| League | Major League Soccer |
|---|---|
| Sport | Soccer |
| Founded | 1996 |
| No. of teams | 15 |
| Most recent champions | LA Galaxy (2024) (9th title) |
| Most titles | LA Galaxy (9 titles) |
TheWestern Conference is one ofMajor League Soccer's two conferences, along with theEastern Conference. The division of the conferences broadly follows the path of theMississippi River from theGreat Lakes to theGulf of Mexico, with clubs on, or west of the river in the Western Conference.
As of 2025, the Western Conference contains 15 teams. The conference has produced 11Supporters' Shield champions and 18MLS Cup winners in Major League Soccer's first 29 seasons. In 2000 and 2001, the conference was referred to as theWestern Division when Major League Soccer briefly reorganized into three divisions.
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| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego FC | 34 | 19 | 9 | 6 | 64 | 41 | +23 | 63 | Qualification forround one and theCONCACAF Champions Cup round one |
| 2 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 34 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 66 | 38 | +28 | 63 | Qualification forround one |
| 3 | Los Angeles FC | 34 | 17 | 8 | 9 | 65 | 40 | +25 | 60 | |
| 4 | Minnesota United FC | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 56 | 39 | +17 | 58 | |
| 5 | Seattle Sounders FC | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 58 | 48 | +10 | 55 | |
| 6 | Austin FC | 34 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 37 | 45 | −8 | 47 | |
| 7 | FC Dallas | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 52 | 55 | −3 | 44 | |
| 8 | Portland Timbers | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 41 | 48 | −7 | 44 | Qualification for thewild-card round |
| 9 | Real Salt Lake | 34 | 12 | 17 | 5 | 38 | 49 | −11 | 41 | |
| 10 | San Jose Earthquakes | 34 | 11 | 15 | 8 | 60 | 63 | −3 | 41 | |
| 11 | Colorado Rapids | 34 | 11 | 15 | 8 | 44 | 56 | −12 | 41 | |
| 12 | Houston Dynamo FC | 34 | 9 | 15 | 10 | 43 | 56 | −13 | 37 | |
| 13 | St. Louis City SC | 34 | 8 | 18 | 8 | 44 | 58 | −14 | 32 | |
| 14 | LA Galaxy | 34 | 7 | 18 | 9 | 46 | 66 | −20 | 30 | |
| 15 | Sporting Kansas City | 34 | 7 | 20 | 7 | 46 | 70 | −24 | 28 |
Western Conference memberEastern Conference memberCentral Division member
Changes from 1995: Creation of the Major League Soccer.
Changes from 1996: Kansas City changed their name fromWiz toWizards.
Changes from 1997:Chicago Fire was added in the 1998 expansion.
Changes from 1999: The Western Conference renamed itself the Western Division upon the creation of theCentral Division;Chicago Fire andDallas Burn moved into the new division; TheSan Jose Clash renamed to theEarthquakes.
Changes from 2001: The Western Division renamed back to Western Conference following the contraction of theMiami Fusion and theTampa Bay Mutiny, resulting in the disbanding of the Central Division; Dallas Burn moved in from the Central Division.
Changes from 2004:Chivas USA andReal Salt Lake were added in the 2005 expansion; Kansas City Wizards moved to theEastern Conference; TheDallas Burn renamed toFC Dallas.
Changes from 2005: TheSan Jose Earthquakes was put on hiatus; TheHouston Dynamo joined the league as an expansion franchise.
Changes from 2007: The San Jose Earthquakes return to MLS after its hiatus.
Changes from 2008:Seattle Sounders FC was added in the 2009 expansion.
Changes from 2010: The Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps FC were added in the 2011 expansion; Houston Dynamo moved to theEastern Conference.
Changes from 2014:Chivas USA ceases operations;Sporting Kansas City and theHouston Dynamo move in from the Eastern Conference.[1]
Changes from 2016:Minnesota United FC was added in the 2017 expansion.[2]
Changes from 2017:Los Angeles FC was added in the 2018 expansion.
Changes from 2019:Nashville SC was added in the 2020 expansion, but moved to the Eastern Conference since theMLS is Back Tournament up to the end of the2020 season.[3]
Changes from 2020: Nashville SC moved to the Eastern Conference;[4]Austin FC was added in the 2021 expansion; Houston Dynamo added "FC" to their name.
Change from 2021: Nashville SC moved in from the Eastern Conference.[5][6]
Changes from 2022: Nashville SC moved back to the Eastern Conference as expansion side St. Louis City SC was added to the Western Conference.[7]
Changes from 2024:San Diego FC was added in the 2025 expansion.[8]
Note: The conference finals were a best-of-three series through 2001 (including the MLS semifinals in 2000 and 2001, when a conference playoff format was not used). Matches tied after regulation were decided by ashoot-out. In 2002, a similar format was used except that draws were allowed and the team earning the most points advanced. From 2003 through 2011, the Finals were a single match. Matches tied after regulation went toextra time (Golden goal extra time was implemented for 2003 only), then a shoot-out if necessary. Beginning in 2012, the finals were atwo-match aggregate series. Theaway goals rule for series that finished even on aggregate was first implemented in 2014. Extra time and shoot-outs were used if necessary, although away goals did not apply in extra time. In 2019, the playoffs returned to a single match, single elimination format (including the conference finals), which were hosted by the higher placed team in the regular season.
From 2015 to 2021, the Western Conference was represented in theMLS Cup by eitherSeattle Sounders FC or thePortland Timbers.[9]
| Bold | MLS Cup champions |
E – Eastern Conference team.
As of the 2024 season, a total of fourteen different teams have competed in the Western Conference finals, and twelve of those teams have won at least once. In the table below, teams are ordered first by the number of appearances in a Western Conference finals, then by the number of wins, and finally by year. Note that this table does not include years that a Western Conference team appeared in theEastern Conference in the playoffs (such as2010), and it does include appearances byEastern Conference teams.Chivas USA (defunct),Nashville SC,St. Louis City SC andVancouver Whitecaps FC have never made it to the Western Conference finals.
| Club | Appearances | Wins | Losses | Most recent Year of Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LA Galaxy | 12 | 9 | 3 | 2024 |
| Seattle Sounders FC | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2024 |
| Houston Dynamo FC | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2023 |
| Colorado Rapids | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2016 |
| Sporting Kansas City | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2007 |
| FC Dallas | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2015 |
| Real Salt Lake | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2013 |
| Portland Timbers | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2021 |
| New York Red Bulls(Eastern Conference team) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2008 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2003 |
| Chicago Fire FC(now in Eastern Conference) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1998 |
| Minnesota United FC | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2020 |
| Los Angeles FC | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2023 |
| Austin FC | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2022 |
| Bold | Supporters' Shield champions |
^ – MLS did not have draws until the 2000 season.
† – The LA Galaxy were declared winners of the Western Division in 2001 after theSeptember 11, 2001 terrorist attacks forced the cancellation of the rest of the regular season. The MLS Cup playoffs began on September 20.
In 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2004, theMajor League Soccer All-Star Game was contested between an all-star team from the Western Conference against an all-star team from theEastern Conference. In total, theMLS West all-star team has 1 win, 1 draw, and 4 losses against the east.
| Year | Result | Score | Series |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Lost | 2–3 | East 1–0–0 |
| 1997 | Lost | 4–5 | East 2–0–0 |
| 1999 | Won | 6–4 | East 2–1–0 |
| 2000 | Lost | 4–9 | East 3–1–0 |
| 2001 | Tied | 6–6 | East 3–1–1 |
| 2004 | Lost | 2–3 | East 4–1–1 |
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