There is just something about the MLS postseason that brings out the best from FIFA Club World Cup 2025 participants Seattle Sounders.
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The Sounders square off with Los Angeles FC in the Western Conference semi-finals
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Seattle are seeking their third MLS Cup crown
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Club World Cup 2025 participants have a storied history of knockout game success
November is the month when Major League Soccer’s play-offs kick into gear, with the Best-of-Three first round series done and dusted and the remaining eight teams left to do battle in a single game knockout round format.
For the Seattle Sounders, a team hoping to reach the knockouts at next year’s FIFA Club World Cup 2025™, it will feel just like home.
The Sounders have a long history of success in the MLS post-season, primarily dating back to their incredible title run in 2016 when they were bottom of the Western Conference in mid-season but caught fire and ended up lifting the MLS Cup. Since then, Seattle won the title again in 2019, reached the final in 2020 and made a run to the Western Conference semi-finals in 2023.
That all came amid their historical 2022 Concacaf Champions Cup triumph, as they became the first Concacaf club champion from MLS in 22 years, qualifying them for the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ on home soil.
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The 2024 season for Seattle has been eerily similar to the 2016 campaign. In mid-June, the Sounders were floundering, with only four victories through the first 17 weeks of the season. A 2-0 win over Minnesota United on 15 June sparked them on a second half run in which their defence has become the league’s best.
Seattle closed the league season with 12 wins from their final 17 matches, earning the fourth seed in the Western Conference play-offs. After surviving a stiff challenge in Round One from the Houston Dynamo in which they won both contests via penalty shootouts, the Sounders are now on familiar footing in the single game knockouts.
Many of the faces from eight years ago are the same. It all starts at the top with head coach Brian Schmetzer, who started as an interim coach in July 2016 after the dismissal of Sigi Schmid and steered the Sounders to the league crown. All these years later, Schmetzer is still the main man on the touchline and once again has his team peaking at the right time.
Jordan Morris, a fresh-faced young forward on the 2016 team, is one of several veteran strikers and despite missing the previous round against Houston due to injury, he is poised to return. In midfield, Cristian Roldan remains a crucial piece to the puzzle.
The versatile 29-year-old has played full-back, defensive midfielder and attacking midfielder all in the last few months and calmly shook off a stoppage-time own goal equaliser against Houston in Game 2 to bury his penalty in the shootout.
Goalkeeper Stefan Frei, whose save from a Jozy Altidore header in the 2016 final against Toronto FC remains one of the best in MLS history, is still a top shot-stopper in the league and completes a Seattle spine that has lent itself to years of stability and success.
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“This team is the closest team I’ve been a part of in my 10 years here, and you can sense that on the field,” said Roldan following the Houston series. “Guys buy in a little bit more, and that’s credit to our entire group, front office, staff and players.
“We come in here and we don’t have our best game, and we still get a result… The belief is there. And while our team might not be the most talented, we believe in the way we play, we defend as a group, and we make it difficult on teams.”
Next up for Seattle is a date with rivals Los Angeles FC. Seattle famously eliminated LAFC in the 2019 Western Conference final after LAFC had put together a record-setting regular season. Seattle once again eliminated the southern California aside in the 2020 post-season, only to see LAFC return the favour in 2023.
In 2024, LAFC have dominated the Sounders, winning all four meetings, two in MLS play, one in the Leagues Cup and one in the US Open Cup. But the calendar has turned to late autumn, meaning it’s 90 minutes of all or nothing in MLS.
It’s just where Seattle likes to be.
