Every 2021 MLS playoff match, three ways: the season race carried on into the postseason, who beat their seeding, and the bracket.
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The same race these clubs ran all season, carried on through the postseason on one scale and on real dates.
Where each club finished the season against how far it went, ranked on record rather than seed.
Who played whom, round by round, which no line chart can say.
New York City Football Club won the 2021 title from a regular season record of 14-11-9. 14 teams reached the playoffs and the bracket ran 4 rounds. Every match below is taken from the MLS stats API; nothing on this page is estimated.
| Round | Won by | Result | Opponent | Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knockout Round | Real Salt Lake | 0-0, 6-5 on penalties | Seattle Sounders FC | November 23, 2021 |
| Knockout Round | Sporting Kansas City | 3-1 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | November 20, 2021 |
| Knockout Round | Portland Timbers | 3-1 | Minnesota United FC | November 21, 2021 |
| Knockout Round | Philadelphia Union | 1-0 | Red Bull New York | November 20, 2021 |
| Knockout Round | Nashville SC | 3-1 | Orlando City | November 23, 2021 |
| Knockout Round | New York City Football Club | 2-0 | Atlanta United | November 21, 2021 |
| Conference Semifinals | New York City Football Club | 2-2, 5-3 on penalties | New England Revolution | November 30, 2021 |
| Conference Semifinals | Portland Timbers | 1-0 | Colorado Rapids | November 25, 2021 |
| Conference Semifinals | Real Salt Lake | 2-1 | Sporting Kansas City | November 28, 2021 |
| Conference Semifinals | Philadelphia Union | 1-1, 2-0 on penalties | Nashville SC | November 28, 2021 |
| Conference Finals | Portland Timbers | 2-0 | Real Salt Lake | December 4, 2021 |
| Conference Finals | New York City Football Club | 2-1 | Philadelphia Union | December 5, 2021 |
| MLS Cup | New York City Football Club | 1-1, 4-2 on penalties | Portland Timbers | December 11, 2021 |
The left column ranks this field by regular season record, not by seed number: seeding rules differ by era, so this site uses records everywhere instead. The right column groups clubs by the round they went out in, which is not the same as the number of rounds they won, because a bye carries a club further without it winning anything. The figure beside a name is places moved between the two columns, and part of it is only where a club sat inside its band. Nothing here is a prediction. The data notes carry the whole method.