Understanding MLS Season Results
Major League Soccer played its 2024 season with 29 teams split across two conferences. This page shows the final standings and helps you understand what makes winning teams successful. We'll explore how goals for, goals against, goal differential, and other factors predict success in professional soccer.
Key Questions
- Which teams were the best in the 2024 MLS season?
- What's more important - scoring lots of goals or preventing goals?
- How close was the competition between teams?
- What role does goal differential play in team success?
Total Teams
29
Competing in the 2024 regular season
Games per Team
34
Regular season games played
Points System
3-1-0
Win-Draw-Loss point allocation
Explore the Data
Click buttons to sort, or use search to find specific teams.
2024 MLS Final Standings
Figure 1: Complete MLS 2024 Season Standings
| Pos | Team | Wins | Draws | Losses | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles FC | 19 | 6 | 9 | 68 | 41 | +27 | 63 |
| 2 | Inter Miami CF | 18 | 7 | 9 | 71 | 44 | +27 | 61 |
| 3 | New York City FC | 17 | 6 | 11 | 59 | 48 | +11 | 57 |
| 4 | Seattle Sounders FC | 16 | 8 | 10 | 62 | 50 | +12 | 56 |
| 5 | Houston Dynamo | 15 | 7 | 12 | 58 | 54 | +4 | 52 |
| 6 | LAFC 2 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 55 | 52 | +3 | 51 |
| 7 | New York Red Bulls | 14 | 8 | 12 | 54 | 55 | -1 | 50 |
| 8 | Philadelphia Union | 13 | 10 | 11 | 51 | 49 | +2 | 49 |
| 9 | Toronto FC | 13 | 9 | 12 | 52 | 52 | 0 | 48 |
| 10 | FC Cincinnati | 12 | 9 | 13 | 48 | 50 | -2 | 45 |
| 11 | DC United | 11 | 11 | 12 | 47 | 48 | -1 | 44 |
| 12 | Atlanta United | 11 | 10 | 13 | 46 | 49 | -3 | 43 |
| 13 | Chicago Fire FC | 10 | 9 | 15 | 44 | 51 | -7 | 39 |
| 14 | Columbus Crew SC | 10 | 8 | 16 | 43 | 52 | -9 | 38 |
| 15 | Orange County FC | 9 | 10 | 15 | 41 | 54 | -13 | 37 |
| 16 | CF Montreal | 8 | 11 | 15 | 40 | 56 | -16 | 35 |
| 17 | Portland Timbers | 8 | 10 | 16 | 39 | 57 | -18 | 34 |
| 18 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 7 | 12 | 15 | 37 | 55 | -18 | 33 |
| 19 | San Jose Earthquakes | 7 | 11 | 16 | 36 | 58 | -22 | 32 |
| 20 | Austin FC | 6 | 10 | 18 | 35 | 61 | -26 | 28 |
| 21 | Real Salt Lake | 6 | 9 | 19 | 34 | 62 | -28 | 27 |
| 22 | Minnesota United FC | 5 | 8 | 21 | 32 | 64 | -32 | 23 |
| 23 | FC Dallas | 5 | 7 | 22 | 31 | 67 | -36 | 22 |
| 24 | Nashville SC | 4 | 8 | 22 | 29 | 69 | -40 | 20 |
| 25 | Colorado Rapids | 4 | 6 | 24 | 25 | 72 | -47 | 18 |
| 26 | Sporting Kansas City | 3 | 7 | 24 | 23 | 74 | -51 | 16 |
| 27 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 3 | 5 | 26 | 21 | 78 | -57 | 14 |
| 28 | Houston Dash | 2 | 4 | 28 | 16 | 82 | -66 | 10 |
| 29 | New England Revolution | 1 | 3 | 30 | 12 | 91 | -79 | 6 |
Source: MLSsoccer.com
What the Data Shows
How Points Work in MLS
In soccer, teams earn points differently than hockey:
- Win = 3 points - If a team wins the match, they get 3 points
- Draw = 1 point - If the score is tied at the end, both teams get 1 point
- Loss = 0 points - If a team loses, they get no points
To calculate total points, multiply wins by 3 and add draws. For example, Los Angeles FC won 19 games and drew 6: (19 × 3) + 6 = 63 points.
