2020 Major League Soccer season

The 2020 Major League Soccer season was the 25th season of Major League Soccer (MLS), the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. The regular season began on February 29, 2020, and was originally planned to end on October 4. The MLS Cup Playoffs were planned to begin later that month and would end with MLS Cup 2020 on November 7.

Major League Soccer

MLS's commemorative logo for its 25th season
Season	2020
Dates	February 29 – March 8 (regular season before suspension)[1] July 8 – August 11 (MLS is Back Tournament) August 12 – November 8 (completion of regular season) November 20 – December 12 (Playoffs)
MLS Cup	Columbus Crew SC (2nd title)
Supporters' Shield	Philadelphia Union (1st shield)
Champions League (United States)	Atlanta United FC Columbus Crew SC Philadelphia Union Portland Timbers
Champions League (Canada)	Toronto FC
Leagues Cup	New York City FC Orlando City SC Seattle Sounders FC Sporting Kansas City
Matches played	291
Goals scored	826 (2.84 per match)
Top goalscorer	Diego Rossi (14 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Joe Willis (9 shutouts)
Biggest home win	6 goals: SEA 7–1 SJ (September 10) LAFC 6–0 VAN (September 23)
Biggest away win	5 goals: RSL 0–5 COL (September 12) SJ 1–6 POR (September 19)
Highest scoring	9 goals: LA 3–6 POR (October 7)
Longest winning run	5 games: Portland Timbers (September 19 – October 11) Toronto FC (September 23 – October 11) Columbus Crew SC (November 8 – December 12)
Longest unbeaten run	11 games: Orlando City SC (August 26 – October 18)
Longest winless run	9 games: D.C. United (September 6 – October 14)
Longest losing run	6 games: LA Galaxy (September 19 – October 14)
Highest attendance	69,301 ATL 2–1 CIN (March 7)
Lowest attendance	0
Total attendance	637,020[2]
Average attendance	2,182[2]
← 2019 2021 →

On March 12, 2020, the season entered a lengthy suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North America, following the cancellation of several matches.^[3] On May 1, the league announced that players would be allowed to resume individual outdoor training at MLS facilities on May 6.^[4] The COVID-19 pandemic was the first interruption of regular season play since the 2001 MLS season, in which many late regular season games were canceled due to the September 11 attacks. On June 10, MLS announced that a bracket format dubbed the "MLS is Back Tournament" would begin July 8 at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Walt Disney World, and end with the final on August 11.^[5] The tournament included 51 matches in 35 days and over 1,000 players and staff quarantined to a set of hotels at Walt Disney World;^[6] it was eventually won by the Portland Timbers, who as a result earned a berth in the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League.^[7] The regular season later resumed a day after the tournament finished, and concluded on November 8. The playoffs began on November 20 with MLS Cup 2020 now being played on December 12.^[8]

The 2020 season saw the addition of two expansion clubs, Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC, which took Major League Soccer to 26 total teams. Nashville SC was initially placed in the Western Conference, for a 13–13 team balance, despite Nashville being to the east of the western most Eastern Conference team, Chicago Fire FC. However, after the MLS Is Back Tournament, COVID-19 difficulties led to MLS limiting teams to matches with teams in geographic proximity, and as a result Nashville was moved to the Eastern conference due to geography. This led to an imbalance, with 14 teams in the Eastern Conference and 12 in the Western Conference. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this season was planned to be the first MLS season in which each team did not play every other team at least once, but, due to the pandemic, the schedule was heavily modified and most teams only played other teams within a regional geographic bubble. During the regular season around September and toward the end of the season, COVID-19 cross-border restrictions imposed by the Canadian government forced the Canadian MLS teams to play home matches in the United States.

The Philadelphia Union won the Supporters' Shield on the final day of the regular season, the first major trophy in the club's history. Columbus Crew SC defeated defending champions Seattle Sounders FC in MLS Cup 2020 3–0 to win a second MLS Cup title, and their first since 2008.^[9] The league's teams incurred an estimated financial loss of $1 billion due to lost ticket sales and additional costs. The 2020 season was the longest in MLS season, stretching 287 days.^[6]

Teams

Stadiums and locations

Main article: List of Major League Soccer stadiums

Western Conference Team Stadium Capacity Colorado Rapids Dick's Sporting Goods Park 18,061 FC Dallas Toyota Stadium 20,500 Houston Dynamo FC BBVA Stadium 22,039 LA Galaxy Dignity Health Sports Park 27,000 Los Angeles FC Banc of California Stadium 22,000 Minnesota United FC Allianz Field 19,400 Portland Timbers Providence Park 25,218 Real Salt Lake Rio Tinto Stadium 20,213 San Jose Earthquakes Earthquakes Stadium 18,000 Seattle Sounders FC Lumen Field[A] 37,722 Sporting Kansas City Children's Mercy Park 18,467 Vancouver Whitecaps FC BC Place[A] / Providence Park[B] 22,120 / 25,218

Eastern Conference Team Stadium Capacity Atlanta United FC Mercedes-Benz Stadium[A] 71,000 Chicago Fire FC Soldier Field[A] 24,955 FC Cincinnati TQL Stadium 26,000 Columbus Crew SC Mapfre Stadium 19,968 D.C. United Audi Field 20,000 Inter Miami CF Inter Miami CF Stadium[B] 18,000 Montreal Impact Saputo Stadium / Olympic Stadium / Red Bull Arena[B] 19,619 / 61,004 / 25,000 Nashville SC Nissan Stadium[A] 60,000 New England Revolution Gillette Stadium[A] 20,000 New York City FC Yankee Stadium[A] / Red Bull Arena[B] 30,321 / 25,000 New York Red Bulls Red Bull Arena 25,000 Orlando City SC Exploria Stadium 25,500 Philadelphia Union Subaru Park 18,500 Toronto FC BMO Field / Pratt & Whitney Stadium[A][B] 28,351 / 38,066

Atlanta D.C. United Red Bulls Columbus New England Chicago Kansas City Toronto Philadelphia Montreal Orlando Cincinnati NYCFC Nashville Miami Colorado Dallas LAFC Galaxy Houston Salt Lake Minnesota Portland San Jose Seattle Vancouver Locations of teams for the 2020 Major League Soccer season Western Conference   Eastern Conference

1. ^
   Non-soccer specific stadium and artificially reduced capacity.
2. ^
   Temporary stadium.

Two stadiums were renamed during the 2019–20 offseason:

• Avaya Stadium, home to the San Jose Earthquakes, was renamed Earthquakes Stadium on January 11, 2020. The team was unable to find a new naming rights partner after original stadium sponsor Avaya filed for bankruptcy.^[10]
• Talen Energy Stadium, home to the Philadelphia Union, was renamed Subaru Park on February 18. The Union's 2010 naming rights contract with PPL, which was inherited in 2015 by the PPL spinoff Talen Energy, expired after the 2019 season, and Subaru of America, the U.S. subsidiary of Japanese automaker Subaru, was announced as the new partner also on February 18.^[11]

An additional stadium was renamed prior to the 2020 postseason:

• CenturyLink Field, home to Seattle Sounders FC, was renamed to Lumen Field on November 19. The telecommunications company had changed its name from CenturyLink to Lumen Technologies the prior September.^[12]

Expansion team Nashville SC began the season in the MLS Western Conference. As part of the announcement of the MLS is Back Tournament, MLS confirmed that for one season only, Nashville would transfer to the MLS Eastern Conference which thereby expanded to 14 teams for the season, with the Western Conference reduced to 12. Due to travel restrictions between US and Canada the three Canadian teams were relocated to temporary stadiums in the United States starting September 20.

Personnel and sponsorship

Note: All teams use Adidas as kit manufacturer.

