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Welcome to the feature from Sports Illustrated that breaks down the biggest winners and losers from the week's Major League Soccer action ahead of the 2026 playoffs.
Decision Day is officially wrapped up, with the final day of the 2026 MLS season seeing all 30 teams compete across five hours of action. Orlando City climbed from ninth to eighth after defeating New England Revolution at home, earning the right to host the wild card match against FC Cincinnati. The Sullivan brothers, Quinn and Cavan, guided Philadelphia to a convincing victory over Toronto and secured an automatic playoff spot, while New York City FC narrowly beat D.C. United to close out a disappointing campaign on a high note.
Sporting Kansas City claimed victory at San Diego FC, which, combined with CF Montréal's loss to Vancouver Whitecaps, handed Montréal the unwanted Wooden Spoon for the league's worst record. Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers both delivered in must-win situations against LAFC and Austin FC, while Red Bull New York thrashed Atlanta United.
St. Louis climbed from fourth to third in the West courtesy of a stoppage-time victory in Houston, while Inter Miami squandered a three-goal advantage, conceding three consecutive goals in the second half against Charlotte FC.
Here are the week's biggest winners and losers in MLS.
Winners
Columbus Crew
OH MY BRAIS MÉNDEZ!
As it stands, @ColumbusCrew would avoid the Wildcard match with a win. 👀 pic.twitter.com/PCp4BwiqnH
At some point, we'll have to stop placing Columbus Crew in the winners' column, but that time hasn't come just yet. The Crew sat at the bottom of the Eastern Conference on August 30, and by mid-September, they had dropped seven of their last eight matches.
Since that low point, however, Columbus have won nine games and lost just twice—a 3–2 defeat at Orlando on Oct. 10 and a penalty shootout loss to St. Louis in the U.S. Open Cup final on Oct. 21. After five consecutive league wins by a margin of two or more goals, they were made to work hard in Chicago on Saturday, falling behind on three separate occasions.
But just as a wild card appearance seemed inevitable, Brais Méndez struck in the dying moments to secure an automatic playoff berth. They are the hottest team in MLS right now and are more than capable of eliminating Inter Miami in the opening round.
Nashville SC
With tonight's victory, @NashvilleSC set a new @MLS single-season points record with 77, surpassing the previous mark of 74 established by Inter Miami CF in 2024.
Additionally, Nashville set MLS records in points per game (2.26), wins in the post-shootout era (23), fewest losses… pic.twitter.com/e0P7HBhhv5
Nashville SC only needed a draw in Ohio to surpass Inter Miami's 2024 side for the highest points total in MLS regular season history (74). They went above and beyond, however, winning 2–0 against Cincinnati thanks to Sam Surridge's second-half brace, which cemented their place in the record books with 77 points.
There's no question about it: Nashville 2026 represents the greatest regular season in MLS history. The Coyotes have broken records for most points, wins in the post-shootout era (23), home wins (15), home points (47), points per game (2.26), and win percentage (79.4%). They've also recorded the fewest losses (three), fewest goals conceded (25), and boast the largest Supporters' Shield winning margin ever.
By shutting out Cincinnati, they also matched the record for most clean sheets in a season (17), with Brian Schwake drawing level with Tony Meola for the most shutouts in a single campaign (17).
They've already etched their name into the history books during the regular season. Can they sustain this remarkable run into the postseason?
Real Salt Lake
zach makes it ✌️ pic.twitter.com/0OxsgrkiWq
Not long ago, Real Salt Lake appeared to be all but finished. They were enduring their longest-ever winless run (13 matches), and after selling standout winger Zavier Gozo to Crystal Palace and losing key players like Diego Luna and Justen Glad to injury, it looked as though they would miss the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
But after stringing together three consecutive wins (followed by a defeat in San Jose), they entered Decision Day with an outside chance. Sitting 11th in the standings, they needed a victory and a string of favorable results elsewhere to secure a playoff place.
RSL delivered their part, jumping out to an early lead against LA Galaxy. That result, combined with Dallas' comeback win, was enough to book their spot in the wild card match. Having lost on each of their last two trips to Lumen Field, they'll be eager to break that unwanted run and claim a road victory in Seattle.
Losers
Colorado Rapids
Scenarios heading into the final game of the regular season ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/BOKVgtW2km
There were always going to be winners and losers in the Western Conference, with six teams entering Decision Day uncertain about whether they'd be playing postseason soccer or heading home after the final whistle.
Colorado went into the final day in eighth place, though in poor form with just one win in their last nine matches across all competitions. They knew a victory over FC Dallas would be enough to reach the playoffs, and when Morgan Whittaker broke the deadlock after the break, it appeared they were on course to do exactly that.
But just as they were closing in on their first away win in six months, Jorge Valiente leveled in the 75th minute before Kaick put Dallas ahead in the 88th. Santiago Moreno then doubled the home side's lead shortly after, securing second place for Dallas and bringing the Rapids' season to a painful end in Texas.
LA Galaxy
FT. pic.twitter.com/Ll81ReV9ZF
It was barely two years ago that LA Galaxy were lifting a record-breaking sixth MLS Cup. Yet after posting one of the worst records in the league in 2025, the Galaxy have once again failed to reach the playoffs for the fourth time in six seasons under Greg Vanney.
The Galaxy entered the final day in seventh place, only to concede twice in rapid succession to Real Salt Lake. They managed to claw one back through an own goal before halftime, but were unable to find the equalizer needed to revive their playoff hopes.
For a club with the fourth-highest payroll in MLS, featuring globally recognized stars such as Hirving Lozano, Marco Reus, and Sergi Roberto, this level of performance simply falls short of expectations. Vanney managed to weather the storm after 2025's embarrassment, but this late-season collapse may well prove to be the final straw.