MLS Cup 2019 was the 24th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), and took place on November 10, 2019, at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington, United States. The soccer match was contested by Seattle Sounders FC and Toronto FC to determine the champion of the 2019 season. It was a rematch of the 2016 and 2017 editions of the MLS Cup, which were won by Seattle and Toronto, respectively. This was the third final for both teams and the first MLS Cup to be hosted by the Sounders, as both of the previous Seattle–Toronto finals were held at BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The Sounders won 3–1 to claim their second MLS Cup title in front of 69,274 spectators at CenturyLink Field, which set a new stadium attendance record. They scored three goals in the second half, beginning with a deflected shot by Kelvin Leerdam and followed by strikes from substitute Víctor Rodríguez (later named the match MVP) and Raúl Ruidíaz. Jozy Altidore scored a late consolation goal for Toronto in stoppage time.
The match marked the conclusion of the 2019 MLS Cup Playoffs, which was contested by fourteen teams under a new single-elimination format that replaced the former two-legged ties. As a result, this was the earliest calendar date for the MLS Cup showdown since 2002. The defending MLS Cup champions, Atlanta United FC, were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by Toronto FC. As MLS Cup champions, Seattle qualified for the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League and the later-cancelled 2020 Campeones Cup.
Road to the final
The MLS Cup is the post-season championship of Major League Soccer (MLS), a professional club soccer league in the United States and Canada. The 2019 season was the 24th in MLS history and was contested by 24 teams organized into the Eastern and Western conferences. Each club played 34 matches during the regular season from March to October, facing each team in their conference twice and those in the other conference once. The playoffs, which ran from October to early November, were contested over four rounds by the top seven clubs in each conference. Each round had a single-elimination match hosted by the higher-seeded team, a change from the two-legged ties used in previous seasons; the top team in each conference was also given a bye to the Conference Semifinals. The shortened playoff schedule—made possible by removing second legs—moved the date of the final to November 10, its earliest staging since 2002.
The finalists, Seattle Sounders FC and Toronto FC, played each other in the MLS Cup final for the third time in four years, following their participation in the 2016 and 2017 finals. Both matches were hosted in Toronto, with the 2016 cup won by Seattle in a penalty shootout and the 2017 cup won by Toronto in regulation time. The two teams had met 14 times in regular season play, with the Sounders the winner in nine of those matches. Seattle and Toronto played each other once in the 2019 regular season; the Sounders won 3–2 at home in the April match.
Seattle Sounders FC
Seattle Sounders FC played in their third MLS Cup final in four seasons, having won in their first appearance in 2016 under manager Brian Schmetzer. The team had qualified for the playoffs in all of their eleven MLS seasons and finished as runner-up in MLS Cup 2017. In 2018, the team finished second in the Western Conference through a late-season winning streak but were knocked out by the Portland Timbers in the Conference Semifinals during a penalty shootout. During the 2019 offseason, the Sounders lost defensive midfielder and captain Osvaldo Alonso, who was released into free agency and signed by Minnesota United FC.
The Sounders made few offseason moves; they signed several homegrown players for use by their affiliate team and went winless in preseason matches. The team lost just one of its first thirteen matches of the season. In early May, the Sounders signed center-back Xavier Arreaga as a Designated Player and left-back Joevin Jones upon his return to the team from the 2. Bundesliga. Later that month, center-back Chad Marshall retired.
The team lost several players to injuries and international call-ups in June and had a three-match losing streak before recovering to win four matches in late June and early July. In early August, defender Román Torres received a ten-match suspension for violating the league's performance-enhancing substances policy. Also that month, the team went winless for four matches before a win against the Portland Timbers. Seattle won four of their last seven matches and clinched a playoff berth; they finished second in the Western Conference behind Los Angeles FC (LAFC), who won the Supporters' Shield and set league records for points and goal differential.
In the first round of the playoffs, Seattle hosted FC Dallas. Goals from Raúl Ruidíaz and Jordan Morris allowed Seattle to take a 2–1 lead in the first half; Dallas's Matt Hedges tied the match in the 64th minute, but Morris briefly restored the Sounders' lead before the match was tied 3–3 by the end of regulation time. In extra time, Morris completed his first career hat-trick with a goal in the 113th minute to cap a 4–3 victory. Seattle went on to host Real Salt Lake in the Conference Semifinals, winning 2–0 with a goal and assist from Nicolás Lodeiro in the second half. Gustav Svensson opened the scoring in the 64th minute by heading in a corner kick taken by Lodeiro. In the 81st minute, Lodeiro scored on a counterattack. The team extended their home playoff winning streak to eleven matches.
The Sounders traveled to play Los Angeles FC in the Western Conference Final at Banc of California Stadium. LAFC took the lead in the 17th minute through a free kick by Eduard Atuesta, but Seattle scored twice on transitions within nine minutes with goals by Ruidíaz and Lodeiro. In the second half, Ruidíaz scored his second from just outside the box. The team kept their lead and stifled the LAFC offense, led by MLS scoring leader Carlos Vela, to complete a 3–1 upset victory that returned the Sounders to the MLS Cup final.
