Playoff clinching scenarios for MLS Decision Day: Postseason berths, seeds still in play

A number of MLS playoff berths and seeds are on the line for MLS Decision Day. Let's take a gander at the situation heading into the regular season's final games on Saturday. There are the teams that already have clinched playoff berths: All nine playoff spots in the Western Conference have been secured. Playoff seeds, however, are still in play. Most notably is the conference's No. 1 spot. The Galaxy can secure that with a win or draw against Houston Dynamo FC. LAFC needs a win, a Galaxy loss and an advantage in tiebreakers (total wins, goal differential, goals for, fewest disciplinary points per match, away goals differential, home goals for, or coin toss in event of a tie). There are two playoff spots in play in the Eastern Conference. D.C. United and CF Montréal both just need to win or draw to clinch playoff spots. Atlanta United and the Philadelphia Union can still sneak into a postseason berth, but need wins and a lot of help along the way. Orlando City SC and New York City FC still are playing for home-field advantage in the best-of-three Round 1 series. 2024 MLS standings: How the teams stack up entering final games • Inter Miami CF vs. New England Revolution, 6 p.m. ET • CF Montréal vs. New York City FC, 6 p.m. ET • New York Red Bulls vs. Columbus Crew, 6 p.m. ET What is the format for the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs? A total of 18 teams qualify for the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs — the top nine finishers from each conference. The eighth- and ninth-place finishers in each conference will play in wild-card matches. The top seven seeds qualify for the Round 1 best-of-three series. When do the MLS playoffs start? Here is the playoff schedule: Heading into MLS Matchday 38, these would be the MLS playoff matchups through the first round … MLS betting odds: Who is favorite to win championship? According to BetMGM, Inter Miami CF (+150) is the current favorite to win the 2024 league championship, followed by LA Galaxy (+500), Los Angeles FC (+600), Columbus Crew (+700), Real Salt Lake (+1600), Seattle Sounders FC (+1600) and FC Cincinnati (+1800). In all, seven MLS clubs have qualified for next year's Concacaf Champions Cup competition: ➤ Inter Miami CF: Via being among two next-best clubs in MLS Supporters' Shield standings ➤ Los Angeles FC: Via being Leagues Cup runners-up (also U.S. Open Cup winner) ➤ Sporting Kansas City: Via being a U.S. Open Cup finalis (if the U.S. Open Cup winner also holds another Concacaf Champions Cup qualification spot, the tournament's runner-up will earn a Concacaf Champions Cup spot) In all, MLS will have 10 teams in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup competition. We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY operates independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.