MLS Cup


MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer and the culmination of the MLS Cup playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference Final. The MLS Cup winner is awarded the title of league champion.
MLS uses a playoff tournament following the regular season to determine its annual league champion, a method used by other major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. This format differs from most soccer leagues around the world, which consider the club with the most points at the end of the season to be the champion; MLS honors that achievement with the Supporters' Shield.
The winner of MLS Cup is awarded one of the country's four berths in the following season's CONCACAF Champions Cup. The three Canadian teams of MLS do the same in addition to the zonal competition, the Leagues Cup, or with victory in the lock-out based Canadian Championship—if a team wins multiple berths or if any U.S.-based spots is claimed by a Canadian team, the Champions Cup berth tied to the game is passed on to the highest-placed U.S.-based team in the overall regular season table that did not already qualify.
The inaugural MLS Cup was held on October 20, 1996, in which D.C. United defeated the LA Galaxy. The Galaxy are the most successful team in MLS Cup history, winning a record sixth title in 2024.
Three trophy designs have been used for MLS Cup: the Alan I. Rothenberg Trophy from 1996 through 1998, a redesigned Alan I. Rothenberg Trophy from 1999 through 2007, and the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy since 2008.

History

D.C. United dynasty

MLS Cup's roots trace back to the foundation of Major League Soccer, when the league decided to hold a championship format similar to its contemporary North American sports leagues. The first few editions of the game were dominated by D.C. United, who appeared in the first four MLS Cup finals, winning three.
The inaugural MLS Cup in 1996 featured D.C. United and LA Galaxy. The Galaxy went ahead 2–0 early in the second half, but their lead was relinquished towards the end of the match when Tony Sanneh pulled one back in the 72nd minute. Nine minutes later, Shawn Medved tied the match at two, resulting in overtime between the two sides. Four minutes into overtime, Eddie Pope gave United the golden goal victory.
In 1997, the second league cup final was contested at RFK Stadium, where United won back-to-back titles, a feat that would not be accomplished for another decade. The game ended 2–1 in United's favor over the Colorado Rapids, who would not win a championship until 2010. Jaime Moreno was declared Man of the Match for his goal in the 37th minute of play. This season was also the first time in league history any MLS team won the regular season and postseason title in the same season.
D.C. United's run ended the third year, when they made a third run to the MLS Cup finals, only to lose to the expansion side Chicago Fire by 2–0. However the following year, United repeated their "double" of winning both the Supporters Shield and MLS Cup the same season. This time, it was a 2–0 win over the Galaxy in the 1999 MLS Cup final.

Rise of the California Clásico

For the first time since 1997, the 2000 MLS Cup final saw a new club reach the finals along with the Fire. This time the Kansas City Wizards, now known as Sporting Kansas City, won their first MLS Cup with a 1–0 victory over the Fire.
From 2001 through 2005, the MLS Cup finals saw a rising of the California Clásico when intrastate rivals L.A. Galaxy and the San Jose Earthquakes clashed in the 2001 final. The match also saw the rise of U.S. national Landon Donovan who won a Newcomer of the Year award and tallied the equalizer in the Earthquakes 2–1 championship victory over the Galaxy.
With the largest crowd in MLS Cup history at hand, the New England Revolution took on the Galaxy in the 2002 finals. For the match, over 61,000 fans were in attendance at Gillette Stadium to witness the final. In the second period of sudden-death overtime, the Galaxy nabbed their first MLS Cup title, and sparked the start of a string of MLS Cup losses for the Revolution.
The 2003 final saw the league leaders for that season go head-to-head. Two clubs that had MLS Cup experience, the Fire and Earthquakes, played for the final that year. The two clubs had successful regular season campaigns with the Fire winning their first Supporters' Shield, and the Earthquakes being the Western Conference regular season and post-season champions as well as having the second best overall regular season record. In a hotly contested match, the Earthquakes won with their second MLS Cup title with a 4–2 score making it the highest scoring MLS Cup final in league history.
After a four-year absence, United made their fifth trip to MLS Cup, playing against the Wizards for MLS Cup 2004. The match had four goals scored in the first 25 minutes, with United rallying for a 3–1 lead. Midway through the second half, United had relinquished a penalty kick. Josh Wolff scored for Kansas City, bringing the game within a goal. D.C. United was able to retain the lead, by winning their fourth MLS Cup title, by a score of 3–2.
For the 2005 season, the Earthquakes, as the Supporters' Shield winners, fell to the Galaxy in the Playoffs. The Galaxy went on to win MLS Cup, matching the Earthquakes at two.

