MLS Final Standings by Year: 2018–2024 Conference Tables

This MLS standings by year archive contains the final Eastern and Western Conference tables for every completed season from 2018 through 2024. Each table shows a club's conference position, games played, wins, losses, draws, points and goal difference at the end of the regular season. These are fixed historical records—not a live table and not playoff results.

If you want this season's moving table, use the current MLS standings. Stay here when you need to check where a club finished in 2024, compare the 2022 conference leaders, understand the unusual 2020 table, or look back to 2018.

MLS standings by year: the quick history

The conference winner is the club listed first in its East or West table. The Supporters' Shield goes to the best overall regular-season record across both conferences, subject to the league's ranking rules. MLS Cup is different: it is awarded to the winner of the postseason. A club can therefore top the standings without winning MLS Cup.

Season	Eastern leader	Western leader	Best overall / Shield	Points
2024	Inter Miami CF	LAFC	Inter Miami CF	74
2023	FC Cincinnati	St. Louis CITY SC	FC Cincinnati	69
2022	Philadelphia Union	LAFC	LAFC	67
2021	New England Revolution	Colorado Rapids	New England Revolution	73
2020	Philadelphia Union	Sporting Kansas City	Philadelphia Union	47
2019	New York City FC	LAFC	LAFC	72
2018	New York Red Bulls	Sporting Kansas City	New York Red Bulls	71

Two seasons need extra context. In 2022, LAFC and Philadelphia both earned 67 points, but LAFC won the Shield because wins were the first tiebreaker: 21 to Philadelphia's 19. In 2020, disrupted and unequal schedules meant MLS ranked clubs by points per game rather than raw points. That is why the 2020 Western order cannot be reconstructed correctly by sorting the points column alone.

How to read these historical MLS tables

• GP means games played.
• W, L and D mean wins, losses and draws. MLS's record book labels draws as ties, or T; this page uses the more familiar D.
• PTS means standings points. During this period, a win was worth three points and a draw one.
• GD means goal difference: goals scored minus goals conceded.

The positions below preserve the official final order. Club names are expanded where the league record book uses a short label, so “Los Angeles” appears here as LA Galaxy and “New York” as New York Red Bulls. The statistics and rank order are unchanged.

2024 MLS final standings

Inter Miami finished first in the East and set a league record with 74 points, one more than New England's 2021 mark. LAFC and LA Galaxy both finished on 64 points in the West; LAFC held first place under the league's tiebreaking order. The 29-club league had 15 teams in the East and 14 in the West.

2024 Eastern Conference

Pos	Club	GP	W	L	D	PTS	GD
1	Inter Miami CF	34	22	4	8	74	+30
2	Columbus Crew	34	19	6	9	66	+32
3	FC Cincinnati	34	18	11	5	59	+10
4	Orlando City SC	34	15	12	7	52	+9
5	Charlotte FC	34	14	11	9	51	+9
6	New York City FC	34	14	12	8	50	+5
7	New York Red Bulls	34	11	9	14	47	+5
8	CF Montréal	34	11	13	10	43	-16
9	Atlanta United	34	10	14	10	40	-3
10	D.C. United	34	10	14	10	40	-18
11	Toronto FC	34	11	19	4	37	-21
12	Philadelphia Union	34	9	15	10	37	+7
13	Nashville SC	34	9	16	9	36	-16
14	New England Revolution	34	9	21	4	31	-37
15	Chicago Fire FC	34	7	18	9	30	-22

2024 Western Conference

Pos	Club	GP	W	L	D	PTS	GD
1	LAFC	34	19	8	7	64	+20
2	LA Galaxy	34	19	8	7	64	+19
3	Real Salt Lake	34	16	7	11	59	+17
4	Seattle Sounders FC	34	16	9	9	57	+16
5	Houston Dynamo FC	34	15	10	9	54	+8
6	Minnesota United FC	34	15	12	7	52	+9
7	Colorado Rapids	34	15	14	5	50	+1
8	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	34	13	13	8	47	+3
9	Portland Timbers	34	12	11	11	47	+9
10	Austin FC	34	11	14	9	42	-9
11	FC Dallas	34	11	15	8	41	-2
12	St. Louis CITY SC	34	8	13	13	37	-13
13	Sporting Kansas City	34	8	19	7	31	-15
14	San Jose Earthquakes	34	6	25	3	21	-37

2023 MLS final standings

FC Cincinnati's 69 points led the league and delivered the club's first Supporters' Shield. Expansion club St. Louis CITY SC won the West in its debut season with 56 points, an immediate regular-season result for the league's newest team.

