The fans and supporters of New York City FC have many reasons to be thankful this year. This work-in-progress NYCFC squad that many pundits picked to miss the playoffs at the start of the year not only made it to the postseason under first-year head coach Pascal Jansen, they're now one of just four Major League Soccer teams that remain in contention to win the title.
When New York City take the field at Chase Stadium on Saturday to face Inter Miami CF, it will be the team's third Conference Final since the league's return from COVID five years ago. That's not just an impressive run for NYCFC, it's the best showing in MLS: No other team have as many Conference Final appearances in that period of time.
In fact, New York City have been one of the most consistently competitive playoff teams these past five years. There is no such thing as an official aggregate table for the MLS Cup Playoffs, but when you compile results from across the league since 2021, you can see which teams tend to advance, giving their fans something to root for in November, and which teams crash out.
MLS | Postseason Record by Club 2021-25*
| Team | GP | W | L | G | GA | GD | G/90 | GA/90 | W% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | LAFC | 15 | 11 | 4 | 31 | 19 | 12 | 2.07 | 1.27 | 73.3% |
| 2. | New York City FC† | 15 | 11 | 4 | 22 | 13 | 9 | 1.47 | 0.87 | 73.3% |
| 3. | Philadelphia Union | 13 | 8 | 5 | 19 | 12 | 7 | 1.46 | 0.92 | 61.5% |
| 4. | FC Cincinnati | 13 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 18 | -5 | 1.00 | 1.38 | 53.8% |
| 5. | LA Galaxy | 7 | 6 | 1 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 3.00 | 1.00 | 85.7% |
| 6. | Columbus Crew | 11 | 6 | 5 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 2.00 | 1.27 | 54.5% |
| 7. | Seattle Sounders | 12 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 1.17 | 1.00 | 50.0% |
| 8. | Portland Timbers | 9 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 16 | -3 | 1.44 | 1.78 | 55.6% |
| 9. | Vancouver Whitecaps† | 10 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 1.80 | 1.50 | 50.0% |
| 10. | NY Red Bulls | 10 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 1.40 | 1.30 | 50.0% |
| 11. | Orlando City | 11 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 12 | -4 | 0.73 | 1.09 | 45.5% |
| 12. | Sporting Kansas City | 6 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 1.67 | 1.00 | 66.7% |
| 13. | Inter Miami† | 8 | 4 | 4 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 2.13 | 1.50 | 50.0% |
| 14. | Atlanta United | 9 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 18 | -6 | 1.33 | 2.00 | 44.4% |
| 15. | Minnesota United | 9 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 19 | -9 | 1.11 | 2.11 | 44.4% |
| 16. | San Diego FC† | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 2.25 | 0.75 | 75.0% |
| 17. | Houston Dynamo | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0.86 | 0.86 | 42.9% |
| 18. | Real Salt Lake | 10 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 13 | -4 | 0.90 | 1.30 | 30.0% |
| 19. | Austin FC | 5 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 12 | -6 | 1.20 | 2.40 | 40.0% |
| 20. | FC Dallas | 7 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 12 | -6 | 0.86 | 1.71 | 28.6% |
| 21. | Charlotte FC | 7 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 12 | -8 | 0.57 | 1.71 | 28.6% |
| 22. | Nashvile SC | 8 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 12 | -5 | 0.88 | 1.50 | 25.0% |
| 23. | Chicago Fire | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 1.67 | 2.00 | 33.3% |
| 24. | CF Montréal | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1.67 | 1.67 | 33.3% |
| 25. | New England Revolution | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 1.00 | 2.00 | 0.0% |
| 26. | Colorado Rapids | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 10 | -9 | 0.33 | 3.33 | 0.0% |
| 27. | St. Louis City | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 1.00 | 3.00 | 0.0% |
| 28. | San Jose Earthquakes | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.0% |
| 29. | DC United | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.0% |
| 30. | Toronto FC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.0% |
* Penalty shootouts are counted as wins or losses
† Currently active in 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs
The New York City faithful might not realize it, but their club are one of the best playoff teams in the league. After looking at the playoff data from this period – and counting penalty shootouts as wins or losses for the purposes of these tables – here are four observations about New York City's strong postseason form.
15 Games, 11 wins = 73.3%
New York City's deep postseason runs mean they play more games than and win more playoff games than almost any other team in MLS — since 2021, NYCFC have played 15 games and won 11 of them. (Four of those games were draws, for an official record of 8W-4D-3L.) The only other team to keep pace are LAFC, which also have 15 games and 11 wins. Philadelphia are behind with eight wins in 13 games.
Both NYCFC and LAFC have a win rate of 73.3%. That trails only LA Galaxy's 85.7% (thanks largely to their undefeated run to win MLS Cup last year), and San Diego FC's 75% (the expansion team have three wins and one loss in the current playoffs).
Andrew Leigh
Those are the elite clubs at the top of the league. Most competitive teams have win rates of around 50% — in the playoffs, good teams win about half of their games. Just look at Columbus Crew (54.5%), FC Cincinnati (53.3%), Seattle Sounders (50%), Red Bulls New York (50%), and Orlando City (45.5%).
Scan the bottom of the table, and you'll find teams that are tough opponents during the regular season but that fall apart in the playoffs. For example, Nashville SC have just two wins in eight games over four postseasons, or Charlotte FC have two wins in seven games over three postseasons. Then there are the teams that can't catch a break. See: New England Revolution and San Jose Earthquakes.
10 Road games, 8 wins = 80%
Maybe the most eye-catching stat is New York City's away record in the playoffs, which is an unbelievable 8W-2L — that works out to a win rate of 80%. (Three of those road games were draws, for an official record of 5W-3D-2L.) That would be impressive in any competition, but when you consider that this is the club's record in the playoffs, when the competition is strongest, and the pressure is at its most intense, an 80% win rate on the road is simply astonishing.
MLS | Postseason Road Games by Club 2021-25*
| Team | GP | W | L | G/90 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | New York City FC† | 10 | 8 | 2 | 80.0% |
| 2. | FC Cincinnati | 5 | 3 | 2 | 60.0% |
| 3. | Red Bulls NY | 6 | 3 | 3 | 50.0% |
| 4. | Portland Timbers | 5 | 2 | 3 | 40.0% |
| 5. | Seattle Sounders | 6 | 2 | 4 | 33.3% |
| 6. | Atlanta United | 7 | 2 | 5 | 28.6% |
| 7. | Real Salt Lake | 8 | 2 | 6 | 25.0% |
| 8.. | Columbus Crew | 6 | 1 | 5 | 16.7% |
| Minnesota United | 6 | 1 | 5 | 16.7% | |
| 9. | Orlando City | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20.0% |
| Vancouver† | 5 | 1 | 4 | 20.0% | |
| 10. | Nashville SC | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0.0% |