For the 2020 season, MLS allowed teams to sign sleeve sponsorship agreements for the left jersey sleeve; beginning with the MLS is Back Tournament, this was extended to both sleeves and club shorts in certain circumstances.^[13]

Team	Head coach	Captain	Shirt sponsor	Sleeve and short sponsor
Atlanta United FC	Stephen Glass (interim)	Jeff Larentowicz	American Family Insurance	Piedmont Orthopedics, Truist, NAPA
Chicago Fire FC	Raphaël Wicky	Francisco Calvo	Motorola	Motorola, CIBC
FC Cincinnati	Jaap Stam	Kendall Waston	Mercy Health	Cintas, First Financial Bank
Colorado Rapids	Robin Fraser	Jack Price	Transamerica	WFG, Western Union
Columbus Crew SC	Caleb Porter	Jonathan Mensah	Nationwide Children's Hospital	Scotts, OhioHealth
D.C. United	Chad Ashton (interim)	Steve Birnbaum	Leidos	Caesars Entertainment, Gainbridge, Events DC, EagleBank
FC Dallas	Luchi Gonzalez	Reto Ziegler	AdvoCare	AdvoCare
Houston Dynamo FC	Tab Ramos	Boniek García	MD Anderson	Kroger, Coushatta Casino Resort
Inter Miami CF	Diego Alonso	Luis Robles	—	Baptist Health
LA Galaxy	Dominic Kinnear (interim)	Jonathan dos Santos	Herbalife	Herbalife, Dignity Health
Los Angeles FC	Bob Bradley	Carlos Vela	YouTube TV	Target
Minnesota United FC	Adrian Heath	Osvaldo Alonso	Target	Bell Bank, Allianz
Montreal Impact	Thierry Henry	Jukka Raitala	Bank of Montreal	Saputo
Nashville SC	Gary Smith	Dax McCarty	Renasant Bank	Hyundai, Jackson
New England Revolution	Bruce Arena	Carles Gil	UnitedHealth	Gillette, Santander
New York City FC	Ronny Deila	Alexander Ring	Etihad Airways	AT&T, Ford
New York Red Bulls	Gerhard Struber	Sean Davis	Red Bull	Yanmar
Orlando City SC	Óscar Pareja	Nani	Orlando Health	Exploria
Philadelphia Union	Jim Curtin	Alejandro Bedoya	Bimbo Bakeries USA	Thomas', Subaru
Portland Timbers	Giovanni Savarese	Diego Valeri	Alaska Airlines	KeyBank, AT&T
Real Salt Lake	Freddy Juarez	Kyle Beckerman	LifeVantage	KeyBank, Ford
San Jose Earthquakes	Matías Almeyda	Chris Wondolowski	Intermedia	Clover, Wells Fargo
Seattle Sounders FC	Brian Schmetzer	Nicolás Lodeiro	Zulily	WaFd Bank
Sporting Kansas City	Peter Vermes	Matt Besler	Ivy Funds	Compass Minerals
Toronto FC	Greg Vanney	Michael Bradley	Bank of Montreal	GE Appliances, Bank of Montreal
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Marc Dos Santos	Russell Teibert	Bell Canada	GE Appliances

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming coach	Date of appointment
Orlando City SC	James O'Connor	Fired	October 7, 2019[14]	Pre-season	Óscar Pareja	December 4, 2019[15]
Houston Dynamo FC	Davy Arnaud	End of interim period	October 24, 2019		Tab Ramos	October 25, 2019[16]
Montreal Impact	Wílmer Cabrera	Contract expired	October 24, 2019[17]		Thierry Henry	November 14, 2019[18]
New York City FC	Domènec Torrent	Mutual consent	November 8, 2019[19]		Ronny Deila	January 6, 2020[20]
Chicago Fire FC	Veljko Paunović	Fired	November 13, 2019[21]		Raphaël Wicky	December 27, 2019[22]
FC Cincinnati	Ron Jans	Resigned	February 18, 2020		Yoann Damet (interim)	February 18, 2020[23]
	Yoann Damet	End of interim period	May 21, 2020	11th in East, 23rd overall	Jaap Stam	May 21, 2020[24]
Atlanta United FC	Frank de Boer	Fired	July 24, 2020[25]	7th in East, 14th overall	Stephen Glass (interim)	July 27, 2020[26]
New York Red Bulls	Chris Armas	Fired	September 4, 2020[27]	7th in East, 12th overall	Bradley Carnell (interim)	September 5, 2020[28]
	Bradley Carnell	End of interim period	October 6, 2020	7th in East, 12th overall	Gerhard Struber	October 6, 2020[29]
D.C. United	Ben Olsen	Fired	October 8, 2020[30]	14th in East, 26th overall	Chad Ashton (interim)	October 8, 2020[30]
LA Galaxy	Guillermo Barros Schelotto	Fired	October 29, 2020[31]	12th in West, 24th overall	Dominic Kinnear (interim)	October 29, 2020[31]

Regular season

Format

The 2020 regular season began on February 29, 2020, and was originally scheduled to conclude on October 4.^[1] The league was originally divided into two conferences of 13 teams, with each playing a 34-game schedule with 17 each of home and away matches.^[32] Each team would play their intra-conference opponents twice – once home and once away for a total of 24 matches – and one match against 10 of the members of the opposite conference.^[32] The 2020 season was the first MLS season in which each team did not play every other team at least once.^[32] Only two weeks of the original format were played before the COVID-19 pandemic put the season on hold.

The MLS is Back Tournament introduced three regular season matches in the group stage and the knockout stage that did not count towards regular season standings. After the tournament, the "first phase" of the regular schedule restart had teams playing in their home markets against only conference opponents for six matches with the intent of finishing a 23-match season. Some teams were allowed to play in front of a limited audience of spectators.^[33] The exceptions in the first phase were that the Canadian clubs would play six matches between themselves due to prohibited travel to the United States and that FC Dallas and Nashville SC would play an additional three matches between themselves to make up for the fact that they could not play in the MLS is Back Tournament.^[33][34]

On September 11, the league announced the "second phase" of the restart with three more matches for each team. In this phase, Canadian and U.S. teams once again played each other but only within their own geographic bubble. This phase included two away games and one (designated home) game at a neutral venue for each of the Canadian teams; with Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto hosting matches in Portland, Harrison, and Hartford, respectively.^[35]

On October 17, following a decision by the ISC (Independent Supporters Council), it was announced that the Supporters' Shield would not be awarded to the best regular season team in 2020. In an official announcement, the Supporters' Shield Foundation stated, "After much consideration and discussion, the Supporters' Shield Foundation has decided to forego awarding the Supporters' Shield for the 2020 season. This is not an easy decision to make. With the inability for supporters to be in attendance and fill their stadiums with passion, however, we feel as though the current climate goes against the spirit of the Shield."^[36] However, following backlash from members across the MLS community, on October 23 the foundation reversed the decision and reinstated the Shield.^[37]

On October 29, the league announced that the final regular season standings and playoff qualification would be determined by points per game rather than by overall points. This was due to eight MLS clubs, all in the Western Conference, being unable to play all of their scheduled 23 regular season matches in time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seven postponed matches were cancelled altogether in order for the playoffs to be able to start on the scheduled date.^[38][39][40]

The regular season concluded with Decision Day on November 8, after which an expanded 18-team playoff began on November 20 and concluded with MLS Cup 2020 on December 12.^[8][33] Eight teams from the Western Conference and six teams from the Eastern Conference automatically qualified for the playoffs; teams finishing in positions 7–10 in the Eastern Conference competed in a play-in round for the final two first round playoff spots.^[41]

Conference standings

Eastern Conference

Main article: Eastern Conference (MLS)

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Qualification
1	Philadelphia Union	23	14	4	5	44	20	+24	47	2.04	Qualification for the playoffs first round and CONCACAF Champions League[a]
2	Toronto FC[b]	23	13	5	5	33	26	+7	44	1.91	Qualification for the playoffs first round and CONCACAF Champions League[c]
3	Columbus Crew SC (C)	23	12	6	5	36	21	+15	41	1.78	Qualification for the playoffs first round and CONCACAF Champions League[d]
4	Orlando City SC	23	11	4	8	40	25	+15	41	1.78	Qualification for the playoffs first round and Leagues Cup
5	New York City FC	23	12	8	3	37	25	+12	39	1.70
6	New York Red Bulls	23	9	9	5	29	31	−2	32	1.39	Qualification for the playoffs first round
7	Nashville SC[e]	23	8	7	8	24	22	+2	32	1.39	Qualification for the playoffs play-in round
8	New England Revolution	23	8	7	8	26	25	+1	32	1.39
9	Montreal Impact[b]	23	8	13	2	33	43	−10	26	1.13
10	Inter Miami CF	23	7	13	3	25	35	−10	24	1.04
11	Chicago Fire FC	23	5	10	8	33	39	−6	23	1.00
12	Atlanta United FC	23	6	13	4	23	30	−7	22	0.96	Qualification for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League[f]
13	D.C. United	23	5	12	6	25	41	−16	21	0.91
14	FC Cincinnati	23	4	15	4	12	36	−24	16	0.70

