MLS Power Rankings: Final Stretch

Last Updated on Outubro 1, 2026 6:00 pm by Erwin Noguera

Nashville won again. New England and Inter Miami both lost.

The gap at the top is now fourteen points, with seven matches to play, and the Supporters’ Shield race has effectively stopped.

Everything else has tightened. St. Louis and Dallas jumped three points each and now sit level on 47. Houston fell from second in the West to fifth without playing badly. And three Eastern clubs are tied on 33 points for the last two playoff places.

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These rankings weigh three things: points on the board, goal difference across the season, and how many matches a club still has left to play. They are not the table, and where they differ from it, the reason is stated.

Decision Day is Saturday 7 November. The top nine in each conference qualify; the eighth and ninth seeds meet in a single-match Wild Card round on 18 November.

1. Nashville SC

60 points. A goal difference of +34. Fourteen clear of anyone in the league.

Eighteen wins from 27 with 55 scored and 21 conceded, and the lead has grown rather than shrunk in the run-in. We ranked Nashville first in August on the basis that they were the most complete team in MLS with almost nobody unavailable, and nothing has argued otherwise.

The Shield is theirs barring a collapse, and with it home advantage through a best-of-three playoff format where that truly matters.

The case against: none that the table supports. The only risk left is the one every regular-season juggernaut carries into a knockout bracket.

2. Vancouver Whitecaps

50 points from 26 matches (a game in hand on almost everyone) with a +33-goal difference.

Fifty-nine scored and twenty-six conceded is the most efficient record in the league after Nashville’s. Vancouver led the West by three points, having played fewer matches than the four clubs chasing them, which understates the position considerably.

They rank above three teams with more points because the goal difference is 21 better than St. Louis’s and the fixture list still owes them a game.

The case against: they drew their most recent match and have been caught before. A three-point lead with a game in hand is comfortable, not safe.

3. Inter Miami CF

46 points, +14, and 64 goals scored; the most in MLS.

Miami scored more than anybody and that alone puts them here. Twelve wins and ten draws from 27 is an unusual shape; only five defeats all season, but a third of their matches have ended level.

The case against:fifty goals conceded, which is the worst defensive record of any club in the top six of either conference. They have just lost, and in a single-elimination or best-of-three format, a team that concedes at this rate is the definition of unpredictable.

4. St. Louis CITY SC

47 points and +12, up three in a week and now second in the West.

Thirteen wins and eight draws from 27 with 48 scored and 36 conceded. St. Louis have quietly assembled the second-best goal difference in the Western Conference and have lost only six times all season; fewer than everyone except Nashville and Vancouver.

The case against: eight draws. That is eight matches where sixteen points were available, and eight were taken, and it is the difference between chasing Vancouver and leading the conference.

5. FC Dallas

47 points, level with St. Louis, with a +8-goal difference.

Identical record (13 wins, 8 draws, 6 defeats) and 50 goals scored, the second-highest total in the West. Dallas have been the most improved side in the conference across the second half of the season.

The case against:42 conceded against St. Louis’s 36, which is why they rank below a club on the same points. The attack is better; the balance is not.

6. San Jose Earthquakes

45 points and +10 from 27 matches.

Thirteen wins with only six draws is a more decisive record than either of the clubs directly above them, and 49 goals scored is genuinely good. San Jose have been the quietest of the Western contenders and are two points off second.

The case against: eight defeats, more than St. Louis or Dallas. They win more and lose more, which is a worse profile heading into a format where one bad afternoon ends a season.

7. New England Revolution

46 points and +9, and they have just lost.

Fourteen wins from 27 with only four draws is the most decisive record in the Eastern Conference after Nashville’s; this is a team that converts performances into results rather than drawing them.

They rank below three clubs with fewer points because 36 conceded and a +9 difference are thinner than the position suggests, and because nine defeats is a lot for a side in second.

The case against: we have underrated them twice this season, and they keep answering. But a 14-4-9 record is built on beating the teams you should beat, and the run-in gets harder.

8. Houston Dynamo FC

44 points, and a goal difference of just +2.

This is the ranking furthest from the table, and the reason is in that second number. Houston has 34 goals scored, the lowest total of any club in the Western top nine, and 32 conceded. They have thirteen wins and nine defeats.

They have fallen from second to fifth in the West in a week without anything dramatic happening, which is what tends to occur when a team’s points total runs ahead of its underlying numbers.

The case against: the defense is genuinely good. If they can keep conceding at 32 across 27 matches, the attack does not need to improve much. But +2 is not a contender’s figure.

9. Charlotte FC

43 points and +9, fourth in the East.

Twelve wins from 27 with 47 scored and 38 conceded. Charlotte is the most balanced side in the Eastern Conference outside the top two and have been in playoff spots all season without ever threatening Nashville.

The case against: eight defeats and a profile that looks a lot like New England’s with three fewer points. Solid, and some distance from danger.

10. Chicago Fire FC

42 points from 26 matches; a game in hand on everyone above them in the East.

Twelve wins, six draws, eight defeats, +8. Win the match in reserve, and Chicago are level with Charlotte on 45 with an identical goal difference.

The case against: they have been fifth for a long time and have not pushed higher. A game in hand is only worth something if you win it.

Just Outside

LAFC (41 points, +13) have the third-best goal difference in the Western Conference and have played 28 matches; more than anyone in the league. Forty-three scored, and only 30 conceded, is better than St. Louis, Dallas, or Houston; the problem is that they have fewer chances left to use it.

Philadelphia Union (39, +10) has scored 54 goals, the third-highest total in the East, and are the best team currently outside our top ten.

The Cut Lines Are Brutal

In the East, three clubs are level on 33 points: Red Bull New York, New York City FC and FC Cincinnati, occupying eighth, ninth and tenth. Eighth and ninth play each other in a single elimination match; tenth goes home.

Their goal differences are -17, +5 and -9. NYCFC are clearly the best of the three on underlying numbers and are currently ninth. Cincinnati has a match in hand on both.

In the West it is wider but no less tight. LA Galaxy holds eighth on 36 from 28 matches. Seattle is ninth at 35 from 26, two games in hand. Portland, Real Salt Lake and San Diego are all on 32, and Austin are on 31.

Seattle is the best placed club in that group, and it is not because of their points.

What the Last Seven Matches Decide

Nothing at the top. Nashville needs a collapse to lose the Shield and Vancouver needs one to lose the West.

Everything between second and ninth in the Western Conference. St. Louis, Dallas, San Jose, and Houston are separated by three points, and LAFC are four further backs with a better goal difference than three of them.

And the eighth-place line in both conferences, which is worth more than it looks: finishing seventh means a best-of-three series; finishing eighth means surviving a single match first.

Nashville has won the regular season. Everyone else is playing for where they start in November.