The 2016 MLS playoffs are here, as the top 12 soccer teams in the United States battle to end their season in glory.
The playoffs will conclude Dec. 10 with MLS Cup. The winner officially will de-throne the Portland Timbers as MLS champions.
The road to MLS Cup 2016 begins this week with eight teams playing one-game knockout rounds Wednesday and Thursday.
The four winners will advance to the conference semifinals, which kick off Oct. 30 and end Nov. 6. MLS will re-seed the teams in each conference based on their regular-season records, pitting the No. 1 seed against the lowest-remaining seed and the No. 2 seed against the other teams. The conference semifinals will be decided over two games, with the lower-seeded team hosting the first game and the team that scores most goals progressing to the next round.
The conference championships also will be played over two legs, starting Nov. 20 and Nov. 22 and ending Nov. 27 and Nov. 30. The winners will advance to MLS Cup.
All playoff games will be shown live on FOX, FS1 ESPN, ESPN2 or UniMas in the United States. FOX will broadcast MLS Cup live at 8 p.m. on Dec. 10.
Hereâs the complete schedule for the 2016 MLS Playoffs (home teams are listed second).
Knockout Round
Wednesday, Oct. 26
Philadelphia Union 1, Toronto FC 3
Real Salt Lake 1, Los Angeles Galaxy 3
Thursday, Oct. 27
Montreal Impact 4, DC United 2
Sporting Kansas City 0, Seattle Sounders
Conference Semifinals
Sunday, Oct. 30
Montreal Impact 1, New York Red Bulls 0
Los Angeles Galaxy 1, Colorado Rapids 0
Toronto FC 2, New York City FC 0
Seattle Sounders 3, FC Dallas 0
Sunday, Nov. 6
Los Angeles Galaxy 0, Colorado Rapids 1 (Rapids win penalty-kick shootout 3-1)
Montreal Impact 2, New York Red Bulls 1
Toronto FC 5, New York City FC 0
Seattle Sounders 1, FC Dallas 2
Conference Championships
Tuesday, Nov. 22
Toronto FC 2, Montreal Impact 3
Colorado Rapids 1, Seattle Sounders 2
Sunday, Nov. 27
Seattle Sounders 1, Colorado Rapids 0
Wednesday, Nov. 30
Montreal Impact 2, Toronto FC 5
MLS Cup 2016,
Saturday, Dec. 10
Toronto FC 0, Seattle Sounders 0 (Sounders win penalty-kick shootout)
Thumbnail photo via Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports Images