Source: MLS^[43]
Rules for classification: 1) points per game; 2) total wins per match played; 3) total goal differential per match played; 4) total goals scored per match played; 5) fewest disciplinary points per match played; 6) away goal differential per away match played; 7) away goals scored per away match played; 8) home goal differential per home match played; 9) home goals scored per home match played; 10) coin toss or drawing of lots.
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. As Supporters' Shield winners
2. Canadian clubs could not qualify for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League through the MLS regular season or playoffs.
3. As 2020 Canadian Championship finalists (awarded by Canada Soccer)
4. As MLS Cup 2020 champions
5. On June 10, 2020, Major League Soccer announced that Nashville SC would switch from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference for the remainder of the 2020 season.^[42]
6. As 2019 U.S. Open Cup champions

Western Conference

Main article: Western Conference (MLS)

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Qualification
1	Sporting Kansas City	21	12	6	3	38	25	+13	39	1.86	Qualification for the playoffs first round and Leagues Cup
2	Seattle Sounders FC	22	11	5	6	44	23	+21	39	1.77
3	Portland Timbers	23	11	6	6	46	35	+11	39	1.70	Qualification for the playoffs first round and 2021 CONCACAF Champions League[a]
4	Minnesota United FC	21	9	5	7	36	26	+10	34	1.62	Qualification for the playoffs first round
5	Colorado Rapids	18	8	6	4	32	28	+4	28	1.56
6	FC Dallas	22	9	6	7	28	24	+4	34	1.55
7	Los Angeles FC	22	9	8	5	47	39	+8	32	1.45
8	San Jose Earthquakes	23	8	9	6	35	51	−16	30	1.30
9	Vancouver Whitecaps FC[b]	23	9	14	0	27	44	−17	27	1.17
10	LA Galaxy	22	6	12	4	27	46	−19	22	1.00
11	Real Salt Lake	22	5	10	7	25	35	−10	22	1.00
12	Houston Dynamo	23	4	10	9	30	40	−10	21	0.91

Source: MLS^[43]
Rules for classification: 1) points per game; 2) total wins per match played; 3) total goal differential per match played; 4) total goals scored per match played; 5) fewest disciplinary points per match played; 6) away goal differential per away match played; 7) away goals scored per away match played; 8) home goal differential per home match played; 9) home goals scored per home match played; 10) coin toss or drawing of lots.
Notes:

1. As MLS is Back Tournament winners
2. Canadian clubs could not qualify for the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League through the MLS regular season or playoffs.

Overall table

The leading team in this table wins the Supporters' Shield.^[44]

2020 MLS overall standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts	PPG	Qualification
1	Philadelphia Union (S)	23	14	4	5	44	20	+24	47	2.04	2021 CONCACAF Champions League[a]
2	Toronto FC (V)	23	13	5	5	33	26	+7	44	1.91	2021 CONCACAF Champions League[b]
3	Sporting Kansas City	21	12	6	3	38	25	+13	39	1.86	2021 Leagues Cup[c]
4	Columbus Crew SC (C)	23	12	6	5	36	21	+15	41	1.78	2021 CONCACAF Champions League[d]
5	Orlando City SC	23	11	4	8	40	25	+15	41	1.78	2021 Leagues Cup[e]
6	Seattle Sounders FC	22	11	5	6	44	23	+21	39	1.77	2021 Leagues Cup[f]
7	New York City FC	23	12	8	3	37	25	+12	39	1.70	2021 Leagues Cup[g]
8	Portland Timbers (M)	23	11	6	6	46	35	+11	39	1.70	2021 CONCACAF Champions League[h]
9	Minnesota United FC	21	9	5	7	36	26	+10	34	1.62
10	Colorado Rapids	18	8	6	4	32	28	+4	28	1.56
11	FC Dallas	22	9	6	7	28	24	+4	34	1.55
12	Los Angeles FC	22	9	8	5	47	39	+8	32	1.45
13	New York Red Bulls	23	9	9	5	29	31	−2	32	1.39
14	Nashville SC	23	8	7	8	24	22	+2	32	1.39
15	New England Revolution	23	8	7	8	26	25	+1	32	1.39
16	San Jose Earthquakes	23	8	9	6	35	51	−16	30	1.30
17	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	23	9	14	0	27	44	−17	27	1.17
18	Montreal Impact	23	8	13	2	33	43	−10	26	1.13
19	Inter Miami CF	23	7	13	3	25	35	−10	24	1.04
20	LA Galaxy	22	6	12	4	27	46	−19	22	1.00
21	Real Salt Lake	22	5	10	7	25	35	−10	22	1.00
22	Chicago Fire FC	23	5	10	8	33	39	−6	23	1.00
23	Atlanta United FC (U)	23	6	13	4	23	30	−7	22	0.96	2021 CONCACAF Champions League[i]
24	D.C. United	23	5	12	6	25	41	−16	21	0.91
25	Houston Dynamo	23	4	10	9	30	40	−10	21	0.91
26	FC Cincinnati	23	4	15	4	12	36	−24	16	0.70

Source: MLS^[45]
Rules for classification: 1) points per game; 2) total wins per match played; 3) total goal differential per match played; 4) total goals scored per match played; 5) fewest disciplinary points per match played; 6) away goal differential per away match played; 7) away goals scored per away match played; 8) home goal differential per home match played; 9) home goals scored per home match played; 10) coin toss or drawing of lots.
(C) Champions; (M) MLS is Back Tournament champions; (S) Supporters' Shield winners; (U) U.S. Open Cup winners; (V) Canadian Championship finalists
Notes:

1. As Supporters' Shield winners (USA2)
2. As 2020 Canadian Championship finalists (awarded by Canada Soccer) (CAN1)
3. As 1st, Western Conference (MLS1)
4. As MLS Cup 2020 champions (USA1)
5. As 4th, Eastern Conference (MLS2)
6. As 2nd, Western Conference (MLS3)
7. As 5th, Eastern Conference (MLS4)
8. As MLS is Back Tournament winners (USA3)
9. As 2019 U.S. Open Cup champions (USA4)

