Major League Soccer 2020

Major League Soccer 2020
Teams	26th
Games	884  (of which 59 played)
Gates	160  (ø 2.71 per game)
← Major League Soccer 2019
USL Championship 2020 ↓

The 25th Major League Soccer season opened on February 29, 2020 and is expected to end with the MLS Cup final in November of the same year. There are 26 teams in the game, 23 of which are from the United States and three from Canada . The defending champion of the Supporters' Shield is Los Angeles FC , the reigning MLS Cup winners are the Seattle Sounders .

Changes compared to the 2019 season

• Inter Miami (Eastern Conference) and Nashville SC (Western Conference) joined Major League Soccer as the 25th and 26th franchises
• Chicago Fire returned from SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview in the Soldier Field in Chicago back and also moved its headquarters to Chicago

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic , the league announced on March 11, 2020, after consultation with the CDC and PHAC , that it would initially cease all gaming operations for 30 days. At this point in time, all 26 scheduled games of the first two game days had been played. On March 19th, the MLS extended the break until May 10th and on April 17th until at least June 8th.

Game operations were resumed on July 8th as part of the MLS is Back Tournament , in which only 24 franchises took part: FC Dallas had withdrawn from participation before the start due to team-internal COVID-19 cases, Nashville SC moved shortly before the start after the first own game for the same reason. The venue was the Champion Stadium at Disney Land Resort near Orlando , Florida . After a group phase with groups of four, a final round with a final on August 11, 2020 has been completed since July 24, 2020. The winner received a starting place for the CONCACAF Champions League 2021 , after the tournament the regular season continued on August 12th. Since all teams had to stay in the resort for the duration of the tournament, the virus should not spread, and no spectators were allowed. All results from the group stage were included in the respective conference tables and in the overall ranking.

Participating teams

In the 2020 season, 26 franchises will take part in Major League Soccer. 23 of the 26 franchises are located in the United States and three in Canada . The teams marked with a blue dot on the map play in the Western, those marked with a red dot in the Eastern Conference.

Atlanta Chicago Commerce City Columbus Washington, DC Frisco Houston Carson los Angeles Golden Valley Montreal Foxborough New York City Harrison Orlando Chester Portland Sandy San Jose Seattle Kansas City Toronto Vancouver Cincinnati Miami Nashville

Major League Soccer 2020 hometowns

franchise	Location	Stadion	capacity
Atlanta United	Atlanta , Georgia	Mercedes-Benz Stadium	42,500
Chicago Fire	Chicago , Illinois	Soldier Field	61,500
Cincinnati FC	Cincinnati , Ohio	Nippert Stadium	33,800
Colorado Rapids	Commerce City , Colorado	Dick's Sporting Goods Park	18,086
Columbus crew	Columbus , Ohio	Mapfre Stadium	20,145
DC United	Washington, DC	Audi Field	20,000
FC Dallas	Frisco , Texas	Toyota Stadium	20,500
Houston Dynamo	Houston , Texas	BBVA Stadium	22,039
LA Galaxy	Carson , California	Dignity Health Sports Park	27,000
Los Angeles FC	Los Angeles , California	Banc of California Stadium	22,000
Inter Miami	Miami , Florida	Inter Miami Stadium	18,000
Minnesota United	Golden Valley , Minnesota	Allianz Field	19,400
Montreal Impact	Montreal , Quebec	Saputo Stadium	20,801
Nashville SC	Nashville , Tennessee	Nissan Stadium	69,143
New England Revolution	Foxborough , Massachusetts	Gillette Stadium	20,000
New York City FC	New York City , New York	Yankee Stadium	33,444
New York Red Bulls	Harrison , New Jersey	Red Bull Arena	25,000
Orlando City	Orlando , Florida	Exploria Stadium	25,500
Philadelphia Union	Chester , Pennsylvania	Talen Energy Stadium	18,500
Portland Timbers	Portland , Oregon	Providence Park	25,218
Real Salt Lake	Sandy , Utah	Rio Tinto Stadium	20,213
San Jose Earthquakes	San Jose , California	Earthquakes Stadium	18,000
Seattle Sounders	Seattle , Washington	CenturyLink Field	38,300
Sporting Kansas City	Kansas City , Missouri	Children's Mercy Park	18,467
Toronto FC	Toronto , Ontario	BMO Field	30,991
Vancouver Whitecaps	Vancouver , British Columbia	BC Place Stadium	21,000

Regular season

Tables

Eastern Conference

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Toronto FC CAN	8th	5	3	0	014: 700	+7	18th
2.	Columbus crew	8th	5	2	1	012: 200	+10	17th
3.	Philadelphia Union	8th	4th	3	1	012: 800	+4	15th
4th	Orlando City	7th	3	2	2	012: 900	+3	11
5.	New York Red Bulls	8th	3	2	3	007: 900	−2	11
6th	New England Revolution	8th	2	5	1	007: 600	+1	11
7th	Montreal Impact CAN	7th	3	1	3	010: 900	+1	10
8th.	Atlanta United	7th	3	0	4th	007: 800	−1	09
9.	New York City FC	8th	3	0	5	006: 800	−2	09
10.	Cincinnati FC	8th	2	2	4th	006:120	−6	08th
11.	Nashville SC 1st	6th	2	1	3	003: 500	−2	07th
12.	Chicago Fire	8th	2	1	5	008:140	−6	07th
13.	DC United	8th	1	3	4th	008:130	−5	06th
14th	Inter Miami	7th	1	0	6th	006:110	−5	03
As of August 31, 2020

¹ The Nashville SC played on the first two game days in the Western Conference and was then regrouped within the break of the season.

