• Minnesota United won a Game 3 classic against the Seattle Sounders in a penalty shootout.
• Lionel Messi scored five goals in Inter Miami’s three-game series win over Nashville SC.
• Son Heung-Min and Denis Bouanga give LAFC a lethal goal-scoring duo.

The road to MLS Cup is through the best-of-three Round 1 series as the playoffs press pause for a couple weeks (more on that later) before the conference semifinals are played.

Of the eight Round 1 series, seven were won by the higher seed. Last season, four of the eight Round 1 series featured an upset. So, if you scoff at underdogs pulling off shocking upsets and prefer the teams that had proven themselves to be stronger over the course of the seven-plus month regular season, then these playoffs are for you.

Here are the winners and losers from the first round of the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs:

WINNERS

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami

After a stunning first-round playoff exit last year against Atlanta United, Lionel Messi and Inter Miami dominated in a win-or-go-home Game 3 against Nashville SC. Messi, of course, put in a Man of the Match performance, registering two goals and assisting on two more in the 4-0 triumph. It was a stellar Round 1 for Messi, who scored five goals in the three-game series vs. Nashville. If you go back to Decision Day, Messi has scored eight goals in his last four games.

In addition to a small measure of redemption following last season’s disappointing early postseason exit, Inter Miami now has advanced past the first round of the MLS playoffs for the first time in the club’s six-year history. Two legends of the game, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, each get at least one more game before the duo retires at season’s end.

‘Hell is Real’ derby delivers

FC Cincinnati dispatched their “Hell is Real” rivals, the Columbus Crew, in a predictably competitive three-game series. This isn’t exactly like-for-like payback for the Crew wiping out top-seeded FC Cincinnati in the 2023 Eastern Conference final, but bragging rights now stand with Cincy.

In Saturday’s decisive Game 3, Brenner registered a brace as Cincinnati rallied for a 2-1 victory. Just days prior, Columbus steam rolled Cincinnati, 4-0, seemingly snagging series momentum going into Game 3. Instead, FC Cincinnati advances and gets to host Messi and Inter Miami in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Friday, Nov. 21.

Minnesota United

For the second season in a row, Minnesota United clinched a Round 1 series win in a penalty shootout at the friendly confines of Allianz Field. This time, the Loons defeated the Seattle Sounders in a banger of a best-of-three series, earning both victories via penalty shootout. Saturday’s Game 3 was the best game so far in the 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs. Despite going down to 10 players after a red card, Minnesota overcame a 2-1 deficit and managed to take a 3-2 lead in the second half. Seattle equalized in stoppage time, necessitating a penalty shootout that went so deep that it came down to the two teams’ goalkeepers taking shots. The winning kick of the shootout was made by 2025 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Dayne St. Clair.

Western Conference teams will welcome a road to MLS Cup that doesn’t include a possible showdown with Seattle, which already had collected one trophy this season after winning Leagues Cup. Minnesota United, meanwhile, still is chasing the first trophy in team history.

Expansion San Diego FC marches on

San Diego FC’s quest to complete the greatest expansion season in league history continues after closing out the Portland Timbers with a thorough 4-0 win in Game 3 on Sunday. San Diego FC already owns records for the most regular-season points (63) and win (19) by an expansion team. It’s three wins away from matching the 1998 Chicago Fire as expansion teams to win MLS Cup (though, let’s be real, it’s not really fair to compare the two). Leading the way in Game 3 were likely MLS MVP runner-up Anders Dreyer and Amahi Pellegrino, with each netting two goals apiece and setting San Diego on a collision course with the Loons of Minnesota United.

LAFC’s dynamic duo

Son Heung-Min was an established international soccer star when he joined Los Angeles FC over the summer. But, in this league you never quite know how big-name players will fit in. Oliver Giroud was a World Cup-winner with France and is the nation’s all-time leading goal-scorer (Kylian Mbappé is closing in at just four goals behind, though). However, Giroud’s time with LAFC left more to be desired. Son, meanwhile, has immediately been a game-charger in Los Angeles.

Son and Denis Bouanga – the MLS Golden Boot winner in 2023 – were the catalysts of a 4-1 rout of Austin FC that sent LAFC through to the next round of the playoffs. Son scored his first MLS playoff goal and assisted on another. Bouanga had a brace as he scored his 100th and 101st goals for LAFC in all competitions. Bouanga has scored 13 goals since Son’s arrival in early August. Son has 10 goals in 12 appearances. If those two can keep it up, LAFC could find itself hoisting the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy.

Next up for Son, Bouanga and LAFC: A Vancouver Whitecaps team that gave up the second-fewest goals in the league this season.

LOSERS

FIFA’s November international window

FIFA’s November international match window, coupled with the one that takes place in October, has annually wreaked havoc on MLS’s playoff schedule. This should be a huge incentive for the league to shift its schedule to the fall-to-spring format that has been rumored to be on the horizon. No other major sports league has its playoffs interrupted so profoundly.

Teams that closed out their best-of-three Round 1 series in two games will go three weeks before the next playoff round. That is crazy. Imagine there being a three-week break between the NFL’s wild-card weekend and the divisional playoffs. The Philadelphia Union and Vancouver Whitecaps closed out their Round 1 series on Nov. 1; LAFC a day later. The conference semifinals don’t take place until the weekend before Thanksgiving. This issue won’t get fixed until the league shifts its season, with the playoffs taking part in the spring when there are no FIFA international breaks to interrupt postseason momentum.

MLS bracket busters

Upsets were once a hallmark of the often-unpredictable MLS playoffs. This year, at least through Round 1, that is not the case … except for Charlotte FC. By falling in three games against New York City FC, Charlotte is the only top-four seed to not advance to the conference semifinals. The rest of the MLS playoff bracket went chalk as higher-seeded squads avoided upsets.

Luis Suárez

Longtime villain Luis Suárez was up to his old antics again in Inter Miami’s Round 1, Game 2 loss to Nashville SC. And it nearly put Inter Miami’s MLS Cup hopes in jeopardy. Suárez, whose previous infractions that have accumulated over the years includes (but is not exclusive to) biting multiple opponents, kicked Nashville SC’s Andy Najar during an off-ball sequence. This moment of buffoonery earned the striker a suspension for Miami’s winner-or-go-home Game 3. Thankfully for Suárez, Messi and Co. were able to easily dispatch Nashville and advance to the next round.

Chicago Fire fans and THAT chant

Getting boot-stomped 3-0 by the Philadelphia Union in a win-or-go-home playoff game wasn’t the worst part of the Chicago Fire’s unceremonious exit from the team’s first postseason appearance since 2017.

The homophobic chant often heard at Mexico national team games (and sometimes at MLS games) could be heard from the Fire’s supporters’ section. It got so bad that the game was briefly suspended and Fire coach Gregg Berhalter had to plead with the fans to cut it out. Yes, the coach had to go scold his own fans. That’s embarrassing.