Fixtures and results

Color key: Home  • Away  • Neutral • Win  • Loss  • Draw  • Canceled
Club	Match
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23
Atlanta United FC (ATL)	NSH	CIN	NY	CIN	CLB	NSH	ORL	MIA	ORL	MIA	NSH	MIA	DAL	CHI	DC	ORL	NY	MIA	TOR	DC	ORL	CIN	CLB
	2–1	2–1	0–1	0–1	0–1	2–0	1–3	0–0	1–1	1–2	2–4	1–2	1–0	0–2	4–0	0–0	0–1	1–1	0–1	1–2	1–4	2–0	1–2
Chicago Fire FC (CHI)	SEA	NE	SEA	SJ	VAN	CLB	CIN	NYC	CIN	NE	CLB	ORL	HOU	ATL	MTL	SKC	DC	SKC	NY	PHI	NSH	MIN	NYC
	1–2	1–1	2–1	0–2	0–2	0–3	3–0	1–3	0–0	1–2	2–2	1–4	4–0	2–0	2–2	0–1	2–1	2–2	2–2	1–2	1–1	2–2	3–4
FC Cincinnati (CIN)	NY	ATL	CLB	ATL	NY	DC	CHI	CLB	CHI	CLB	NYC	NY	PHI	NYC	MIN	PHI	TOR	CLB	DC	MIN	SKC	ATL	MIA
	2–3	1–2	0–4	1–0	2–0	0–0	0–3	0–0	0–0	0–3	1–2	1–0	0–0	0–4	0–2	0–3	0–1	2–1	1–2	0–1	0–1	0–2	1–2
Colorado Rapids (COL)	DC	ORL	RSL	SKC	MIN	RSL	SKC	SJ	HOU	RSL	DAL	LA	SJ	LFC	LA	SEA	RSL	SKC	SKC	MIN	SEA	POR	HOU
	2–1	2–1	0–2	2–3	2–2	1–4	1–1	1–1	1–1	5–0	1–4	2–0	5–0	CAN	CAN	CAN	CAN	CAN	0–4	1–2	3–1	1–0	2–1
Columbus Crew SC (CLB)	NYC	SEA	CIN	NY	ATL	CHI	NYC	CIN	PHI	CIN	CHI	NSH	MIN	TOR	DAL	MTL	CIN	NYC	HOU	DC	PHI	ORL	ATL
	1–0	1–1	4–0	2–0	1–0	3–0	0–1	0–0	1–0	3–0	2–2	2–0	2–1	1–3	2–2	1–2	1–2	3–1	1–1	0–1	2–1	1–2	2–1
FC Dallas (DAL)	PHI	MTL	NSH	NSH	HOU	MIN	SKC	MIN	HOU	COL	SKC	ATL	ORL	CLB	HOU	MIN	SKC	NSH	RSL	MIA	HOU	NSH	MIN
	2–0	2–2	0–1	0–0	0–0	3–1	1–1	2–3	2–1	4–1	3–2	0–1	0–0	2–2	0–2	CAN	1–0	0–3	0–0	2–1	3–0	1–0	0–3
D.C. United (DC)	COL	MIA	TOR	NE	MTL	CIN	NE	PHI	NY	NYC	NY	TOR	NSH	NE	ATL	NYC	CHI	PHI	CIN	ATL	CLB	NE	MTL
	1–2	2–1	2–2	1–1	0–1	0–0	1–2	1–4	1–0	0–0	0–2	2–2	0–1	0–2	0–4	1–4	1–2	2–2	2–1	2–1	1–0	3–4	2–3
Houston Dynamo FC (HOU)	LA	SKC	LFC	POR	LA	DAL	SKC	MIN	SKC	COL	DAL	MIN	CHI	NSH	SKC	DAL	MIA	NSH	MIN	CLB	LFC	DAL	COL
	1–1	0–4	3–3	1–2	1–1	0–0	5–2	3–0	2–1	1–1	1–2	2–2	0–4	1–1	1–2	2–0	0–1	1–3	2–2	1–1	1–2	0–3	1–2
Los Angeles FC (LFC)	MIA	PHI	HOU	LA	POR	LA	SEA	SJ	LA	RSL	POR	SEA	VAN	SJ	RSL	COL	SEA	VAN	POR	LA	HOU	SJ	POR
	1–0	3–3	3–3	6–2	2–2	0–2	1–3	5–1	0–3	0–3	4–2	0–3	6–0	1–2	3–1	CAN	3–1	1–2	1–1	2–0	2–1	2–3	1–1
LA Galaxy (LA)	HOU	VAN	POR	LFC	HOU	LFC	SJ	POR	LFC	SJ	COL	RSL	SEA	SJ	POR	COL	SJ	VAN	LFC	POR	RSL	SEA	VAN
	1–1	0–1	1–2	2–6	1–1	2–0	3–2	3–2	3–0	0–0	0–2	0–2	1–3	1–2	3–6	CAN	0–4	1–0	0–2	2–5	2–1	1–1	0–3
Inter Miami CF (MIA)	LFC	DC	ORL	PHI	NYC	ORL	NSH	ATL	NSH	ATL	ORL	ATL	NY	PHI	NYC	NY	HOU	ATL	MTL	ORL	DAL	TOR	CIN
	0–1	1–2	1–2	1–2	0–1	3–2	0–1	0–0	0–0	2–1	1–2	2–1	1–4	0–3	2–3	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–2	2–1	1–2	1–2	2–1
Minnesota United FC (MIN)	POR	SJ	SKC	RSL	COL	SKC	DAL	HOU	RSL	DAL	SKC	HOU	CLB	RSL	CIN	NSH	DAL	HOU	CIN	COL	SKC	CHI	DAL
	3–1	5–2	2–1	0–0	2–2	1–2	1–3	0–3	4–0	3–2	0–1	2–2	1–2	0–0	2–0	0–0	CAN	2–2	1–0	2–1	CAN	2–2	3–0
Montreal Impact (MTL)	NE	DAL	NE	TOR	DC	VAN	TOR	TOR	TOR	VAN	VAN	PHI	NE	NY	CHI	CLB	PHI	NE	MIA	NYC	NSH	ORL	DC
	2–1	2–2	0–1	3–4	1–0	2–0	0–1	1–0	1–2	4–2	1–3	1–4	1–3	1–4	2–2	2–1	1–2	2–3	2–1	1–3	0–1	0–1	3–2
Nashville SC (NSH)	ATL	POR	DAL	DAL	ATL	ORL	MIA	ORL	MIA	ATL	CLB	DC	HOU	NE	MIN	SKC	HOU	DAL	NE	MTL	CHI	DAL	ORL
	1–2	0–1	1–0	0–0	0–2	1–3	1–0	1–1	0–0	4–2	0–2	1–0	1–1	0–0	0–0	1–2	3–1	3–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–1	3–2
New England Revolution (NE)	MTL	CHI	MTL	DC	TOR	PHI	DC	NY	NYC	CHI	PHI	NYC	MTL	DC	NSH	TOR	NYC	MTL	PHI	NSH	NY	DC	PHI
	1–2	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	0–0	2–1	1–1	0–2	2–1	1–2	0–0	3–1	2–0	0–0	0–1	2–1	3–2	1–2	1–1	0–1	4–3	0–2
New York City FC (NYC)	CLB	TOR	PHI	ORL	MIA	NY	CLB	CHI	NE	DC	CIN	NE	TOR	CIN	MIA	DC	NE	ORL	CLB	MTL	TOR	NY	CHI
	0–1	0–1	0–1	1–3	1–0	0–1	1–0	3–1	2–0	0–0	2–1	0–0	0–1	4–0	3–2	4–1	1–2	1–1	1–3	3–1	1–0	5−2	4–3
New York Red Bulls (NY)	CIN	RSL	ATL	CLB	CIN	NYC	PHI	NE	DC	PHI	DC	CIN	MIA	MTL	ORL	MIA	ATL	TOR	ORL	CHI	NE	NYC	TOR
	3–2	1–1	1–0	0–2	0–2	1–0	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–3	2–0	0–1	4–1	4–1	1–3	1–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–0	2–5	2–1
Orlando City SC (ORL)	RSL	COL	MIA	NYC	PHI	MIA	NSH	ATL	NSH	ATL	MIA	CHI	SKC	DAL	NY	ATL	NYC	NY	MIA	ATL	MTL	CLB	NSH
	0–0	1–2	2–1	3–1	1–1	2–3	3–1	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	4–1	2–1	0–0	3–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–2	4–1	1–0	2–1	2–3
Philadelphia Union (PHI)	DAL	LFC	NYC	MIA	ORL	NE	NY	DC	CLB	NY	NE	MTL	CIN	MIA	TOR	CIN	MTL	DC	NE	TOR	CHI	CLB	NE
	0–2	3–3	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	4–1	0–1	3–0	2–1	4–1	0–0	3–0	1–2	3–0	2–1	2–2	2–1	5–0	2–1	1–2	2–0
Portland Timbers (POR)	MIN	NSH	LA	HOU	LFC	SEA	RSL	LA	SEA	LFC	SJ	SJ	SEA	VAN	LA	SJ	RSL	LFC	SEA	LA	VAN	COL	LFC
	1–3	1–0	2–1	2–1	2–2	0–3	4–4	2–3	2–1	2–4	1–1	6–1	1–0	1–0	6–3	3–0	1–2	1–1	1–1	5–2	1–0	0–1	1–1
Real Salt Lake (RSL)	ORL	NY	COL	MIN	SKC	COL	POR	SEA	MIN	LFC	COL	VAN	LA	MIN	LFC	SEA	VAN	POR	COL	DAL	SJ	LA	SKC
	0–0	1–1	2–0	0–0	0–2	4–1	4–4	2–2	0–4	3–0	0–5	1–2	2–0	0–0	1–3	1–2	1–2	2–1	CAN	0–0	0–2	1–2	0–2
San Jose Earthquakes (SJ)	TOR	MIN	SEA	VAN	CHI	LA	LFC	COL	SEA	LA	POR	POR	COL	LFC	LA	VAN	POR	LA	SEA	VAN	RSL	LFC	SEA
	2–2	2–5	0–0	4–3	2–0	2–3	1–5	1–1	1–7	0–0	1–1	1–6	0–5	2–1	2–1	3–0	0–3	4–0	0–0	1–2	2–0	3–2	1–4
Seattle Sounders FC (SEA)	CHI	CLB	SJ	CHI	VAN	POR	LFC	RSL	POR	SJ	LFC	POR	LA	VAN	RSL	LFC	COL	SJ	POR	VAN	COL	LA	SJ
	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–2	3–0	3–0	3–1	2–2	1–2	7–1	3–0	0–1	3–1	3–1	2–1	1–3	CAN	0–0	1–1	2–0	1–3	1–1	4–1
Sporting Kansas City (SKC)	VAN	HOU	MIN	COL	RSL	MIN	HOU	DAL	HOU	MIN	DAL	ORL	COL	HOU	CHI	NSH	DAL	CHI	COL	COL	CIN	MIN	RSL
	3–1	4–0	1–2	3–2	2–0	2–1	2–5	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–0	2–3	1–2	2–1	1–0	2–1	0–1	2–2	CAN	4–0	1–0	CAN	2–0
Toronto FC (TOR)	SJ	NYC	DC	MTL	NE	VAN	VAN	MTL	MTL	VAN	MTL	DC	NYC	CLB	PHI	NE	CIN	NY	ATL	PHI	NYC	MIA	NY
	2–2	1–0	2–2	4–3	0–0	3–0	1–0	1–0	0–1	2–3	2–1	2–2	1–0	3–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	0–5	0–1	2–1	1–2
Vancouver Whitecaps FC (VAN)	SKC	LA	SJ	SEA	CHI	TOR	TOR	MTL	TOR	MTL	MTL	RSL	LFC	POR	SEA	SJ	RSL	LFC	LA	SJ	SEA	POR	LA
	1–3	1–0	3–4	0–3	2–0	0–3	0–1	0–2	3–2	2–4	3–1	2–1	0–6	0–1	1–3	0–3	2–1	2–1	0–1	2–1	0–2	0–1	3–0

