past local rival Sporting Kansas City in a series that pits an MLS original club against the new kids on the block in the Round One Best-of-3 Series.
No. 2 Seattle Sounders FC vs. No. 7 FC Dallas
- Game 1: Monday, Oct. 30 at 9 p.m. ET at Lumen Field on MLS Season Pass/FS1/ FS2 (Spanish)/TSN/RDS
With contracts expiring at the end of this year for the likes of Nicolás Lodeiro and Stefan Frei, the Round One Best-of-3 Series could signal the start of a last dance for two of the most iconic players in Seattle Sounders FC history. Both Frei and Lodeiro were part of the club’s two MLS Cup-winning teams in 2016 and 2019, and they will look to start the journey towards a third when they face off against FC Dallas and a beckoning trio of young international stars in U-23 internationals Jesús Ferreira (United States), Bernard Kamungo (United States U-23), and Alan Velasco (Argentina).
No. 3 Los Angeles Football Club vs. No. 6 Vancouver Whitecaps FC
- Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. ET at BMO Stadium on MLS Season Pass
Los Angeles Football Club and Vancouver Whitecaps FC have contrasting Audi MLS Cup Playoffs histories, with LAFC winning MLS Cup 2022 and the Whitecaps having won just one postseason game across five playoff appearances in their MLS history. LAFC now has their sights set on becoming the fourth team in MLS history to win back-to-back MLS Cup titles and the first to do so since the 2011-12 LA Galaxy teams, while Vancouver aims to flip their postseason script through the dynamic tandem of midfielder and captain Ryan Gauld and forward Brian White.
No. 4 Houston Dynamo FC vs. No. 5 Real Salt Lake
- Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. ET at Shell Energy Stadium on MLS Season Pass
It’s strength vs. strength in the Round One Best-of-3 Series between Houston Dynamo FC, who led the Western Conference with 37 points won at home during the regular season, and Real Salt Lake, who led the West with 28 points won on the road in 2023. Will the dynamism and creativity of Héctor Herrera and Adalberto Carrasquilla lift the Dynamo to its first playoff win since 2017, or can RSL spoil Houston’s successful season through the youth of Diego Luna and Braian Ojeda?
