Welcome to the feature from Sports Illustrated that analyzes the biggest winners and losers from the week’s Major League Soccer action ahead of the 2026 playoffs.

Decision Day is finally in the books, with the last day of the 2026 MLS season seeing 30 teams face off over the course of five hours. Orlando City moved up from ninth to eighth after beating New England Revolution at home, and they will host the wild card match against FC Cincinnati.The Sullivan brothers, Quinn and Cavan, led Philadelphia to a comfortable win against Toronto and an automatic playoff berth, while New York City FC edged D.C. United to end a lackluster campaign on a positive note.

Sporting Kansas City won at San Diego FC, which, combined with CF Montréal's defeat to Vancouver Whitecaps, saw Montréal pick up the unenviable Wooden Spoon with the league's worst record. Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers delivered in must-win matches against LAFC and Austin FC, while Red Bull New York demolished Atlanta United.

St. Louis moved from fourth to third place in the West, thanks to a last-second win in Houston, while Inter Miami relinquished a three-goal lead, conceding three unanswered in the second half against Charlotte FC.

Here are the week’s biggest winners and losers in MLS.

Winners

Columbus Crew

OH MY BRAIS MÉNDEZ!

As it stands, @ColumbusCrew would avoid the Wildcard match with a win. 👀 pic.twitter.com/PCp4BwiqnH

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 7, 2026

At some point, we'll have to stop putting Columbus Crew in the winners' column, but that moment hasn't arrived just yet. The Crew were bottom of the Eastern Conference on August 30, and by mid-September, they had lost seven of their last eight.

Since then, though, Columbus have won nine matches and lost just twice—a 3–2 defeat at Orlando on Oct. 10 and a penalty shootout loss to St. Louis in the U.S. Open Cup final on Oct. 21. After five straight league wins with a two-plus margin of victory, they were made to sweat in Chicago on Saturday, falling behind on three occasions.

But just when they seemed to be headed for the wild card match, Brais Méndez scored a last-second winner to secure an automatic playoff berth. They are the in-form team in MLS, and they are more than capable of getting past Inter Miami in the opening round.

Nashville SC

With tonight’s victory, @NashvilleSC set a new @MLS single-season points record with 77, surpassing the previous mark of 74 established by Inter Miami CF in 2024.

Additionally, Nashville set MLS records in points per game (2.26), wins in the post-shootout era (23), fewest losses… pic.twitter.com/e0P7HBhhv5

— MLS Communications (@MLS_PR) November 7, 2026

Nashville SC needed a draw in Ohio to surpass Inter Miami’s 2024 squad for the highest points tally in MLS regular season history (74). They went the extra mile, though, and won 2–0 against Cincinnati, thanks to Sam Surridge's second-half brace, which sealed their place in the record books (77 points).

There can be no denying it: Nashville 2026 is the greatest regular season in MLS history. The Coyotes have set records for the most points, wins post-shootout era (23), home wins (15), home points (47), points per game (2.26) and win percentage (79.4%). They've also suffered the fewest losses (three) and the fewest goals conceded (25) and boast the largest Supporters’ Shield margin ever.

And by keeping Cincinnati from scoring, they tied the record for the most clean sheets in a season (17), with Brian Schwake equaling Tony Meola for the most clean sheets in a single campaign (17).

They've already made so much history in the regular season. Can they keep this magical run going in the postseason?

Real Salt Lake

zach makes it ✌️ pic.twitter.com/0OxsgrkiWq

— Real Salt Lake (@realsaltlake) November 8, 2026

It wasn't long ago that Real Salt Lake looked dead and buried. They were in the midst of their worst-ever winless streak (13 matches), and after selling star winger Zavier Gozo to Crystal Palace and losing key figures like Diego Luna and Justen Glad to injury, it appeared that they would miss out on the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

But after winning three in a row (followed by defeat in San Jose), they had a puncher’s chance going into Decision Day. They were 11th in the table and needed a win and a few favorable results going their way in order to make the playoffs.

RSL held up their end of the bargain, racing to an early lead against LA Galaxy. This, combined with Dallas’ comeback win, saw them qualify for the wild card match. Having lost in each of their last two visits to Lumen Field, they will be looking to end their unwanted streak and prevail with the away win in Seattle.

Losers

Colorado Rapids

Scenarios heading into the final game of the regular season ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/BOKVgtW2km

— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) November 7, 2026

There were always bound to be a few winners and losers from the Western Conference, with six teams entering Decision Day not knowing if they’d be playing in the postseason or going home after the final day.

Colorado entered the final day in eighth place, albeit in mediocre form with just one win in their last nine matches across all competitions. They knew that a win against FC Dallas would suffice for them to reach the playoffs, and with Morgan Whittaker opening the scoring after halftime, it seemed they would do just that.

But just when they were closing in on their first away win in six months, Jorge Valiente equalized in the 75th minute and then Kaick gave Dallas the lead in the 88th minute. Santiago Moreno doubled the home team’s advantage shortly after, ensuring second place and that the Rapids’ season came to a bitter end in Texas.

LA Galaxy

FT. pic.twitter.com/Ll81ReV9ZF

— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) November 8, 2026

It was less than two years ago that LA Galaxy were celebrating a record-extending sixth MLS Cup. But after finishing with one of the worst records in MLS in 2025, the Galaxy have once again missed out on the playoffs for the fourth time in six years under Greg Vanney.

The Galaxy entered the final day in seventh place, only to concede twice in quick succession to Real Salt Lake. They managed to narrowly cling on and cut the deficit in half, thanks to an own goal before halftime, but they weren’t able to find the decisive equalizer to get their playoff dreams back on track.

For a team with the fourth-highest payroll in MLS, boasting world-renowned stars like Hirving Lozano, Marco Reus and Sergi Roberto, it simply isn’t good enough. Vanney was able to survive 2025’s humiliation, but this last-gasp collapse might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.