Playoffs

Main article: 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs

First round November 21–22, 24

Conference semifinals November 29, December 1–3

Conference finals December 6–7

MLS Cup December 12

E1

Philadelphia Union

0

E8

New England Revolution

2

E8

New England Revolution

3

E4

Orlando City SC

1

E4

Orlando City SC (p)

1 (6)

E5

New York City FC

1 (5)

E8

New England Revolution

0

Eastern Conference

E3

Columbus Crew SC

1

E3

Columbus Crew SC

3

E6

New York Red Bulls

2

E3

Columbus Crew SC (a.e.t.)

2

E7

Nashville SC

0

E2

Toronto FC

0

E7

Nashville SC (a.e.t.)

1

E3

Columbus Crew SC

3

W2

Seattle Sounders FC

0

W1

Sporting Kansas City (p)

3 (3)

W8

San Jose Earthquakes

3 (0)

W1

Sporting Kansas City

0

W4

Minnesota United FC

3

W4

Minnesota United FC

3

W5

Colorado Rapids

0

W4

Minnesota United FC

2

Western Conference

W2

Seattle Sounders FC

3

W3

Portland Timbers

1 (7)

W6

FC Dallas (p)

1 (8)

W6

FC Dallas

0

W2

Seattle Sounders FC

1

W2

Seattle Sounders FC

3

W7

Los Angeles FC

1

Note: The higher-seeded team hosted matches in the first three rounds. The team with the better regular season record hosted the final.
Source: 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs Bracket

Attendance

See also: Major League Soccer attendance

No fans were allowed into FC Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium during 2020 home matches.

Due to the pandemic, some games early in the season were played with low attendance, and games later in the season were played without fans, or with artificially reduced attendance. Individual teams could set their own attendance limits based on their local, regional and state regulations during the pandemic.^[46]

Average home attendances

As of November 8, 2020^[47]

Games without fans are not counted in averages or games played.

Pos.	Team	GP	Cumulative	High	Low	Mean
1	Atlanta United FC	3	81,580	69,301	6,130	27,193
2	Nashville SC	6	77,552	59,069	3,478	12,925
3	Seattle Sounders FC	2	73,206	40,126	33,080	36,603
4	FC Dallas	10	55,274	16,219	222	5,527
5	Portland Timbers	2	50,736	25,518	25,218	25,368
6	Real Salt Lake	9	48,012	18,093	2,770	5,335
7	Los Angeles FC	2	44,233	22,121	22,112	22,117
8	D.C. United	2	34,115	17,183	16,932	17,058
9	Houston Dynamo FC	7	34,003	22,039	1,328	4,858
10	San Jose Earthquakes	2	30,223	18,000	12,223	15,112
11	Orlando City SC	2	28,530	25,527	3,003	14,265
12	Toronto FC	2	27,565	26,171	1,394	13,783
13	LA Galaxy	1	26,382	26,382	26,382	26,382
14	Columbus Crew SC	7	26,329	17,473	1,500	3,761
15	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	1	22,120	22,120	22,120	22,120
16	Montreal Impact	4	21,506	21,006	250	5,439
17	Sporting Kansas City	1	21,188	21,188	21,188	21,188
18	New York Red Bulls	1	15,703	15,703	15,703	15,703
19	New England Revolution	1	15,289	15,289	15,289	15,289
20	Colorado Rapids	1	13,062	13,062	13,062	13,062
21	Philadelphia Union	1	2,775	2,775	2,775	2,775
22	Inter Miami CF	1	2,216	2,216	2,216	2,216
23	Chicago Fire FC	0	0	0	0	0
24	FC Cincinnati	0	0	0	0	0
25	Minnesota United FC	0	0	0	0	0
26	New York City FC	0	0	0	0	0
–	Total	68	751,599	69,301	222	14,913

Note: Several additional matches had fans in attendance, but official figures have not yet been reported: Sporting Kansas City (8 home matches), Orlando City (8), FC Dallas (2), Philadelphia Union (3), Real Salt Lake (1), and Inter Miami CF (1).

Highest attendances

Regular season

Rank	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance	Date	Week	Stadium
1	Atlanta United FC	2–1	FC Cincinnati	69,301	March 7, 2020	2	Mercedes-Benz Stadium
2	Nashville SC	1–2	Atlanta United FC	59,069	February 29, 2020	1	Nissan Stadium
3	Seattle Sounders FC	2–1	Chicago Fire FC	40,126	March 1, 2020	1	CenturyLink Field
4	Seattle Sounders FC	1–1	Columbus Crew SC	33,080	March 7, 2020	2	CenturyLink Field
5	LA Galaxy	0–1	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	26,382	March 7, 2020	2	Dignity Health Sports Park
6	Toronto FC	1–0	New York City FC	26,171	March 7, 2020	2	BMO Field
7	Orlando City SC	0–0	Real Salt Lake	25,527	February 29, 2020	1	Exploria Stadium
8	Portland Timbers	1–0	Nashville SC	25,518	March 8, 2020	2	Providence Park
9	Portland Timbers	0–0	Minnesota United FC	25,218	February 29, 2020	1	Providence Park
10	Los Angeles FC	1–0	Inter Miami CF	22,121	March 1, 2020	1	Banc of California Stadium

COVID-19 restrictions

Following the resumption of league play, some teams played either behind closed doors or with limited capacity based on local and state regulations.

Team	Spectators	Limitations	Source(s)
Atlanta United	Some	All home matches from August 15, 2020, to September 30, 2020, played without spectators. Matches from October 1, 2020, onward capped at 15% capacity.
Chicago Fire	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played without spectators.
Colorado Rapids	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played without spectators.
Columbus Crew	Some	Regular season matches played without spectators, some playoff matches played at 7.5% capacity.
D.C. United	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played without spectators.
FC Cincinnati	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played without spectators.
FC Dallas	All	Capped at 10% at the resumption of league play, increased to 25% effective September 1, 2020.
Houston Dynamo	Some	Some matches played without spectators, some matches with 12% capacity limit.
LA Galaxy	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played without spectators.
Los Angeles FC	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played without spectators.
Inter Miami	Some	All home matches from August 15, 2020, to October 15, 2020, played without spectators. Matches from October 16, 2020, onward capped at 15% capacity.
Minnesota United	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played without spectators.
Montreal Impact	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey due to travel restrictions. Matches were played without spectators.
Nashville SC	Some	All home matches from August 15, 2020, to September 30, 2020, played without spectators. Matches from October 1, 2020, onward capped at 5% capacity.
New England Revolution	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played without spectators.
New York City FC	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played without spectators.
New York Red Bulls	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played without spectators.
Orlando City	All	Capped at 20% at the resumption of league play, increased to 25% effective October 1, 2020.
Philadelphia Union	Some	All home matches from August 15, 2020, to October 31, 2020, played without spectators. Matches from November 1, 2020, onward capped at 18% capacity.
Portland Timbers	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played without spectators.
Real Salt Lake	All	Capped at 20% at the resumption of league play, remained at 20% for the rest of the season.
San Jose Earthquakes	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played without spectators.
Seattle Sounders	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played without spectators.
Sporting Kansas City	All	Capped at 10% at the resumption of league play, increased to 15% effective November 15, 2020.
Toronto FC	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played at Pratt & Whitney Stadium in East Hartford, Connecticut due to travel restrictions. Matches were played without spectators.
Vancouver Whitecaps	None	All home matches from August 15, 2020, onward played at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon due to travel restrictions. Matches were played without spectators.

