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Nashville SC clinches MLS playoff berth after New York City FC beats New York Red Bulls
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- Nashville SC clinches MLS playoff berth after New York City FC beats New York Red Bulls
Nashville SC is headed back to the playoffs.
Nashville (15-11-5, 50 points) clinched a spot in the MLS playoffs thanks to New York City FC 's 3-2 win over the New York Red Bulls on Sept. 27. NYCFC's win ensured that the Red Bulls, who are the first team outside playoff position in the Eastern Conference, cannot mathematically catch Nashville with two games left to play.
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Nashville beat the Houston Dynamo 3-1 later in the evening, meaning that even if the Red Bulls had beaten NYCFC, Nashville would have clinched a playoff spot.
Now that it's officially headed to the postseason, Nashville can focus on avoiding the play-in game between the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds. NSC came into the game in seventh place in the East, ahead of the Columbus Crew on goal differential. It still has an outside chance to earn one of the top four seeds, who have home-field advantage for the best-of-three, first-round series.
Nashville reached the playoffs in each of its first four seasons in the league, one of only three teams in MLS history to do so, before finishing 13th in the Eastern Conference in 2024.
In 2020 and 2021, Nashville reached the Eastern Conference semifinals, losing to the Columbus Crew and Philadelphia Union after regulation in both games. In 2022, its only full season in the Western Conference, it lost in the first round to the LA Galaxy . Nashville was swept by Orlando City SC in 2023, the first year of MLS' new playoff format, which featured best-of-three first-round series.
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While Nashville was in second place in the East in July, it has slumped since then, going into its game against Houston having lost three straight league games and six of its past seven.
Nashville has two regular-season games remaining: At CF Montreal on Oct. 4 and vs. Inter Miami on Oct. 18.
MLS playoff schedule 2025
The MLS Cup playoffs begin Oct. 22 with wild-card games in both conferences. The best-of-three first round will take place between Oct. 24 and Nov. 9, while the remaining rounds are single elimination.
The conference semifinals are Nov. 22-23; the conference finals are Nov. 29-30; and the 2025 MLS Cup, the league's championship game, will take place on Dec. 6.
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MORE: Nashville SC to face Austin FC in US Open Cup final on Oct. 1
Games 1 and 3 of the first round, as well as the wild card, conference semifinals, conference finals and MLS Cup, will be hosted by the team with the better regular-season record.
Nine teams reach the playoffs in each conference. The eighth- and ninth-place teams will face off in the wild card round, with the winner advancing to face the No. 1 seed.
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on X/Twitter @Jacob_Shames .
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville SC clinches spot in MLS playoffs