Western Conference

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Sporting Kansas City	8th	5	1	2	018:120	+6	16
2.	Seattle Sounders	7th	4th	2	1	013: 400	+9	14th
3.	Minnesota United FC	7th	3	2	2	014:110	+3	11
4th	Portland Timbers	7th	3	2	2	012:140	−2	11
5.	Real Salt Lake	7th	2	4th	1	007: 700	± 0	10
6th	FC Dallas	6th	2	3	1	007: 400	+3	09
7th	Los Angeles FC	7th	2	3	2	016:150	+1	09
8th.	San Jose Earthquakes	6th	2	2	2	012:130	−1	08th
9.	Los Angeles Galaxy	7th	2	2	3	010:130	−3	08th
10.	Colorado Rapids	7th	2	2	3	009:100	−1	08th
11.	Houston Dynamo	7th	1	4th	2	011:130	−2	07th
12.	Vancouver Whitecaps CAN	8th	2	0	6th	007:160	−9	06th
As of August 31, 2020

After the regular season:
	Participation in the conference semifinals of the MLS Cup play-offs and in the CONCACAF Champions League 2021
	Participation in the MLS Cup play-offs and the Leagues Cup 2021
	Participation in the MLS Cup play-offs

^CAN Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact cannot qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League via Major League Soccer because the three teams come from Canada and the starting places are allocated by state. The three Canadian teams can only qualify for this competition through the Canadian Championship .

Overall table

The overall table shows the performance of all 26 participants during the regular season in comparison. The results of the group stage of the MLS-is-back tournament, in which Inter Miami and FC Dallas did not participate, were also included.

Pl.	society	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Toronto FC CAN	8th	5	3	0	014: 700	+7	18th
2.	Columbus crew	8th	5	2	1	012: 200	+10	17th
3.	Sporting Kansas City	8th	5	1	2	018:120	+6	16
4th	Philadelphia Union	8th	4th	3	1	012: 800	+4	15th
5.	Seattle Sounders	7th	4th	2	1	013: 500	+8	14th
6th	Orlando City	7th	3	2	2	012: 900	+3	11
7th	Minnesota United	7th	3	2	2	014:110	+3	11
8th.	Portland Timbers	7th	3	2	2	012:140	−2	11
9.	New York Red Bulls	8th	3	2	3	007: 900	−2	11
10.	New England Revolution	8th	2	5	1	007: 600	+1	11
11.	Montreal Impact CAN	7th	3	1	3	010: 900	+1	10
12.	Real Salt Lake	7th	2	4th	1	008: 700	+1	10
13.	Atlanta United	7th	3	0	4th	007: 800	−1	09
14th	New York City FC	8th	3	0	5	006: 800	−2	09
15th	FC Dallas	6th	2	3	1	007: 400	+3	09
16.	Los Angeles FC	7th	2	3	2	016:150	+1	09
17th	San Jose Earthquakes	6th	2	2	2	012:130	−1	08th
18th	LA Galaxy	7th	2	2	3	010:130	−3	08th
19th	Colorado Rapids	7th	2	2	3	010:140	−4	08th
20th	Cincinnati FC	8th	2	2	4th	006:120	−6	08th
21st	Nashville SC	6th	2	1	3	003: 500	−2	07th
22nd	Chicago Fire	8th	2	1	5	008:140	−6	07th
23.	Houston Dynamo	7th	1	4th	2	011:130	−2	07th
24.	Vancouver Whitecaps CAN	8th	2	0	6th	007:160	−9	06th
25th	DC United	8th	1	3	4th	008:130	−5	06th
26th	Inter Miami	7th	1	0	6th	006:110	−5	03
As of August 31, 2020

After the season:
	Participation in the CONCACAF Champions League 2021 as the best team of the regular season
	Participation in the CONCACAF Champions League 2021 as the winner of the MLS-is-back tournament

Goal scorers

The following list contains the ranking of the goalscorers of the regular season as well as the MLS-is-back tournament . The sorting is done in the same way as the league list.

rank	player	society	Gates
1.	Diego Rossi	Los Angeles FC	6th
2.	Gyasi Zardes	Columbus crew	5
	Ayo Akinola	Toronto FC
4th	Chris Mueller	Orlando City	4th
	Raúl Ruidíaz	Seattle Sounders

As of August 25, 2020

MLS is back tournament

→ Main article : MLS is back tournament

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Nashville MLS team to open play in 2020 and play home games at Nissan Stadium , tennessean.com, accessed October 25, 2019
2. ↑ MLS 2020 schedule , sport1.de, accessed on November 28, 2019
3. ↑ Expansion Draft details for Inter Miami, Nashville SC set as they enter in 2020 , mlssoccer.com, accessed October 25, 2019
4. ↑ MLS suspends 2020 season for 30 days due to coronavirus impact , mlssoccer.com, accessed March 12, 2020
5. ↑ MLS extends season suspension in accordance with CDC guidance on COVID-19 , mlssoccer.com, March 19, 2020, accessed March 19, 2020.
6. ↑ MLS postponement extended until at least June 8 due to ongoing impact of COVID-19 pandemic. In: MLSsoccer.com. Major League Soccer , April 17, 2020, accessed May 24, 2020 . 
7. ↑ MLS is Back Tournament , mlssoccer.com, accessed June 10, 2020
8. ↑ With all 26 teams: MLS organizes tournament in Orlando , kicker.de, accessed on June 10, 2020
9. ↑ ^{a b} Standings. In: mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer, accessed August 31, 2020 . 
10. ↑ Nashville SC moves to Eastern Conference for remainder of 2020 season , mlssoccer.com, accessed June 20, 2020
11. ^ Supporters Shield. In: mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer, accessed August 31, 2020 . 
12. ↑ Major League Soccer 2020 - Goalscorers. Retrieved August 25, 2020 . 

Web links

• Official website of the competition