Player statistics

See also: Major League Soccer § Player records

Goals Rank Player Club Goals[48] 1 Diego Rossi Los Angeles FC 14 2 Robert Berić Chicago Fire FC 12 Raúl Ruidíaz Seattle Sounders FC Gyasi Zardes Columbus Crew SC 5 Jordan Morris Seattle Sounders FC 10 Chris Mueller Orlando City SC Cristian Pavón LA Galaxy 8 Ayo Akinola Toronto FC 9 Kevin Molino Minnesota United FC Alejandro Pozuelo Toronto FC

Assists Rank Player Club Assists[49] 1 Nicolás Lodeiro Seattle Sounders FC 10 Alejandro Pozuelo Toronto FC Darwin Quintero Houston Dynamo FC 4 Cristian Espinoza San Jose Earthquakes 9 5 Yimmi Chará Portland Timbers 8 Lewis Morgan Inter Miami CF Jordan Morris Seattle Sounders FC Mauricio Pereyra Orlando City SC Pedro Santos Columbus Crew SC 10 Brenden Aaronson Philadelphia Union 7 Djordje Mihailovic Chicago Fire FC Chris Mueller Orlando City SC Cristian Pavón LA Galaxy Emanuel Reynoso Minnesota United FC Brian Rodríguez Los Angeles FC Diego Valeri Portland Timbers

Shutouts

Rank	Player	Club	Shutouts[50]
1	Joe Willis	Nashville SC	9
2	Andre Blake	Philadelphia Union	8
3	Sean Johnson	New York City FC	7
	Jimmy Maurer	FC Dallas
	Tim Melia	Sporting Kansas City
	Eloy Room	Columbus Crew SC
7	Stefan Frei	Seattle Sounders FC	6
	Brad Guzan	Atlanta United FC
	Dayne St. Clair	Minnesota United FC
	Matt Turner	New England Revolution
	Quentin Westberg	Toronto FC

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Major League Soccer hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Score	Date
Ayo Akinola	Toronto FC	Montreal Impact	4−3	July 16
Diego Rossi4	Los Angeles FC	LA Galaxy	6−2	July 18
Santiago Mosquera	FC Dallas	Colorado Rapids	4–1	September 16
Sergio Santos	Philadelphia Union	Toronto FC	5−0	October 24
Valentín Castellanos	New York City FC	New York Red Bulls	5−2	November 1

⁴ Scored 4 goals

Awards

Player of the Month

Main article: MLS Player of the Month

Month	Player	Club	Stats	Ref
August	Daryl Dike	Orlando City SC	5 GP, 6 G, 2 A	[51]
September	Alejandro Pozuelo	Toronto FC	6 GP, 4 G, 2 A	[52]
October & November	Valentín Castellanos	New York City FC	8 GP, 6 G, 3 A	[53]

Player / Team of the Week

• Bold denotes League Player of the Week.

