Cesar Hernandez and Joseph Lowery

Nov 9, 2025, 05:20 PM ET

Sixteen days after it began, Round 1 of the MLS Cup playoffs came to a close on Sunday night. And if the momentum of the postseason wasn’t moving slowly enough, it will now stop altogether with the November international break now underway.

With the best-of-three series fresh in mind, though, what better time to look back at the playoffs’ opening salvos? The favorites looked good, the GOAT is into the conference semifinals for the first time in his MLS career, and a half-dozen shootouts provided plenty of drama.

ESPN turned to Cesar Hernandez and Joseph Lowery to sum up the best and worst of Round 1.

Talk of the round

The favorites march on

For those MLS fans out there who want some stunning and surprising upsets, they’ll have to wait just a bit longer in this year’s playoffs.

In the Western Conference, the top four seeds went through with San Diego FC, the Vancouver Whitecaps, LAFC and Minnesota United FC all surpassing lower seeds, and in the case of Los Angeles and Vancouver, they needed just two games to win their series.

Sure, over in the East, there was one instance of a lower seed going through with No. 5 New York City FC knocking out No. 4 Charlotte FC, but you won’t find many who predicted that Charlotte would win it all. Those title predictions from the Eastern Conference bracket have instead focused on teams like the Philadelphia Union, FC Cincinnati and Inter Miami CF – who all remain in the title chase.

Are these results a sign of things to come? Probably not.

In a league with plenty of parity, MLS is predictably unpredictable. If there’s one thing we can confidently predict though, it’s that those shocking results will be just around the corner in the next round. – Hernandez

MLS stumbles over scheduling

Plenty of digital ink has been spilled on MLS’s controversial playoff format, one that includes 60% of the league, begins in full with a best-of-three opening round, pauses for an international break, and then shifts to single elimination through MLS Cup. It’s slightly cumbersome at best and downright convoluted at worst.

Now, I’ve come to enjoy the narratives and tactical battles created by the best-of-three series. Others, of course, will feel differently. That’s just fine. But perhaps the biggest head-scratcher from MLS in this year’s opening round wasn’t the format itself: it was the scheduling of said format.

Remember all of those great Saturday games that kicked off this year’s first postseason weekend? Wait, you don’t? Ah, that’s right. There weren’t any playoff games on that Saturday.

Inter Miami kicked off Round 1 on Friday, Oct. 24. Zero games followed on Saturday. That Sunday featured three games. Monday had one. Tuesday had one. Even Wednesday had one. The result?

A bizarrely patchwork broadcast schedule that left the neutral viewer (the exact type of fan MLS needs more of) confused and out of rhythm. Another result? Four teams had just three days of rest between their first two playoff games, while others had a full week.

MLS’s postseason play should be its biggest advertisement, but the league came up well short of running the best ad possible to open the playoffs. – Lowery

MVP of the round

Lionel Messi | Inter Miami

It’s Messi. Was there ever any doubt?

After putting together an all-time great regular season, one that will surely see him become the first player to win back-to-back MVPs in MLS history, Messi carried his brilliance into the playoffs. In Inter Miami’s three clashes with Nashville SC, Messi scored five goals and notched an assist – on a gorgeous, quintessentially Messi through ball, no less.

Even without the suspended Luis Suárez for a must-win third game against Nashville on Saturday, Miami didn’t miss a beat. It has Messi to thank for that, whose moment of individual brilliance kicked off the scoring in a 4-0 win and whose unusually effortful pressing from the No. 10 position set the tone for a strong defensive performance from front to back.

At 38, Messi is as unplayable now as he was when he first arrived in South Florida in the summer of 2023. Still feeling the embarrassment stemming from Inter’s loss to Atlanta United FC in the first round of last year’s postseason – and from the club’s lack of knockout tournament success since the Barça boys showed up – Messi looked motivated to kickstart this year’s postseason. That was bad news for Nashville and will be bad news for the rest of the playoff field. – Lowery

Anders Dreyer | San Diego FC

Messi should justifiably win this award for the round — and the league’s actual MVP award for the regular season – but let’s give a well-deserved nod to the San Diego forward who deserves just as much of the spotlight.

After scoring what proved to be the game winner in the first leg against the Portland Timbers, and providing a hockey assist in the second match of the series, the Denmark international then stepped up with a brace in an emphatic 4-0 victory on Sunday that solidified a move into the conference semifinals.

If you ask the local fans at Snapdragon Stadium that watched that brace over the weekend, there’s no doubt about who the best player of the round was with their boisterous chants of “MVP” after his two goals and during every corner he took.

“It was a beautiful game, atmosphere was electric,” said the MLS Newcomer of the Year post-game to Apple TV, knowing that he’ll have a chance to stand out even more when San Diego hosts Minnesota in the next round. – Hernandez

Moment of the round

Loons-Sounders shootout goes 11 rounds

Adding to the extra drama of the best-of-three series, we saw six sensational penalty shootouts that defined the single-game winners of matches that were level after the end of regulation time.

Vancouver qualified for the next round after winning a shootout, Philadelphia evaded an early disaster after winning penalties of its own, but no shootout was more breathtaking in Round 1 than the series decider between Minnesota and the Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday, one that will go down in MLS lore.

With goalkeeper Andrew Thomas subbed in for Seattle in the 89th minute as a wildcard for the ensuing penalties – who dislocated a finger during the first round of the shootout – Seattle at first kept pace with the penalties that went to sudden death.

Then stepped up the goalkeepers themselves in a reversal of roles. The Loons’ Dayne St. Clair scored his attempt, and when Thomas took to the spot for Seattle, there was a clear sense of confidence from the goalkeeper who rocketed his shot toward the net.

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Minnesota United FC prevail after 10-round penalty shootout

Minnesota United FC take down the Seattle Sounders on penalties after goalkeeper Andy Thomas’ decisive penalty hits the bar.

That is, until it disastrously smacked the crossbar and then ricocheted back and past a hopeless Thomas. Minnesota won 7-6.

It was beautiful, heartbreaking and euphoric all at once. What more could you want? – Hernandez

Brenner comes back to take Cincy forward

Brenner’s Cincinnati career has been tumultuous, to say the least. Initially signed in 2021 for one of the richest transfer fees in MLS history, the Brazilian striker had his moments for Cincy but left the club in 2023 under unpleasant circumstances.

At the 11th hour of this year’s summer transfer window, though, Brenner made a shocking return to Cincinnati – and in Saturday’s series-deciding Hell Is Real clash with rivals Columbus Crew, he came up bigger than ever.

It was Brenner’s goal that served as an equalizer in front of a packed crowd at TQL Stadium, and it was his game winner in the 86th minute that sent all 25,513 in attendance into an absolute frenzy.

After his team forced a turnover high up the field, Brenner waited for his moment to strike inside the box. He drifted ball side, received it, took a deft touch with the outside of his right foot to create separation from last year’s Defender of the Year Steven Moriera, and slotted home the game’s final goal. Off came the shirt – and the wearable GPS tracker, for good measure.

In the biggest moment of FC Cincinnati’s 2025 season, Brenner returned like a prodigal son and earned his team a spot in the Eastern Conference semis. – Lowery