2023 Eastern Conference

Pos	Club	GP	W	L	D	PTS	GD
1	FC Cincinnati	34	20	5	9	69	+18
2	Orlando City SC	34	18	7	9	63	+16
3	Columbus Crew	34	16	9	9	57	+21
4	Philadelphia Union	34	15	9	10	55	+16
5	New England Revolution	34	15	9	10	55	+12
6	Atlanta United	34	13	9	12	51	+13
7	Nashville SC	34	13	11	10	49	+7
8	New York Red Bulls	34	11	13	10	43	-3
9	Charlotte FC	34	10	11	13	43	-7
10	CF Montréal	34	12	17	5	41	-16
11	New York City FC	34	9	11	14	41	-4
12	D.C. United	34	10	14	10	40	-4
13	Chicago Fire FC	34	10	14	10	40	-12
14	Inter Miami CF	34	9	18	7	34	-13
15	Toronto FC	34	4	20	10	22	-33

2023 Western Conference

Pos	Club	GP	W	L	D	PTS	GD
1	St. Louis CITY SC	34	17	12	5	56	+17
2	Seattle Sounders FC	34	14	9	11	53	+9
3	LAFC	34	14	10	10	52	+15
4	Houston Dynamo FC	34	14	11	9	51	+13
5	Real Salt Lake	34	14	12	8	50	-2
6	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	34	12	10	12	48	+7
7	FC Dallas	34	11	10	13	46	+4
8	Sporting Kansas City	34	12	14	8	44	-3
9	San Jose Earthquakes	34	10	10	14	44	-4
10	Portland Timbers	34	11	13	10	43	-12
11	Minnesota United FC	34	10	13	11	41	-5
12	Austin FC	34	10	15	9	39	-6
13	LA Galaxy	34	8	14	12	36	-16
14	Colorado Rapids	34	5	17	12	27	-28

2022 MLS final standings

The 2022 race produced the closest possible split between conference leaders. Philadelphia had a dominant +46 goal difference and LAFC had +28, but both finished on 67 points. MLS used total wins before goal difference, so LAFC's 21 victories ranked above Philadelphia's 19 and secured the Shield.

LAFC later beat Philadelphia in the MLS Cup final after a 3-3 draw and penalty shootout. That double makes 2022 a useful example of why the table and the playoffs must be treated as separate competitions even when the same club wins both.

2022 Eastern Conference

Pos	Club	GP	W	L	D	PTS	GD
1	Philadelphia Union	34	19	5	10	67	+46
2	CF Montréal	34	20	9	5	65	+13
3	New York City FC	34	16	11	7	55	+16
4	New York Red Bulls	34	15	11	8	53	+9
5	FC Cincinnati	34	12	9	13	49	+8
6	Inter Miami CF	34	14	14	6	48	-9
7	Orlando City SC	34	14	14	6	48	-9
8	Columbus Crew	34	10	8	16	46	+5
9	Charlotte FC	34	13	18	3	42	-8
10	New England Revolution	34	10	12	12	42	-3
11	Atlanta United	34	10	14	10	40	-6
12	Chicago Fire FC	34	10	15	9	39	-9
13	Toronto FC	34	9	18	7	34	-17
14	D.C. United	34	7	21	6	27	-35

2022 Western Conference

Pos	Club	GP	W	L	D	PTS	GD
1	LAFC	34	21	9	4	67	+28
2	Austin FC	34	16	10	8	56	+16
3	FC Dallas	34	14	9	11	53	+11
4	LA Galaxy	34	14	12	8	50	+7
5	Nashville SC	34	13	10	11	50	+11
6	Minnesota United FC	34	14	14	6	48	-3
7	Real Salt Lake	34	12	11	11	47	-2
8	Portland Timbers	34	11	10	13	46	0
9	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	34	12	15	7	43	-17
10	Colorado Rapids	34	11	13	10	43	-11
11	Seattle Sounders FC	34	12	17	5	41	+1
12	Sporting Kansas City	34	11	16	7	40	-12
13	Houston Dynamo FC	34	10	18	6	36	-13
14	San Jose Earthquakes	34	8	15	11	35	-17

2021 MLS final standings

New England's 73 points were an MLS record at the time and 12 more than Western leader Colorado. Nashville competed in the East during this season, then moved to the West in 2022 before returning east after the arrival of St. Louis in 2023.