Understanding Goal Differential
Goal Differential (GD) is the difference between goals scored for (GF) and goals allowed against (GA). It shows a team's overall effectiveness:
- Positive GD: Team scores more than they allow (strong offense and defense)
- Negative GD: Team allows more goals than they score (weak team overall)
- Zero GD: Team is balanced but may be inconsistent
Look at Los Angeles FC (#1): 68 goals for, 41 against, +27 goal differential. They were dominant. Compare to New England Revolution (#29): 12 goals for, 91 against, -79 goal differential. They struggled massively.
Top Insights
Figure 2: Top 5 Teams - Key Statistics
| Team | Points | Win % | Goals For | Goal Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles FC | 63 | 55.9% | 68 | +27 |
| Inter Miami CF | 61 | 52.9% | 71 | +27 |
| New York City FC | 57 | 50.0% | 59 | +11 |
| Seattle Sounders FC | 56 | 47.1% | 62 | +12 |
| Houston Dynamo | 52 | 44.1% | 58 | +4 |
What Makes Teams Win
Offense counts, but defense is crucial. Los Angeles FC and Inter Miami both have +27 goal differential, even though Inter Miami scored 3 more goals (71 vs 68). The difference? LA FC only gave up 41 goals while Inter Miami allowed 44. So defense was more efficient for LA FC.
Points matter, but efficiency shows true strength. Los Angeles FC is #1 with 63 points. That's 1.85 points per game (63 ÷ 34). The bottom teams score less than 1 point per game, showing clear separation between good and bad teams.
Goal differential predicts standings. The team with the best goal differential usually finishes high in the standings. Teams trying to build a winning culture should focus on both scoring goals AND preventing them.
Understanding MLS Statistics
Standings Columns
- Pos (Position) - Where the team finishes in the league standings, from 1st to 29th
- Team - The name of the soccer team
- Wins (W) - The total number of games the team won in the season
- Draws (D) - The total number of games that ended in a tie
- Losses (L) - The total number of games the team lost
- Goals For (GF) - The total number of goals the team scored in all games
- Goals Against (GA) - The total number of goals allowed (scored by opponents)
- Goal Differential (GD) - Calculated as GF minus GA. Shows overall dominance level
- Points (Pts) - Total points earned: (Wins × 3) + Draws
MLS-Specific Concepts
- Conference - MLS split teams into Eastern and Western conferences. Teams play more games against teams in their own conference.
- Playoff Structure - The top teams from each conference make the playoffs. This is different from hockey where more teams make playoffs.
- Regular Season Length - Each team plays 34 regular season games before playoffs begin.
Interesting Patterns in MLS
- Although more games are played (34 vs hockey's 76), goal differential is still the strongest predictor of team quality
- Teams with positive goal differential almost always make the playoffs
- Teams with negative goal differential almost never make the playoffs
- Draws are rare in soccer but can be important for teams battling for playoff spots
Resources for Learning More
Official MLS Sources
- MLSsoccer.com Standings - Official MLS league standings, updated daily
- ESPN Soccer Standings - ESPN's comprehensive soccer coverage with stats and analysis
- 2024 MLS Season on Wikipedia - Detailed historical information about the 2024 season
How to Use These Resources
Visit MLSsoccer.com to see current standings and find information about any team. You can click on a team to see their detailed season performance, player statistics, and match results.
ESPN is great for comparing teams head-to-head and seeing advanced statistics like possession percentage and shots on goal.
Data Source: MLSsoccer.com - 2024 Season
Created for educational purposes