It’s Championship Week with three titles and qualifications for 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup set to be handed out this Wednesday, September 25.
The 2024 Michelob Ultra Campeones Cup will feature the reigning MLS Cup presented by Audi champion Columbus Crew facing reigning LIGA MX champion Club América (7:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). Columbus previously won the 2021 Campeones Cup, 2-0, over Cruz Azul and could become the second team to win two Campeones Cup titles, joining Tigres UANL (2018, 2023).
It’s an all-MLS final in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the 13th time in the last 14 editions of the tournament, as Sporting Kansas City and LAFC battle in this year’s final at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles (10:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). In addition to $300,000 in prize money and a coveted trophy, Kansas City will look to tie the competition record of five titles with a win while LAFC hopes to leap over the final hurdle and secure another cup title, as they have dropped their last three finals appearances across Leagues Cup, MLS Cup, and Concacaf Champions Cup.
The TELUS Canadian Championship, which is in 17th edition, will feature an MLS champion for the 16th consecutive year. The Montréal Impact, before joining MLS in 2012, were the last non-MLS champion in 2008. Defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps FC hosts Toronto FC on Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET at BC Place for a shot at the title and a berth in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup. Vancouver is seeking its third straight title (2022, 2023) while Toronto last took home the trophy in 2020.
Matchday 34 saw Portland Timbers midfielder Evander potentially push the Landon Donovan MLS MVP conversations into the 10th round with his club-record 33rd goal contribution of the season.
The Brazilian playmaker deems himself a warrior, taking after his namesake, American boxing legend Evander Holyfield. The midfielder’s father named him after Holyfield following his infamous victories over Mike Tyson in 1996 and 1997. In the spirit of a warrior, Evander has clawed his way into consideration for the league’s most prestigious individual honor and backed head coach Phil Neville’s claim that he is the best No. 10 in MLS, even with the likes of Lionel Messi and Luciano Acosta among his competition.
Evander is tied with Acosta for the league-lead in assists with 18 and is the only player in MLS to produce at least 15 goals and 15 assists so far this season and one of only six in MLS history to accomplish the feat. He sits just four goals off MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi leader Christian Benteke (19) with four games remaining on Portland’s regular season schedule, and he is two assists short of becoming just the fourth player in league history to produce at least 20 assists in a single season.
Only one player in MLS history has produced at least 32 goal contributions in a single season and not been named MVP – Zlatan Ibrahimović (37) with the LA Galaxy in 2019 – but Evander has bobbed and weaved his way past every punch down the stretch to make his claim for the award.
The race for the 2024 MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi is heating up as the regular season approaches its conclusion. Below are the five primary contenders for the award:
- Christian Benteke (D.C. United, 19 goals, six assists): The six-foot-three Belgian has scored a league-high 19 goals in 2024, with his eight goals from headers – the latter figure tied for the fourth-highest single-season total since 2005. Since his MLS debut on Aug. 31, 2022, Benteke ranks third in the league with 34 goals, trailing Denis Bouanga (38) and Dániel Gazdag (37).
- Cristian ‘Chicho’ Arango (Real Salt Lake, 17 goals, 12 assists): With four games remaining, Arango has already tied RSL’s single-season scoring record with 17 goals as he looks to be the club’s first Golden Boot winner since Jeff Cunningham (2006). Arango (0.60) is one of four active players to average at least 0.6 goals per game since 2021 (min. 20 games played), joining Luis Suárez (0.74), Lionel Messi (0.71), and Cucho Hernández (0.61).
- Denis Bouanga (LAFC, 17 goals, 10 assists): Aiming to make history is LAFC’s Bouanga, who could become the first player in league history to win back-to-back Golden Boot awards and just the sixth to win it more than once. Bouanga would also become the fourth LAFC player to earn the honor in the last six seasons.
- Luis Suárez (Inter Miami CF, 17 goals, six assists): One of the most accomplished scorers in global history of soccer, Suárez’s 17 goals so far this season are the most in a single season in Miami’s brief history. Suárez’s pedigree ranges from Golden Boot awards in the Netherlands, England, and Spain as well as Best Striker honors in Brazil last year.
- Dániel Gazdag (Philadelphia Union, 17 goals, two assists): With three goals in his last two games, Gazdag has reentered the Golden Boot race after finishing in a tie for second in 2022. Since 2022, only one player has scored more goals than Gazdag in the months of September and October, and the Hungarian midfielder will look for another strong finish to secure the first Golden Boot in Philadelphia Union history.
*The first tiebreaker for the Golden Boot presented by Audi is assists, followed by the player with the fewest minutes played.
The conclusion of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro regular season rapidly approaches, and with it, the playoff picture has begun to take shape. With the playoff field almost finalized in the Western Conference, the drama continues to unfold in the Eastern Conference as seven teams battle for the remaining five playoff spots.
With just two weeks left in the regular season campaign, six teams in the Western Conference have clinched playoff berths, leaving only two spots remaining. North Texas SC led the march into the postseason by securing the Frontier Division title and No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. North Texas SC is joined by St Louis CITY2, LAFC2, Tacoma Defiance, and hybrid clubs The Town FC (San Jose Earthquakes) and Ventura County FC (LA Galaxy) in having punched their ticket to the postseason.
In the Eastern Conference, only FC Cincinnati 2, Philadelphia Union II ,and Orlando City B have clinched a playoff berth so far. Only two points separate fourth place from 10th in the East standings as seven teams compete for the last five spots with two matchdays remaining, setting the stage for plenty of twists and turns to decide the final playoff teams from the East.
As if the drama surrounding Decision Day (October 6) and final seeding isn’t enough, the potential for even more theatrics looms on Tuesday, October 8 when Pick-Your-Opponent returns to the MLS NEXT Pro Playoffs. That day the first three seeds in each conference will select who they will face in the opening round, ahead of the Conference Quarterfinals beginning the weekend of October 18th. More details on Pick-Your-Opponent Selections will be announced soon.