Toronto FC
Toronto FC won their first MLS Cup in 2017 and completed the first domestic treble in MLS history, as they had also won the Supporters' Shield and Canadian Championship during the same season. The team finished the 2018 season in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, failing to qualify for the playoffs, and lost key players Sebastian Giovinco and Víctor Vázquez to teams in the Middle East. General manager of five years Tim Bezbatchenko also left the club to take on a role with Columbus Crew SC, but head coach Greg Vanney remained for his sixth season with Toronto.
During the preseason, Toronto's new general manager Ali Curtis signed several MLS returnees, including midfielder Nick DeLeon and defender Laurent Ciman. The club also acquired attacking midfielder Alejandro Pozuelo from Genk on a Designated Player contract. The club began their season in the CONCACAF Champions League, having qualified as the winners of the Canadian Championship; they lost 5–1 on aggregate to Panamanian club Club Independiente in the round of 16. Toronto opened the MLS regular season with three wins against Eastern Conference opponents, tying a franchise record for best start. In their next thirteen games, they earned only two more wins and went on an eight-match winless streak.
Several key players were called away to their national teams for the Gold Cup but returned to begin the second half of the season with four wins in eight matches by the end of July. During the summer transfer window, Toronto signed U.S. defender Omar Gonzalez on his return from Liga MX, Venezuelan midfielder Erickson Gallardo, and midfielder Nicolas Benezet on loan from French club Guingamp. Gonzalez's addition alongside Patrick Mullins provided additional depth for the team's defense, which had struggled during the Gold Cup window. In their last ten regular season matches, Toronto went undefeated with four wins and six draws, finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference. Forward Jozy Altidore left the final match of the regular season with a quadriceps injury that kept him out of the playoffs. The team also lost the Canadian Championship Final to the Montreal Impact in September, leaving them without a berth in the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League.
In the first round of the playoffs, Toronto hosted fifth-place D.C. United at BMO Field. They took a half-time lead through a goal by Marky Delgado, who capitalized on a goalkeeping mistake from Bill Hamid. Lucas Rodríguez equalized for D.C. in stoppage time at the end of the second half, forcing the match into extra time. Toronto then scored four unanswered goals, including two in the first five minutes from Richie Laryea and Jonathan Osorio. Osorio added his second in the 103rd minute and was followed two minutes later by Nick DeLeon to complete a 5–1 victory in the first half of extra time.
The team traveled to play top-seeded New York City FC (NYCFC) in the Conference Semifinals, earning a 2–1 victory at Citi Field. After a scoreless first half, Pozuelo scored two minutes into the second half after a misplayed header from New York's Maxime Chanot fell to him. NYCFC equalized through a shot by Ismael Tajouri-Shradi, who made a late run into the box in the 69th minute, but Toronto earned a penalty in the 90th minute that was converted by Pozuelo with a Panenka for a 2–1 win. Toronto continued to the Eastern Conference Final, where they faced defending MLS Cup champions Atlanta United FC at their home stadium. Atlanta took the lead in the fourth minute through a goal by Julian Gressel. Minutes later, Atlanta was awarded a penalty kick for a foul by Michael Bradley, but the 11th-minute penalty taken by Josef Martínez was saved by goalkeeper Quentin Westberg. Two minutes later, Benezet scored with a curling shot from the edge of the box to equalize for Toronto. Toronto completed their 2–1 upset victory with a strike from Nick DeLeon that beat goalkeeper Brad Guzan. The team reached the MLS Cup final, their third in four seasons, on a thirteen-match unbeaten streak across MLS competitions.
Summary of results Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away). Seattle Sounders FCRoundToronto FC2nd place in Western ConferenceRegular season4th place in Eastern ConferenceOpponentScoreMLS Cup PlayoffsOpponentScoreFC Dallas4–3 (H)First roundD.C. United5–1 (H)Real Salt Lake2–0 (H)Conference SemifinalsNew York City FC2–1 (A)Los Angeles FC3–1 (A)Conference FinalsAtlanta United FC2–1 (A)
Venue and preparations
MLS Cup 2019 was hosted by the Sounders at their home stadium, CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington. The Sounders had finished the regular season with six more points than Toronto and earned the right to host the final. It was the venue's second time as MLS Cup host, as it hosted the 2009 edition a decade prior as the neutral-site venue. The 69,000-seat stadium opened in 2002 as a shared venue for the National Football League's Seattle Seahawks and a future MLS team that became the Sounders seven years later.
The Sounders announced that they would open all seating areas in the stadium's upper deck for the MLS Cup final, making a total of 69,000 seats available, a change from earlier playoff games that were limited to 37,722 seats. Tickets were distributed to season ticket holders after the Eastern Conference Final, selling 50,000 seats, and were released for public sale beginning November1. The remaining tickets sold out within 20 minutes of the public release, including 3,000 allocated to away fans by the league. Prices for tickets on secondary markets peaked at an average of $622, surpassing all but one Seattle sporting event on SeatGeek. The club released a limited number of standing-room only tickets at the box office prior to the match; those also sold out.