2021 Eastern Conference

Pos	Club	GP	W	L	D	PTS	GD
1	New England Revolution	34	22	5	7	73	+24
2	Philadelphia Union	34	14	8	12	54	+13
3	Nashville SC	34	12	4	18	54	+22
4	New York City FC	34	14	11	9	51	+20
5	Atlanta United	34	13	9	12	51	+8
6	Orlando City SC	34	13	9	12	51	+2
7	New York Red Bulls	34	13	12	9	48	+6
8	D.C. United	34	14	15	5	47	+2
9	Columbus Crew	34	13	13	8	47	+1
10	CF Montréal	34	12	12	10	46	+2
11	Inter Miami CF	34	12	17	5	41	-17
12	Chicago Fire FC	34	9	18	7	34	-18
13	Toronto FC	34	6	18	10	28	-27
14	FC Cincinnati	34	4	22	8	20	-37

2021 Western Conference

Pos	Club	GP	W	L	D	PTS	GD
1	Colorado Rapids	34	17	7	10	61	+16
2	Seattle Sounders FC	34	17	8	9	60	+20
3	Sporting Kansas City	34	17	10	7	58	+18
4	Portland Timbers	34	17	13	4	55	+4
5	Minnesota United FC	34	13	11	10	49	-2
6	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	34	12	9	13	49	0
7	Real Salt Lake	34	14	14	6	48	+1
8	LA Galaxy	34	13	12	9	48	-4
9	LAFC	34	12	13	9	45	+2
10	San Jose Earthquakes	34	10	13	11	41	-8
11	FC Dallas	34	7	15	12	33	-9
12	Austin FC	34	9	21	4	31	-21
13	Houston Dynamo FC	34	6	16	12	30	-18

Why the 2020 MLS standings are different

The 2020 season was interrupted and rebuilt around public-health restrictions. Clubs did not all finish with the same number of games, so MLS used points per game to determine the Supporters' Shield and conference order. Raw totals remain in the official record, but PPG explains the positions.

Philadelphia earned 47 points in 23 matches, or about 2.04 per game, and won the Shield. The West provides the clearest warning against sorting by points: Sporting Kansas City, Seattle and Portland each had 39 points, but they played 21, 22 and 23 matches respectively. Their PPG values put them in exactly that order. Colorado played only 18 matches, the smallest total in the table.

2020 Eastern Conference

Pos	Club	GP	W	L	D	PTS	GD
1	Philadelphia Union	23	14	4	5	47	+24
2	Toronto FC	23	13	5	5	44	+7
3	Columbus Crew	23	12	6	5	41	+15
4	Orlando City SC	23	11	4	8	41	+15
5	New York City FC	23	12	8	3	39	+12
6	New York Red Bulls	23	9	9	5	32	-2
7	Nashville SC	23	8	7	8	32	+2
8	New England Revolution	23	8	7	8	32	+1
9	CF Montréal	23	8	13	2	26	-10
10	Inter Miami CF	23	7	13	3	24	-10
11	Chicago Fire FC	23	5	10	8	23	-6
12	Atlanta United	23	6	13	4	22	-7
13	D.C. United	23	5	12	6	21	-16
14	FC Cincinnati	23	4	15	4	16	-24

2020 Western Conference

Pos	Club	GP	W	L	D	PTS	GD
1	Sporting Kansas City	21	12	6	3	39	+13
2	Seattle Sounders FC	22	11	5	6	39	+21
3	Portland Timbers	23	11	6	6	39	+11
4	Minnesota United FC	21	9	5	7	34	+10
5	FC Dallas	22	9	6	7	34	+4
6	LAFC	22	9	8	5	32	+8
7	San Jose Earthquakes	23	8	9	6	30	-16
8	Colorado Rapids	18	8	6	4	28	+4
9	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	23	9	14	0	27	-17
10	LA Galaxy	22	6	12	4	22	-19
11	Real Salt Lake	22	5	10	7	22	-10
12	Houston Dynamo FC	23	4	10	9	21	-10

2019 MLS final standings

LAFC's 72 points and +48 goal difference established a new league points record in the club's second season. New York City FC led the East with 64. The league had 24 clubs, divided evenly between the two conferences.

2019 Eastern Conference

Pos	Club	GP	W	L	D	PTS	GD
1	New York City FC	34	18	6	10	64	+21
2	Atlanta United	34	18	12	4	58	+15
3	Philadelphia Union	34	16	11	7	55	+8
4	Toronto FC	34	13	10	11	50	+5
5	D.C. United	34	13	10	11	50	+4
6	New York Red Bulls	34	14	14	6	48	+2
7	New England Revolution	34	11	11	12	45	-7
8	Chicago Fire FC	34	10	12	12	42	+8
9	CF Montréal	34	12	17	5	41	-13
10	Columbus Crew	34	10	16	8	38	-8
11	Orlando City SC	34	9	15	10	37	-8
12	FC Cincinnati	34	6	22	6	24	-44

2019 Western Conference

Pos	Club	GP	W	L	D	PTS	GD
1	LAFC	34	21	4	9	72	+48
2	Seattle Sounders FC	34	16	10	8	56	+3
3	Real Salt Lake	34	16	13	5	53	+5
4	Minnesota United FC	34	15	11	8	53	+9
5	LA Galaxy	34	16	15	3	51	-1
6	Portland Timbers	34	14	13	7	49	+3
7	FC Dallas	34	13	12	9	48	+8
8	San Jose Earthquakes	34	13	16	5	44	-3
9	Colorado Rapids	34	12	16	6	42	-5
10	Houston Dynamo FC	34	12	18	4	40	-10
11	Sporting Kansas City	34	10	16	8	38	-18
12	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	34	8	16	10	34	-22

2018 MLS final standings

The New York Red Bulls won the Shield with 71 points, two ahead of Atlanta United. Sporting Kansas City led the West on 62. LAFC also made an immediate impact in its inaugural season, finishing third in the West with 57 points.