Format changes

Until 2005, the MLS Cup championship games had been dominated by clubs that had either won or had come close to winning the Supporters Shield. In the 2005 MLS Cup championship, the match was won by the LA Galaxy, which won the league title while having a ninth-place overall record. The Wizards had a better record, but did not qualify for the playoffs because they finished 5th in the Eastern Conference, in spite of an 8th-place overall record. The result prompted MLS to create new wild-cards that were used starting in 2006, where a certain number of clubs per conference could qualify, and the next best overall teams regardless of conference would also qualify. That prompted debates about the league switching to a single table and a balanced schedule. The single table has yet been instituted, but in 2010 the league instituted a balanced schedule. Starting in the 2012 season, the league resumed an unbalanced schedule.

Scudetto era

At the start of the 2006 season, MLS created their version of the scudetto, a symbol worn on the jersey by the team who won the previous season's Serie A.
The MLS scudetto was originally a curved, triangular badge featuring a backdrop of the American flag behind a replica of the Alan I. Rothenberg MLS Cup trophy. First worn by LA Galaxy in 2006, following their 2005 MLS Cup title, the Houston Dynamo wore the same triangular scudettos in 2007 and 2008 during their dual-cup run. It was redesigned after the 2008 season after the change to the MLS Cup trophy. It is now an oval-shaped black badge with the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy in the middle. The MLS scudetto was worn by the winning team the season following the victory. It is only during the subsequent season, that the team adds a star – a common soccer signifier of titles won – above the team logo. The team can display the star on other items beside their jersey in the year after winning the Cup, but only if the scudetto is not shown. The Columbus Crew was the first team to wear the redesigned scudetto. Real Salt Lake wore the scudetto in 2010 after winning their first MLS cup in 2009. A year after the Colorado Rapids also wore it after their cup run in 2010 for the 2011 season. Finally, the LA Galaxy wore the scudetto after winning MLS Cup in 2011, ironically, it was the last team to do so. After the 2012 season, MLS decided not to use the scudetto for upcoming season and instead the defending MLS Cup champions would have a gold star above one or more silver stars indication the team's MLS Cup wins, followed by an additional silver star added to the lined stars the following season. The LA Galaxy were the first to receive the gold star above the team's three silver stars for the 2013 season.

"Buffalo Bills" of MLS

While the Galaxy won its second MLS Cup trophy and the Houston Dynamo earned consecutive cups, the New England Revolution went on a run of making three consecutive MLS Cup finals, losing all of them. Two of their three losses were in extra time, while the other was lost on penalty kicks. The infamy gave the club the title of being the Buffalo Bills of MLS. This was in reference to the Buffalo Bills' Super Bowl games in the early 1990s, in which they lost in four consecutive appearances. In the 2005 final, the Revolution lost to the LA Galaxy, a rematch of 2002, in the final. In a match held at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, the Galaxy defeated the Revolution by a score of 1–0 thanks to a 105th-minute overtime goal from Galaxy midfielder and Guatemalan international, Guillermo Ramírez. Ramírez's goal sealed the Galaxy's second MLS Cup title, and left the Revs searching once again.
In 2006, the championship was once again played in Frisco at Pizza Hut Park. This time the Revolution took on the Houston Dynamo. Both were coming off a successful season in which they fell short of winning the Supporters' Shield. A sellout crowd of 22,427 attended the match. Revolution forward Taylor Twellman scored an overtime goal in the 113th minute to give the Revolution the 1–0 lead. However, Dynamo captain and forward Brian Ching immediately tied the score following the Revolution's goal. The match went to penalties, in which the Dynamo won 4–3. This left the Revolution for a second consecutive year searching for league glory. It was also the first time in league history that a club lost consecutive MLS Cups.
In the 2007 final, the Revolution and Dynamo played each other once again for the 2007 cup. Played in Washington, D.C., at RFK Stadium, a crowd just shy of 40,000 witnessed the championship. The announced crowd of 39,859 made it the largest MLS Cup crowd since 2002. The Revolution had a successful season, earning its first U.S. Open Cup title. The Revolution wanted its first MLS Cup crown, and wanted to win its first "Double" in club history. Houston, finishing just shy once again to D.C. United of winning the MLS Supporters' Shield, was determined to finish its second season with some hardware, and to defend its MLS Cup title. The match went in the Revolution's favor early on, as the Revolution's captain, Twellman, netted in the 20th minute to give New England a 1–0 lead. However, midway through the second half, the Dynamo retaliated. Dynamo striker Joseph Ngwenya leveled things at one apiece in the 61st minute, and MLS Cup Man of the Match Dwayne De Rosario gave the Dynamo a 2–1 lead in the 74th. The goal proved to be the winning goal, as the Dynamo earned the first back-to-back MLS Cup titles since D.C. United in 1996 and 1997.