The Best Cinderella Runs in the MLS Cup Playoffs | OneFootball

With the MLS Cup Playoffs in full swing, we look back at some of the most improbable deep runs in league history.

Major League Soccer can be hard to get into for traditional diehard fans of the sport. What do you mean, the team with the best overall record at the end of the season isn’t the champion? After 34 grueling games, you throw it all aside for a convoluted tournament system that changes formats every few years? For the Eurosnob, MLS’s postseason provokes bafflement and ire.

Playoffs in general are an American concept. The added stakes and pressure that goes with win-or-go-home tournaments brings a new edge to the competition. It’s a crapshoot — anything can happen. And in MLS, anything frequently does happen.

Take the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs for example. Lionel Messi and his friends at Inter Miami came into the playoffs hot on the heels of capturing the first Supporters’ Shield in club history, breaking the single-season points record along the way. Their first round opponent? Oh, just a scrappy Atlanta United side that backed into the playoffs as the ninth seed, needing to dispatch Montreal in a play-in game to even make the playoffs proper.

But form goes out the window in playoff situations, and despite winning the first game of a three-game series, Messi and company fell in humiliating fashion to a team that earned 34 fewer points than them during the course of the regular season.

This is the joy and the frustration of the playoffs. Showing up when it really matters, it turns out, is hard. A bounce here or a bounce there can be the difference between taking home silverware and retreating back to Southern Florida, tail between your legs. But when you look at the history of the MLS Cup Playoffs, you’ll discover that while an upset is quite common, lengthy Cinderella runs are exceedingly rare. Here we take a look at a few inspiring stories that would make even the most cynical fan of a seventh-seeded playoff team hopeful.

2009: Real Salt Lake

I’m old enough to remember when David Beckham moving to MLS was a colossal deal. His move legitimized the league for other top players, paved the way for the modern designated player system, and, if you really think about it, gave us Messi some 16 years later.

2009 was supposed to be Beckham’s year. After a lackluster first season-and-a-half in LA, Becks and friends were poised to make a run at the MLS Cup and in so doing, legitimize the whole project. They breezed through encounters with Chivas USA and the Houston Dynamo to claim their spot in the MLS Cup final.

But a plucky bunch from the land of state-run liquor stores and stigmatized coffee shops had different ideas. Led by Jason Kreis, who retired mid-season to become the team’s manager, Real Salt Lake entered September on the outside of the playoff hunt, and only snuck in as a wild card team with two wins out of three matches in October. As the final team in, RSL went into the Eastern Conference for the playoffs, where they upset the Supporters’ Shield winners Columbus Crew comprehensively over two legs before besting the Chicago Fire on penalties to book their place alongside the Galaxy in the MLS Cup Final.

The star power of Beckham’s Galaxy, which also featured household names like Landon Donovan and Gregg Berhalter, was contrasted sharply by Real Salt Lake. Their roster read like a list of MLS journeymen who were more notable for their time at different clubs like Jamison Olave, Fabian Espindola, Clint Mathis, and Nat Borchers, but they had the solid, scrappy spine of Nick Rimando between the sticks, Robbie Findley poaching goals, and Kyle Beckerman at the peak of his unwashed “I’m on my second week at Bonnaroo” midfield energy.

Kyle Beckerman in all his glory. Photo by Harry How/Getty Images for MLS

Mike Magee opened the scoring in the 41st minute with a clean finish from a sumptuous Donovan cross, and it seemed for all the world that the title would return to Southern California. But RSL wouldn’t go away, and they spent the start of the second half knocking on the door until Robbie Findley pounced on a loose ball in the 63rd minute to even the scoreline against his former club.

The game crept to penalties. Beckham converted for the Galaxy, but Beckerman missed for Salt Lake. Donovan skied his spot kick to Row Z, and after a clutch save from Rimando on Edson Buddle, defender Robbie Russell converted to send the MLS Cup to the state of Utah.

RSL lifted the cup as the lowest-ranking playoff seed, and became the first-ever side with a losing regular season record to win the league’s ultimate prize. Though the magic of the cup shines brightly year after year, it’s unlikely that any team will be able to duplicate Real Salt Lake’s magical 2009 run.

1997: Colorado Rapids

Photo by Brian Bahr/Allsport

The Colorado Rapids struggled through the inaugural season of MLS in 1996, finishing last overall. The team decided to overhaul its roster, bringing in Peter Vermes, Marcus Hahnemann, and Adrian Paz, along with a new head coach in successful United States youth-level manager Glenn Myernick.

Colorado backed into the playoffs with an astonishing six-game losing streak, finishing with an overall record of 14 wins and 18 losses, but that was just enough to earn the Rapids the last playoff spot in the Western Conference (recall that only two teams in the entire league missed the playoffs that year).

The Rapids exemplified the “get hot at the right time” ethos of the MLS Cup playoffs. They dismantled the top-seeded Kansas City Wizards with a 6-2 victory, all without their best players in Paz and Marcelo Balboa.

They went onto the Western Conference Finals where they met the Dallas Burn, a team named after what happens if you have a little too much fun at your bachelor party in Central Texas. The Rapids registered an impressive 3-1 victory over two legs to advance to the MLS Cup final.

Their opponent was the vaunted DC United, winners of the inaugural MLS Cup just a year earlier, and coming off a Supporters’ Shield title in the regular season.

The match, although technically at a neutral venue, took place at DC United’s home ground, RFK Stadium. DC registered a 1-0 lead on the stroke of halftime through Jaime Moreno, and doubled their lead in the 68th minute as Tony Sanneh headed in from a whipped John Harkes cross.