2018 Eastern Conference

Pos	Club	GP	W	L	D	PTS	GD
1	New York Red Bulls	34	22	7	5	71	+29
2	Atlanta United	34	21	7	6	69	+26
3	New York City FC	34	16	10	8	56	+14
4	D.C. United	34	14	11	9	51	+10
5	Columbus Crew	34	14	11	9	51	-2
6	Philadelphia Union	34	15	14	5	50	-1
7	CF Montréal	34	14	16	4	46	-6
8	New England Revolution	34	10	13	11	41	-6
9	Toronto FC	34	10	18	6	36	-5
10	Chicago Fire FC	34	8	18	8	32	-13
11	Orlando City SC	34	8	22	4	28	-31

2018 Western Conference

Pos	Club	GP	W	L	D	PTS	GD
1	Sporting Kansas City	34	18	8	8	62	+25
2	Seattle Sounders FC	34	18	11	5	59	+15
3	LAFC	34	16	9	9	57	+16
4	FC Dallas	34	16	9	9	57	+8
5	Portland Timbers	34	15	10	9	54	+6
6	Real Salt Lake	34	14	13	7	49	-3
7	LA Galaxy	34	13	12	9	48	+2
8	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	34	13	13	8	47	-13
9	Houston Dynamo FC	34	10	16	8	38	0
10	Minnesota United FC	34	11	20	3	36	-22
11	Colorado Rapids	34	8	19	7	31	-27
12	San Jose Earthquakes	34	4	21	9	21	-22

What changed from 2018 to 2024?

The biggest visible change is scale. The league grew from 23 clubs in 2018 to 29 in 2024. FC Cincinnati joined in 2019; Inter Miami and Nashville arrived in 2020; Austin joined in 2021; Charlotte entered in 2022; and St. Louis began play in 2023. Expansion also caused conference realignment, which is why a club such as Nashville does not always appear on the same side of this archive.

The points ceiling rose as well. The Shield winner climbed from 71 points in 2018 to LAFC's 72 in 2019, then New England's 73 in 2021 and Inter Miami's 74 in 2024. That sequence looks tidy, but 2020 should be excluded from a raw-points comparison because the schedule was shorter and unequal.

Another lesson is that goal difference does not always settle a tie. The 2022 Shield went to LAFC over Philadelphia on wins, even though Philadelphia had the much larger GD. Historical research should therefore preserve official rank order instead of re-sorting a table by a familiar European tiebreaking assumption.

Common questions about past MLS standings

Are these the playoff standings?

No. These are final regular-season conference tables. Qualification and seed positions flowed from the standings under each season's rules, but the postseason was a separate competition. Use the MLS playoffs page when you need the current bracket and postseason format.

Did the Supporters' Shield winner also win MLS Cup every year?

No. The Shield rewards the best regular-season record; MLS Cup rewards the playoff champion. LAFC won both in 2022, but that double is not automatic. For example, Inter Miami set the points record and won the 2024 Shield, while LA Galaxy won MLS Cup that year.

Why is 2024 not called the 2023/24 MLS table?

MLS seasons in this archive were played within one calendar year. The correct label is “2024 MLS standings,” not “2023/24.” Searches that use a split-year label often borrow the convention of European leagues and can surface the wrong season.

Why do some historical club names look different elsewhere?

Official record books sometimes use short forms, and clubs have changed branding. This archive expands obvious abbreviations for readability while preserving the historical records. It does not merge separate clubs or rewrite results.

Where can I find standings before 2018?

The league's official year-by-year record book extends back to the inaugural 1996 season. This page focuses on a coherent recent seven-season range so each table remains readable. Earlier seasons also require more explanation because conference structures, shootouts and points rules changed during MLS history.

The useful way to compare MLS seasons

Start with position and points, then check games played and the rules for that year. For 2018, 2019 and 2021–2024, every club shown played 34 matches, making raw-point comparisons straightforward. For 2020, use points per game and keep the disrupted schedule in view.

Finally, keep three achievements separate: winning a conference, posting the best overall regular-season record, and winning MLS Cup. They answer different questions. This archive preserves the first two; the playoff record answers the third.