Decision Day FAQ: What"s at stake for FC Dallas?

FC Dallas plays its final match of the season on Saturday in Vancouver against the Whitecaps.

There is a lot on the line for FC Dallas going into Saturday's match, between which playoff spot the club could get and all of the scenarios involved. Let's break them all down to help prepare for tomorrow.

How do the playoffs work?

I’ve talked about the playoff format on this space a couple of times, primarily how it hurts my brain.

But here is the TL;DR version:

Starting in 2023, 18 teams (nine from each conference) qualify for the playoffs. The top seven seeded teams in each conference qualify automatically for Round One. The 8th and 9th seeds play in a one-off match, with the winner advancing to fill out the eight-team bracket for each conference.

In Round One, the teams are paired in order of seeding, with the highest seed taking on the lowest seed (one vs. eight, two vs. seven, three vs. six, etc.). This round is a best-of-three series. The first team to win two matches advances - aggregate scores do not play a factor in this round. If a match is tied after 90 minutes, a penalty kick shootout is used to determine the winner.

After Round One, the playoffs continue in a single-match elimination format through the conference finals and into MLS Cup. In these, a match that is tied after 90 minutes will go into 30 minutes of added time (two 15-minute periods) before going to a shootout if the score remains tied.

How high can FC Dallas finish this year?

FC Dallas goes into their Decision Day match at Vancouver in 8th place in the Western Conference, on 41 points. They currently hold a two point advantage over 9th place Real Salt Lake, and 10th place Colorado. And possibly, more importantly, they hold a three point advantage over 11th place San Jose.

Should FC Dallas win their game on Saturday and the Portland Timbers lose against San Diego FC, Dallas will jump into 7th place above the Timbers, thus avoiding the Wild Card round.

If the Timbers win or draw their match and FC Dallas wins their match, Dallas will remain in 8th place.

Okay, so what happens if FC Dallas were to draw or lose on Saturday?

Yeah, this is where things can get real dicey.

Let’s discuss the draw scenarios first because they’re a little less chaotic:

1. Dallas draw at Vancouver AND Colorado lose/draw vs. LAFC or...
2. Dallas draw at Vancouver AND Salt Lake lose/draw at St. Louis or...

Now, should FC Dallas fail to win at all on Saturday in Vancouver, they’ll need a combination of things to happen:

1. San Jose lose/draw vs. Austin AND Colorado lose vs. LAFC or...
2. San Jose lose/draw vs. Austin AND Salt Lake lose at St. Louis or...
3. Colorado lose vs. LAFC AND Salt Lake lose at St. Louis

How do tiebreakers fit in all of this?

The biggest thing to note is that the first tiebreaker in MLS is number of games won. After that, it would go goal differential, and then goals for/goals scored. More than likely, the only big tiebreaker that will be involved is the first one, number of wins.