The Rapids managed to pull one back in the 78th minute as Paz scored from a tight angle, but the comeback wasn’t to be. Despite a handful of chances to send the game to extra time, Colorado remained unable to find a way through as DC held on to take home their second consecutive MLS Cup trophy.

Colorado wouldn’t go on to hoist the MLS Cup until the 2010 season, although the core of the ‘97 squad went on to lose in the final of the U.S. Open Cup in 1999 to the Rochester Ragin’ Rhinos. American soccer heritage.

2024: New York Red Bulls

Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Last year’s Red Bulls qualified for the playoffs in seventh place in the Eastern Conference under first-year coach Sandro Schwarz. They were buoyed by the return of playmaker Emil Forsberg, who spent long stretches of the regular season injured.

Despite problems with the attack, the Red Bulls still managed to score 55 goals on the season, and finished in a respectable seventh place to avoid the wild card round. One might be forgiven for assuming that the Harrison, New Jersey-based club would do what they always do: fight admirably but duck out in an early playoff round to a superior opponent.

But Schwarz proved what makes him so valuable in cup competitions, tweaking his lineup to neutralize a stacked Columbus Crew team. The Red Bulls stole a win on the road with a goal from a set piece before triumphing in an absolute barn-burner at Red Bull Arena, going down 1-0 before running out to a 2-1 lead, conceding a late equalizer, and then winning on penalties after some heroic saves by Carlos Coronel.

The next round was pressure packed, as the Red Bulls would travel to whichever baseball stadium happened to be free that day (it was Citi Field this time) to take on NYCFC in the first-ever playoff edition of the Hudson River Derby. Felipe Carballo provided a stunning strike and Dante Vanzeir put the cherry on top as the Red Bulls triumphed 2-0.

The squad then traveled south to the land of Mickey Mouse and discount fireworks to take on Orlando City SC in the Eastern Conference Finals. John Tolkin whipped in a trademark left-footed scorcher off a cross from a dead ball which Andres Reyes finished coolly with his head. Coronel, in turn, stood on his head and denied Orlando time and again.

This set up a clash with the high-flying LA Galaxy in Carson for the MLS Cup title. The Galaxy would be missing talisman Riqui Puig, who had torn is ACL in the Western Conference finals against the Seattle Sounders and somehow carried on playing for 30 more minutes following the injury.

The Red Bulls started on a bad note well before kickoff, as Reyes fell ill and was replaced by the relatively-inexperienced Noah Eile in the starting lineup. His absence was conspicuous as both Joseph Paintsil and Dejan Joveljic were able to stroll through the center of the pitch and finish past Coronel in the ninth and 13th minutes, respectively. RBNY managed to pull a goal back 15 minutes later as Sean “Massapequa Maldini” Nealis scored a cheeky volley. In the end, the Red Bulls didn’t have enough in the tank to finish their Cinderella run, and in this battle of MLS Originals, the cup returned to Southern California.

2005: LA Galaxy

Before the Beckham era, the Galaxy were on a bit of a rebuild in 2005, having fired MLS Cup-winning manager Sigi Schmidt halfway through the 2004 season. Their roster was also refreshed as they parted with legendary Guatemalan striker Carlos “El Pescadito” Ruiz in part of a trade with FC Dallas for the right to sign Donovan from Bayer Leverkusen.

The SoCal club snuck into the playoffs in the fourth and last slot in the Western Conference, a full 19 points off the pace set by the Supporters’ Shield-winning and in-state rival San Jose Earthquakes. The Galaxy defeated the Quakes 4-2 in a shock first-round upset before winning away to the Colorado Rapids, 2-0. This set up a date with Eastern Conference regular season champs New England Revolution in a repeat of the 2002 final, which LA won via a Ruiz golden goal in extra time.

New England boasted a formidable attack with Clint Dempsey, Taylor Twellman, Shalrie Joseph, and Pat Noonan all enjoying burgeoning careers in the Northeast. They were, understandably, eager for some measure of revenge against the Galaxy, and to claim their first-ever trophy.

The match, played in balmy conditions at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, was a tense, scrappy affair with few clear chances for either team. The game looked to be headed to penalties when, in the 16th minute of extra time the Galaxy won a corner. Donovan whipped in an out-swinger which was palmed away by New England goalkeeper Matt Reis, but fell kindly for Galaxy midfielder Guillermo Ramirez, who expertly volleyed through a crowd of bodies for a 1-0 advantage.

New England hearts were left broken, and the originals from LA took home their second-ever MLS Cup title. New England would go on to lose in the 2006 and 2007 finals as well, and remain the team with the most finals appearances (five) without a single championship.

LIGHTNING ROUND!

2008: New York Red Bulls

These Red Bulls finished so low in the Eastern Conference that they had to go play in the Western Conference for the playoffs. Led by Colombian goal-machine Juan Pablo Angel, RBNY shocked the two-time defending MLS Cup champions Houston Dynamo over two legs in the first round before defeating Real Salt Lake 1-0 on the road to make their first ever MLS Cup Final. There, they ran into a Columbus Crew team with “team of destiny” vibes and were unable to overcome an early deficit en route to a 3-1 loss.

2010: Colorado Rapids

This time, it was the Rapids turn to do the old conference switcheroo, finishing fifth in the West but with a strong enough points total to represent the Eastern Conference in the playoffs. They bested the Columbus Crew over two legs and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals where they defeated the San Jose Earthquakes. Make that make sense! (Hint: it was a DOUBLE conference switcheroo!)

The Rapids defeated FC Dallas in sunny Toronto, Canada to claim their first and only MLS Cup title.