Team of the Week
Week	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Bench	Coach
1 [54][55]	Vermeer (LAFC)	Alanís (SJ) Struna (HOU) Duncan (NY)	Valot (NY) Molino (MIN) Kinda (SKC) Finlay (MIN)	Morris (SEA) Pavón (LA) Vela (LAFC)	Robles (MIA) Segura (LAFC) T. Santos (DAL) Price (COL) Barco (ATL) Zelarayán (CLB) Urruti (MTL)	Robin Fraser (COL)
2 [56][57]	Blake (PHI)	Adnan (VAN) Brillant (DC) Opara (MIN) Rosenberry (COL)	Barco (ATL) G. Martínez (ATL) Greguš (MIN) Kinda (SKC)	Achara (TOR) Pulido (SKC)	Clark (POR) Župarić (POR) Glesnes (PHI) Artur (CLB) T. Santos (DAL) Aaronson (PHI) Ricketts (VAN)	Peter Vermes (SKC)
MLS is Back – Round 1 [58]	Blake (PHI)	Brillant (DC) Glad (RSL) Duncan (NY)	Rodríguez (HOU) Nagbe (CLB) Zelarayán (CLB) Molino (MIN)	Zardes (CLB) Akinola (TOR) Bou (NE)	Guzan (ATL) Blanco (POR) McKenzie (PHI) Yueill (SJ) Pozuelo (TOR) Gil (NE) Rossi (LAFC)	Caleb Porter (CLB)
MLS is Back – Round 2 [59]	Gallese (ORL)	Laryea (TOR) Pineda (CHI) Mensah (CLB)	Pozuelo (TOR) Nagbe (CLB) Aaronson (PHI) Mueller (ORL)	Rossi (LAFC) Ebobisse (POR) Akinola (TOR)	MacMath (RSL) Mabiala (POR) Herrera (RSL) Rosell (ORL) Alonso (MIN) Zelarayán (CLB) Amaya (CIN)	Óscar Pareja (ORL)
MLS is Back – Round 3 [60]	Turner (NE)	Lima (SJ) McKenzie (PHI) Watson (CIN) Tinnerholm (NYC)	Morris (SEA) Vera (HOU) Finlay (MIN) Reyna (VAN)	Ebobisse (POR) Pulido (SKC)	Blake (PHI) Veselinović (VAN) Alonso (MIN) Nagbe (CLB) Kubo (CIN) Tajouri-Shradi (NYC) Lewis (COL)	Jaap Stam (CIN)
6 [61][62]	Turner (NE)	Kessler (NE) Hedges (DAL) Duncan (NY)	Araujo (LA) Chang (RSL) Nagbe (CLB) G. Martínez (ATL) Pavón (LA)	Ruidíaz (SEA) Piatti (TOR)	Maurer (DAL) Onuoha (RSL) Pozuelo (TOR) Monteiro (PHI) Busio (SKC) Etienne (CLB) Carranza (MIA)	Freddy Juarez (RSL)
7 & 8 [63][64]	Turner (NE)	Tinnerholm (NYC) Van der Werff (CIN) Moutinho (ORL)	Picault (DAL) Urso (ORL) Ring (NYC) Morris (SEA)	Mueller (ORL) Przybyłko (PHI) Baird (RSL)	Gallese (ORL) Pineda (CHI) Lletget (LA) Pozuelo (TOR) Lappalainen (MTL) Quintero (HOU) Dike (ORL)	Óscar Pareja (ORL)
9 [65][66]	Diop (MTL)	Camacho (MTL) Pines (DC) Watson (CIN)	Gerso (SKC) Corona (LA) Pavón (LA)	Quintero (HOU) Lassiter (HOU) Rossi (LAFC)	Seitz (DC) González Pírez (MIA) Zelarayán (CLB) Leal (NSH) Elis (HOU) Héber (NYC) Sorga (DC)	Tab Ramos (HOU)
10 [67][68]	Bingham (LA)	Adnan (VAN) Glesnes (PHI) Matarrita (NYC)	Lod (MIN) Williamson (POR) Lletget (LA) Molino (MIN)	Bunbury (NE) Zardes (CLB) Pavón (LA)	Hasal (VAN) Brillant (DC) Baldisimo (VAN) Aaronson (PHI) Elis (HOU) Jahn (ATL) Bassett (COL)	Jim Curtin (PHI)
11 [69][70]	Meara (NY)	Tinnerholm (NYC) Abubakar (COL) McKenzie (PHI)	Jones (SEA) Fontana (PHI) McCarty (NSH) Morris (SEA)	Rubio (COL) Zardes (CLB) Ruidíaz (SEA)	Zobeck (DAL) Long (NY) Kaye (LAFC) Morgan (MIA) Molino (MIN) Namli (COL) Quioto (MTL)	Gary Smith (NSH)
12 [71][72]	Gallese (ORL)	Hagglund (CIN) Chanot (NYC) Mensah (CLB)	Valeri (POR) Medunjanin (CIN) Lodeiro (SEA) Mosquera (DAL)	Przybyłko (PHI) Montero (VAN) Jara (DAL)	Johnson (NYC) McKenzie (PHI) D. Chará (POR) Russell (SKC) Nani (ORL) Shea (MIA) Bassett (COL)	Marc Dos Santos (VAN)
13 [73][74]	Clark (POR)	Calvo (CHI) Meza (ATL) Kessler (NE) Bornstein (CHI)	Santos (CLB) Zelarayán (CLB) Bassett (COL) Medrán (CHI) Nani (ORL)	Wright-Phillips (LAFC)	Bono (TOR) Pettersson (CIN) Glesnes (PHI) Price (COL) Godoy (NSH) Herbers (CHI) Kaye (LAFC)	Raphaël Wicky (CHI)
14 [75][76]	Putna (RSL)	Laryea (TOR) Tinnerholm (NYC) Duncan (NY)	C. Roldan (SEA) Yueill (SJ) Mitriță (NYC) Morris (SEA)	Bou (NE) Barlow (NY) Przybyłko (PHI)	Shuttleworth (CHI) Ziegler (DAL) Fontana (PHI) Herbers (CHI) Pereyra (ORL) Mora (POR) Ríos (NSH)	Greg Vanney (TOR)
15 [77][78]	Willis (NSH)	Tinnerholm (NYC) Kessler (NE) López (SJ)	Lennon (ATL) João Paulo (SEA) Mitriță (NYC) Pozuelo (TOR) Gallagher (ATL)	Pulido (SKC) Rossi (LAFC)	St. Clair (MIN) Hollingshead (DAL) Morgan (MIA) Urso (ORL) Pereyra (ORL) C. Roldan (SEA) Wright-Phillips (LAFC)	Óscar Pareja (ORL)
16 [79][80]	Guzan (ATL)	Struna (HOU) Yeimar (SEA) Reid (SKC)	Tajouri-Shradi (NYC) Ilsinho (PHI) Lodeiro (SEA) Y. Chará (POR)	Ebobisse (POR) G. Higuaín (MIA) Bojan (MTL)	Bono (TOR) Elliott (PHI) Marie (SJ) Parks (NYC) Espinoza (SJ) Akinola (TOR) Mora (POR)	Thierry Henry (MTL)
17 [81][82]	Clark (POR)	Nerwinski (VAN) McKenzie (PHI) Zavaleta (TOR) Harvey (LAFC)	Clark (NY) Ilsinho (PHI) Nguyen (NE) Medrán (CHI) Musovski (LAFC)	Niezgoda (POR)	Shuttleworth (CHI) Zimmerman (NSH) D. Chará (POR) Russell (SKC) Morgan (MIA) Cavallini (VAN) Mullins (TOR)	Bob Bradley (LAFC)
18 [83][84]	Rowe (ORL)	Lima (SJ) Hagglund (CIN) Adnan (VAN)	Clark (NY) Ricaurte (DAL) Parks (NYC) Kreilach (RSL)	Buksa (NE) Cavallini (VAN) Mukhtar (NSH)	Guzan (ATL) Parker (NY) Ruan (ORL) Asad (DC) Fierro (SJ) Montero (VAN) G. Higuaín (MIA)	Freddy Juarez (RSL)
19 [85][86]	Tarbell (CLB)	Odoi-Atsem (DCU) Pines (DCU) Bornstein (CHI)	Finlay (MIN) Bojan (MTL) Kinda (SKC) Piatti (TOR)	White (NY) Mora (POR) Koreniuk (LA)	St. Clair (MIN) Lima (SJ) Laryea (TOR) Mihailovic (CHI) Artur (CLB) Santos (CLB) Torres (LAFC)	Thierry Henry (MTL)
20 [87][88]	Blake (PHI)	Canouse (DCU) Zimmerman (NSH) González Pírez (MIA) Wagner (PHI)	D. Chará (POR) Moralez (NYC) Leal (NSH)	Musovski (LAFC) Pulido (SKC) Santos (PHI)	Maurer (DAL) Adnan (VAN) Fontàs (SKC) Morgan (MIA) Martínez (PHI) Przybyłko (PHI) Schoenfeld (MIN)	Jim Curtin (PHI)
21 [89][90]	Maurer (DAL)	Reynolds (DAL) Long (NY) Hollingshead (DAL)	Gressel (DCU) Leal (NSH) Reynoso (MIN) Y. Chará (POR)	Ruidíaz (SEA) Wondolowski (SJO) Dike (ORL)	Vermeer (LAFC) Segura (LAFC) Medina (NYC) Espinoza (SKC) Przybyłko (PHI) Rossi (LAFC) Niezgoda (POR)	Chad Ashton (DCU)
22 [91][92]	Room (CLB)	González (LA) Zimmerman (NSH) Vines (COL)	Buchanan (NE) Pereyra (ORL) Ricaurte (DAL) Picault (DAL)	Shinyashiki (COL) Castellanos (NYC) Bunbury (NE)	Gallese (ORL) Laryea (TOR) Pineda (CHI) Ring (NYC) Artur (CLB) Moreno (ATL) Y. Chará (POR)	Robin Fraser (COL)
23 [93]	Willis (NSH)	Métanire (MIN) Hedges (DAL) Pineda (CHI) Vines (COL)	Espinoza (SJ) Judson (SJ) Pereyra (ORL) T. Santos (DAL) Hollingshead (DAL)	Berić (CHI)	St. Clair (MIN) Wilson (COL) Acosta (COL) Lodeiro (SEA) Mueller (ORL) Hernández (LA) Wondolowski (SJ)	Matías Almeyda (SJ)
24 [94][95]	Bush (VAN)	Mensah (CLB) Glesnes (PHI) Reid (SKC)	Mukhtar (NSH) Martínez (PHI) Reynoso (MIN) Molino (MIN)	Quioto (MTL) Montero (VAN) Castellanos (NYC)	Meara (NY) Ambrose (MIA) Morgan (MIA) Monteiro (PHI) Lodeiro (SEA) Valeri (POR) Rubio (COL)	Jim Curtin (PHI)

Goal of the Week

Goal of the Week
Week	Player	Club	Ref
1	Emerson Hyndman	Atlanta United FC	[96]
MLS is Back – Round 1	Lucas Zelarayán	Columbus Crew SC	[97]
MLS is Back – Round 2	Frankie Amaya	FC Cincinnati	[98]
MLS is Back – Round 3	Gerso Fernandes	Sporting Kansas City	[99]
6	Pity Martínez	Atlanta United FC	[100]
7 & 8	Raúl Ruidíaz	Seattle Sounders FC	[101]
9	Pablo Ruíz	Real Salt Lake	[102]
10	Sebastian Lletget	LA Galaxy	[103]
11	Anthony Fontana	Philadelphia Union	[104]
12	Haris Medunjanin	FC Cincinnati	[105]
14	Richie Laryea	Toronto FC	[106]
15	Brooks Lennon	Atlanta United FC	[107]
16	Gonzalo Higuaín	Inter Miami CF	[108]
17	Erik Hurtado	Sporting Kansas City	[109]
18	Mark McKenzie	Philadelphia Union	[110]
19	Bojan	Montreal Impact	[111]
20	Ali Adnan	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	[112]
21	Andy Polo	Portland Timbers	[113]
22	Keegan Rosenberry	Colorado Rapids	[114]
23	Benji Michel	Orlando City SC	[115]
24	Mikey Ambrose	Inter Miami CF	[116]

End-of-season awards

Award	Winner (club)	Ref
Most Valuable Player	Alejandro Pozuelo (Toronto FC)	[117]
Defender of the Year	Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)	[118]
Goalkeeper of the Year	Andre Blake (Philadelphia Union)	[119]
Coach of the Year	Jim Curtin (Philadelphia Union)	[120]
Young Player of the Year[121]	Diego Rossi (Los Angeles FC)	[122]
Newcomer of the Year	Lucas Zelarayán (Columbus Crew SC)	[123]
Comeback Player of the Year	Bradley Wright-Phillips (Los Angeles FC)	[124]
Golden Boot	Diego Rossi (Los Angeles FC)	[125]
Humanitarian of the Year	Black Players for Change (Various)	[126]
Referee of the Year	Ismail Elfath	[127]
Assistant Referee of the Year	Kathryn Nesbitt	[128]
Goal of the Year	Darlington Nagbe (Columbus Crew SC)	[129]
Save of the Year	Eloy Room (Columbus Crew SC)	[130]

