MLS Power Rankings: Messi’s Miami eyes points record, Portland seals playoff spot

It’s Monday, and another week of MLS action is in the books, which means it’s time for ESPN’s Power Rankings.

Our Power Rankings are derived from a combination of key season statistics (points per game, goal differential, expected goal differential), recent performance, the Opta computer ratings, and the observations of our writers.

Who’s climbing the table? Who’s in free fall? We’ve ranked all 29 clubs in the league. Let’s dive in.

Previous ranking: 1

It wasn’t pretty, but Miami picked up six points via wins over Columbus and Toronto over the last week. The victory in Columbus earned them the Shield, while the victory in Toronto puts them in position to claim the MLS single-season points record on Decision Day. Tata Martino’s team isn’t playing great soccer, but they’re taking full advantage of their star power.

Previous ranking: 2

The Crew bounced back from their disappointing midweek loss against Miami with a 3-2 win over Philadelphia. Cucho Hernández bounced back, too, scoring a brace after missing a potential game-tying penalty against Miami. An angry Cucho means bad things for the East.

Previous ranking: 3

An injury to Joseph Paintsil in their win over Austin FC took the wind out of the Galaxy’s sails. Still, the attack is flying in Carson. Gabriel Pec is a superstar, and head coach Greg Vanney should have the depth to cover for Paintsil’s absence.

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Dejan Joveljic roofs a rocket in Galaxy win

Dejan Joveljic roofs a rocket in Galaxy win

Previous ranking: 4

LAFC did exactly what great teams are supposed to do to bad teams during their visit to Kansas City: they stuffed them in a locker. LAFC carved up SKC’s 4-3-3 shape and created chance after chance en route to a dominant 3-0 win.

Previous ranking: 5

First it was a group of six teams in the top tier in 2024. Then RSL dropped out after losing Andres Gomez in the summer. It seems FC Cincinnati are dropping out, too. With three straight losses, most recently to Orlando, Cincy look like they’re one injury (and one failed summer addition) past their limit.

Previous ranking: 10

Since June 15th, the Sounders have only lost two regular-season games. They’re capturing points at an elite clip and controlled things in their 1-0 win over Colorado. With the best defense in MLS based on FBref’s non-penalty xG allowed per 90 metric, Seattle will be a nightmare playoff matchup.

Previous ranking: 7

Orlando City are red hot. Their 3-1 win over Cincinnati pushed the Lions’ record to six wins and one draw in their last seven. For the first time all season, they beat a team that will be hosting a home playoff game, too. Oscar Pareja’s team is hitting their stride at just the right moment.

Previous ranking: 8

NYCFC followed their huge win over the Red Bulls last weekend with a midweek victory over Cincinnati and a dominant performance against Nashville. Alonso Martinez can’t stop scoring for Nick Cushing — he’s up to 16 on the year.

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Santiago Rodríguez finds the back of the net for New York City FC

Santiago Rodríguez finds the back of the net for New York City FC

Previous ranking: 12

Even with a partially rotated lineup, Minnesota United outplayed the Vancouver Whitecaps up in Canada. As things stand, the Loons have pushed their way out of the wild-card spots and into the standard postseason field.

Previous ranking: 6

Who doesn’t love seeing the Earthquakes pop up on their schedule? RSL snapped a three-game winless streak win their 1-0 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes. The attack still doesn’t look quite right, though.

Previous ranking: 9

The Dynamo never showed up in their 3-0 loss to St. Louis City. Their transition defense was slow and their attacking play was imprecise. They can’t get Héctor Herrera back from injury quickly enough — even then, they’ll need to play almost perfect games to have a chance in the playoffs.

Previous ranking: 14

Up against the Sounders’ air-tight defensive structure, the Colorado Rapids were oh-so-light on quality chances in their 1-0 home loss. With three-straight defeats taking them into the international break, Chris Armas needs to work some tactical magic to get the attacking juices flowing.

Previous ranking: 13

Stuart Armstrong, the newest DP in MLS, made his first start for Vancouver since signing last month. Surely he made a big impact in the Caps’ only game with three DPs in their starting lineup all season….right? Wrong. The Whitecaps were outplayed by Minnesota and look beatable heading into the postseason.

Previous ranking: 11

The Timbers have limped their way to the postseason, but a 0-0 draw against FC Dallas on Sunday was just enough for them to clinch. While Portland had chances in their 4-2-3-1, they couldn’t finish in front of the home crowd.

Previous ranking: 15

Dean Smith has settled on having three ground-covering central midfielders with his primary playmaker shifted out to the wing. That setup worked against Montréal as Charlotte extended their unbeaten streak to four games.

Previous ranking: 20

It didn’t take long for D.C. to leap out to a 2-0 lead on the road in New England. Thanks to yet another goal from the man who will win the Golden Boot, Christian Benteke, D.C. United gave themselves every chance to lock up a wild-card spot on Decision Day.

Previous ranking: 24

Montréal’s five-game unbeaten run came to an end in a 2-0 loss to Charlotte. Laurent Courtois’ team created few quality looks and seemed a step slow. They still haven’t clinched a playoff berth, but they’re not out yet, either.

Previous ranking: 16

Thanks to a couple of results going their way around the rest of the East’s playoff bubble, the Philadelphia Union are still in the hunt despite losing to Columbus.

Previous ranking: 17

Thanks to some good old fashioned imploding on the part of the Red Bulls, Atlanta United secured all three points at home. They’re one of four teams fighting for the Eastern wild-card spots, along with D.C., Montreal, and Philly.

Previous ranking: 18

Make it one win in the last eight games for RBNY. They were second best against Atlanta and plenty sloppy in the back, conceding a penalty and going down to 10 men at the Mercedes Benz Stadium. Momentum is fleeing the Red Bulls right now.

Previous ranking: 25

Simon Becher is doing everything he can to campaign for a starting role in 2025. The 25-year-old has four goals in just 461 regular season minutes and scored a devastating brace against the Dynamo. If St. Louis don’t sign a top-tier striker this winter, Becher should get the nod over João Klauss next season.

Previous ranking: 22

Marco Farfan is a center-back now. Paul Arriola is a fullback now. FC Dallas are in transition and showed as much in their 0-0 draw with Portland on Sunday.

Previous ranking: 19

The 2024 season is officially over for Toronto after their 1-0 loss to Miami. The defeat eliminated John Herdman’s team from playoff contention — and without a game on Decision Day, Lorenzo Insigne can hit Cancun early.

Previous ranking: 23

Austin’s loss to the Galaxy eliminated them from playoff contention and served as the final nail in Josh Wolff’s coffin. After three failed seasons and one playoff berth in charge of the club, Wolff was officially let go on Sunday. Sporting director Rodolfo Borrell has a lot of rebuilding to do.

Previous ranking: 21

Thanks to D.C. topping New England on Saturday, Nashville’s playoff hopes were extinguished before they even took the field on Sunday (where they lost handily to NYCFC). Once Gary Smith was fired, it was always about building for 2025. Now that building can really begin.

Previous ranking: 27

With a spot in the playoff still up for grabs, the Revs were totally up for it in their game against D.C. On, wait. They conceded two goals in seven minutes and are now (finally) out of the playoff hunt.

Previous ranking: 28

Chicago enjoyed a bye week ahead of the international break. They’ll wish the year was already over so they didn’t have to play a meaningless game against Nashville on Decision Day.

Previous ranking: 26

SKC’s midfield was hot butter. LAFC’s possession play was a knife. Peter Vermes’ team was never in the game against LAFC.

Previous ranking: 29

There’s nothing quite like watching one of your former academy players score a game winner against you. The Quakes needed this season to be over months ago.