Decision Day! 5 must-watch matches this weekend | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

Decision Day 2025 is finally here!

It’s like the annual Thanksgiving smorgasbord for Major League Soccer fans, with six hours or so of immersive, wall-to-wall action from coast to coast as we bid the regular season adieu and power into the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.

Or is it MLS’s Halloween, with a little (or maybe a lot) too much of a good thing to satisfy your sweet tooth, interspersed among a few good jump scares and mild adrenaline spikes?

Whatever your preferred metaphors, Decision Day and its two time slots of simultaneous matches can be a lot to navigate. Even Apple TV’s multiview isn’t quite big enough to splash every minute of every game across your screen(s). So here’s a rundown of five marquee fixtures with high stakes, showcase matchups, atmospheric settings – or all of the above.

Nashville SC vs. Inter Miami CF

Partisans on both sides of this one will hark back to their memorable faceoff in the 2023 Leagues Cup final at GEODIS Park, the last of several breathless chapters in Lionel Messi & Co.’s euphoric run to silverware during his opening weeks with Inter Miami.

After Messi and Fafà Picault (who now wears Herons pink) swapped goals during a riveting 90 minutes of end-to-end soccer, a whopping 11 rounds of spot kicks were required to break the deadlock, with then-IMCF goalkeeper Drake Callender finally besting his opposite number Elliot Panicco to snatch glory for the visitors.

This time, we’ll be watching to see if red-hot Messi, the serial trophy collector he is, can complete his capture of the Golden Boot presented by Audi. With 26 goals, he’s a nose ahead of LAFC’s Denis Bouanga (24 goals) with one more game remaining for each. And though it would require some real pyrotechnics on his part, Nashville SC’s Sam Surridge (23 goals) sits in third, still in feasible range for a late-breaking sprint to the finish.

As if that wasn’t enough sizzle, the current Eastern Conference seeding would match up B.J. Callaghan’s side with Javier Mascherano’s in Round One of the playoffs. So this might well be an appetizer for a two- or three-match throwdown on the road to MLS Cup.

Lionel Messi: Has he locked up MVP, Golden Boot?

Colorado Rapids vs. LAFC

So yeah, about that Golden Boot…

It serves to reason that if you’re keeping at least one eye on Messi and Surridge, you’d do the same with Bouanga in the evening time slot out west. To be fair, that’s become a pretty easy decision in general since the arrival of Son Heung-Min in the City of Angels, though, because the Sonny-Denis show has become appointment viewing.

Striking up a devastating attacking chemistry, Son and Bouanga have combined to score 18 of LAFC’s last 20 goals, and the Black & Gold are duly riding a 6W-1L-0D surge towards the postseason.

Overall, the Angelenos have only lost twice since the South Korean icon arrived, and with Bouanga in hot pursuit of Messi and needing at least two goals to seize at least a share of the scoring title, Son has extra motivation to drop dimes for his partner in crime. That said, the duo must perform at Colorado’s mile-high altitude, and with both just returned from long travel for international duty.

Meanwhile, it’s the Last Chance Saloon for the Rapids, who’ve tailed off markedly in the home stretch with just one win since mid-August. Now they need to win or, at the very least, draw against LAFC, then get help from results elsewhere if they are to clamber back above the Western Conference playoff line as they race FC Dallas, Rocky Mountain Cup rivals Real Salt Lake and San Jose.

That means Chris Armas’ squad will have to venture out and attack with at least some regularity, even if they’re all too aware that doing so enhances the risk of Bouanga/Son roasting them in transition moments. This one could well turn into a track meet.

Son & Bouanga: LAFC's dynamic duo the best in MLS?

Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. FC Dallas

Speaking of Dallas, Eric Quill’s men have done yeoman’s work to doggedly haul themselves out of the West basement over the past two months and into the playoff race, finding both their tactical and spiritual identity in the wake of disgruntled star Lucho Acosta’s summer exit. They now control their own destiny, and it’s a credit to them that they’re even in the discussion, given where they were just a couple of months ago.

All they have to do is travel a few thousand miles northwest to Vancouver and beat the first-place Whitecaps in their own house, and they’re in.

That's a tall order considering the run of form Thomas Müller and his new mates are in lately. An optimist might point out the ‘Caps need only a draw to move beyond the reach of second-place San Diego FC and confirm that the West’s road to MLS Cup runs through BC Place.

And yet, FCD’s loss at the last-place LA Galaxy last weekend was triply disastrous, as they not only dropped points with a late collapse, but also lost the influential forward pairing of Petar Musa and Logan “Hot Dog” Farrington to disciplinary suspensions.

If the North Texans can’t dig out a W north of the border, they’ll have to watch the scoreboard and hope results elsewhere break in their favor.

Vancouver Whitecaps: Will they clinch top seed in the West?

Portland Timbers vs. San Diego FC

Most readers probably don’t need much reminding that Providence Park is one of the loudest, most special gameday environments in MLS, especially at this time of year and above all with something on the line.

That’s most definitely the case this weekend, as the listing Timbers are limping along on a 2W-4L-4D skid and need not just points to be sure of staying above the Wild Card places, but positive momentum of some sort.

They’ll need to step their game up against SDFC, who are closing out quite likely the best expansion season in league history, and can still catch first-place Vancouver if they beat Portland and the ‘Caps lose to Dallas.

Explosive wingers Anders Dreyer and Chucky Lozano are the chief dangermen; Dreyer is deadlocked with Messi atop the assists charts with 18 apiece, and the Dane can cap his Landon Donovan MLS MVP credentials with a big night in the Rose City.

How San Diego FC got their groove back

Charlotte FC vs. Philadelphia Union

If Portland is the grand old dame of bucket-list gameday vibes, Charlotte FC’s Bank of America Stadium is its fresh-faced up-and-comer grandchild, with legions of loud, quirky fans and an irrepressible party atmosphere week after week.

The Crown have dropped only 10 points there all year, and really could use another three on Saturday to maximize their prospects of staying in the East’s top four and enjoying home-field advantage in Round One. Wilfried Zaha is their talisman, and the Anglo-Ivorian superstar is capable of highlight-reel plays at any moment.

The Philadelphia Union have already hoisted the Supporters’ Shield and are assured the postseason home-field advantage it conveys, so it will be intriguing to see how they approach this visit to a venue that’s mostly been a house of horrors for them since Charlotte's arrival in MLS. Maintain some rhythm, rest the regulars, or a combination of both?

Philadelphia Union: Why they won the Supporters' Shield