MLS Best XI

Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref
Andre Blake, Philadelphia	Mark McKenzie, Philadelphia Jonathan Mensah, Columbus Walker Zimmerman, Nashville SC	Brenden Aaronson, Philadelphia Diego Chará, Portland Nicolás Lodeiro, Seattle Alejandro Pozuelo, Toronto FC	Jordan Morris, Seattle Diego Rossi, LAFC Raúl Ruidíaz, Seattle	[131]

Player movement

Main article: List of Major League Soccer transfers 2020

Collective bargaining agreement

On February 6, 2020, MLS and the MLS Players Association agreed to a new five-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) which will last through the 2024 season.^[132] The primary issues negotiated were increased player spending, expanded free agency, and more charter travel.^[132]

The new collective bargaining agreement saw the league increase player spending to around $11.6 million per club by 2024, with both senior and reserve minimum salaries receiving increases throughout the deal as well as player bonuses for winning games and tournaments.^[132][133] The league also reduced Targeted Allocation Money by redistributing it into General Allocation Money.^[132] In addition, the players would earn a share in any increases in the league's new media deal in 2023.^[132]

The Players Association also negotiated a significantly lower threshold for free agency, which was previously set at 28 years of age with eight years of service time in the league. Under the new agreement, the free agency requirement for players was set at 24 years of age, with five years of service time.^[133] The number of charter flights allowed for each team was increased from four legs to eight one-way trips in 2020, with future allowances up to 16 one-way trips by 2024.^[133] Each MLS team was also required to charter flights for all MLS Cup Playoffs matches and CONCACAF Champions League matches.^[133]

Year	Salary budget	Standard minimum salary	Reserve minimum	DP threshold	General Allocation Money per team	Targeted Allocation Money per team	Total spending bar per team
2020	$4,900,000	$81,375	$63,547	$612,500	$1,525,000	$2,800,000	$9,225,000
2021	$5,210,000	$85,444	$67,360	$651,250	$1,900,000	$2,720,000	$9,830,000
2022	$5,470,000	$89,716	$71,401	$683,750	$2,585,000	$2,400,000	$10,455,000
2023	$5,950,000	$104,000	$80,622	$743,750	$2,830,000	$2,225,000	$11,055,000
2024	$6,425,000	$109,200	$85,502	$803,125	$3,093,000	$2,125,000	$11,643,000

SuperDraft

Further information: 2020 MLS SuperDraft

At the MLS SuperDraft in January every year, Major League Soccer teams select players who have graduated from college or otherwise been signed by the league.^[134] The first two rounds of the 2020 MLS SuperDraft took place on January 9, 2020, and, unlike previous drafts, was held without a major event ceremony and was instead streamed on Twitter via ESPN.^[134] The third and fourth rounds were held via conference call on January 13.^[134]

Inter Miami CF and Nashville SC, as expansion clubs, held the first two spots in the SuperDraft.^[134] Clemson Tigers forward Robbie Robinson was selected with the first-overall pick by Inter Miami.^[135]

Allocation ranking

The allocation ranking was the mechanism used to determine which MLS club had first priority to acquire a player who was in the MLS allocation list. The MLS allocation list contained select U.S. national team players and players transferred outside of MLS garnering a transfer fee of at least $500,000. The allocations were ranked in reverse order of finish for the 2019 season, taking playoff performance into account.^[136]

Once the club used its allocation ranking to acquire a player, it dropped to the bottom of the list. A ranking could be traded provided that part of the compensation received in return was another club's ranking. At all times each club was assigned one ranking. The rankings reset at the end of each MLS season.

Original ranking	Current ranking	Club	Date allocation used (Rank on that date)	Player signed	Previous club	Ref
24	1	Los Angeles FC[A]				[137]
2	2	Inter Miami CF
3	3	FC Cincinnati
4	4	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
5	5	Orlando City SC
6	6	Sporting Kansas City
7	7	Columbus Crew SC
8	8	Houston Dynamo FC
9	9	Montreal Impact
10	10	Chicago Fire FC
11	11	Colorado Rapids
12	12	San Jose Earthquakes
13	13	New England Revolution
14	14	FC Dallas
15	15	New York Red Bulls
16	16	Portland Timbers
17	17	D.C. United
18	18	Minnesota United FC
19	19	LA Galaxy
20	20	Real Salt Lake
21	21	Philadelphia Union
22	22	New York City FC
23	23	Atlanta United FC
1	24	Nashville SC[A]				[137]
25	25	Toronto FC
26	26	Seattle Sounders FC

1. ^
   On February 26, 2020, Los Angeles FC acquired the number 1 allocation ranking from Nashville SC in exchange for the number 24 allocation ranking, $350,000 in combined 2020 and 2021 general allocation money, and a second-round selection in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft.

MLS is Back Tournament

Main article: MLS is Back Tournament

To prevent an outbreak of COVID-19 occurring during the season, a bracket tournament, dubbed the "MLS is Back Tournament", was announced on June 10. The tournament took place behind closed doors at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex located in the Walt Disney World Resort, in Bay Lake, Florida, with the regular season slated to begin following the tournament. The group stage of the tournament counted towards the regular season. MLS announced its plan to restart the 2020 season with all 26 MLS clubs competing in the MLS is Back Tournament at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida beginning July 8. The tournament, which was played without fans in attendance, provided.a compelling way for MLS to resume its 25th season. On July 6, FC Dallas withdrew from the tournament due to ten players and one staff member of the club testing positive for COVID-19,^[138] after their opening match was initially postponed.^[139] On July 9, Nashville SC were also withdrawn from the tournament after nine players of the club tested positive for the virus,^[140] after their opening match was initially postponed.^[141]

Each team played three group stage matches, and those results counted in the 2020 MLS regular season standings. After 16 consecutive days of group stage matches, the top two teams from each group along with the four best third-place finishers, moved on to the knockout stage. The knockout stage included a round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the championship match which took place on August 11. Matches tied at the end of regulation in the knockout phase proceeded directly to a penalty shoot-out.

As MLS is Back Tournament winners, the Portland Timbers earned a spot in the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League. They replaced the berth previously awarded to the MLS regular season points leader in the conference opposite of the Supporters' Shield winner.

In addition to matches that counted in the regular season standings and the Champions League berth, players had the opportunity to earn additional bonuses as part of a $1.1 million prize pool.

Groups

Group A (East)	Group B (West)	Group C (East)
Group A results Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Orlando City SC (H) 3 7 2 Philadelphia Union 3 7 3 New York City FC 3 3 4 Inter Miami CF 3 0 Source: MLS[142] (H) Hosts	Group B results Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 San Jose Earthquakes 3 7 2 Seattle Sounders FC 3 4 3 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3 3 4 Chicago Fire 3 3 Source: MLS[142]	Group C results Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Toronto FC 3 5 2 New England Revolution 3 5 3 Montreal Impact 3 3 4 D.C. United 3 2 Source: MLS[142]
Group D (West)	Group E (East)	Group F (West)
Group D results Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Sporting Kansas City 3 6 2 Minnesota United FC 3 5 3 Real Salt Lake 3 4 4 Colorado Rapids 3 1 Source: MLS[142]	Group E results Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Columbus Crew SC 3 9 2 FC Cincinnati 3 6 3 New York Red Bulls 3 3 4 Atlanta United 3 0 Source: MLS[142]	Group F results Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Portland Timbers 3 7 2 Los Angeles FC 3 5 3 Houston Dynamo 3 2 4 LA Galaxy 3 1 Source: MLS[142]

Knockout

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

July 25

Philadelphia Union

1

July 30

New England Revolution

0

Philadelphia Union

3

July 26

Sporting Kansas City

1

Sporting Kansas City

0 (3)

August 5

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

0 (1)

Philadelphia Union

1

July 26

Portland Timbers

2

Toronto FC

1

August 1

New York City FC

3

New York City FC

1

July 28

Portland Timbers

3

Portland Timbers

1 (4)

August 11

FC Cincinnati

1 (2)

Portland Timbers

2

July 25

Orlando City SC

1

Orlando City SC

1

July 31

Montreal Impact

0

Orlando City SC

1 (5)

July 27

Los Angeles FC

1 (4)

Seattle Sounders FC

1

August 6

Los Angeles FC

4

Orlando City SC

3

July 27

Minnesota United FC

1

San Jose Earthquakes

5

August 1

Real Salt Lake

2

San Jose Earthquakes

1

July 28

Minnesota United FC

4

Columbus Crew SC

1 (3)

Minnesota United FC

1 (5)

See also

• COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
• COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
• Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports