2025 MLS Week 12 Power Rankings

It was a week full of goals and fun in Major League Soccer—besides the reigning champion and six-time MLS Cup winning LA Galaxy. The Eastern Conference is as competitive as ever, and there's no signs of that slowing down anytime soon. In the West, there's far less competition and competent teams in general from the top down. This opens the door up for exciting offensive teams like San Jose and Portland to rise up the table. There's so much quality across the league this year and it's going to make for a fabulous summer. Lying just ahead is the first midweek action of the MLS campaign. The Week 12 Power Rankings:

1. VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (-) | 2-2 D LAFC

The Vancouver Whitecaps fought back from a tough start against LAFC to secure a 2-2 draw. Brian White scores in bunches, and this was one of his days. He scored both of Vancouver's goals to battle back into the game and steal a point. It certainly wasn't one of the better Whitecaps performances this year, but almost every one has been at an extremely high bar to this point. With the CCC final looming in a few weeks, Vancouver is looking to pick up some valuable points down this stretch while making sure everyone stays healthy. Sebastian Berhalter played another fantastic game as he has really rounded into an incredible player this season. The Whitecaps remain top for the forseeable future.

2. COLUMBUS CREW (-) | 2-2 D PHI

Columbus Crew salvaged a late draw on the road in Philadelphia thanks to Sean Zawadzki's heroics. The Crew certainly were not the better team and may not have deserved the point, but it was well earned in the end. Max Arfsten is continuing a blazing campaign, scoring a first-time shot at the back stick, where he seems to be left wide open on so many occasions. Dylan Chambost served up that ball deliciously. Diego Rossi had a really tough go at it, but he stayed focused and got the stoppage time assist to grab a decent 2-2 result.

3. FC CINCINNATI (+2) | 2-1 W ATX

Evander is good. It would be very surprising if he is not named MVP of the league in seven months time. The issue for Cincinnati is that they often lose sight of just how impactful Evander is on the ball and go through stretches where he isn't involved enough. He scored a lovely goal, assisted Gerardo Valenzuela for the winner and nearly scored the goal of the year on an attempt that came back off the post. Cincy got back in the win column against Austin, but they immediately returned to their winning by one goal ways, and there is still another gear this team needs to hit if they want to go all the way. There's just something a tad off about the cohesion of the group.

4. PHILADELPHIA UNION (-) | 2-2 D CLB

The Philadelphia Union are going to be kicking themselves that they didn't take three points away from Columbus in a showdown at the top of the East. Tai Baribo finally found the back of the net again and remains atop MLS in scoring with eight goals. He also assisted an absolute scorcher by Frankie Westfield from his behind. Westfield nearly burnt a hole through the net with the pace behind his strike. Philly still needs to figure out who the best fit is next to Baribo, as Mikael Uhre, Bruno Damiani and Chris Donovan have been rotated in but none have stuck.

5. MINNESOTA UNITED (+1) | 4-1 W MIA

Minnesota United are the winners of the week, silencing the doubters with a 4-1 thrashing of Inter Miami. At long last, Bongokuhle Hlongwane returned to scoring ways from his new role. Anthony Markanich scored in a second straight game after surprisingly stealing Joseph Rosales' job. The long throw-ins have been extremely beneficial for the Loons this season. Kelvin Yeboah returned from injury off the bench and still showed absolutely nothing when he came on, compared to attacking counterpart Tani Oluwaseyi. Robin Lod also scored his first goal of the season, while Joaquin Pereyra remained an influential creator going forward. Julian Gressel ended on the better side against the team that held him hostage. Minnesota scored four goals on five shots on target and less than one xG—that's efficiency.

6. SEATTLE SOUNDERS (+2) | 3-1 W HOU

The Seattle Sounders are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference, it just took some time. This roster was always too good not to figure it out at some point, and the Sounders are beginning to win games they're supposed to win. With the state of the West, that alone will be enough for Seattle to be among the top few squads. Danny Musovski is on a legacy run at the moment, as he scored in a fifth consecutive game. Albert Rusnak did his job in just over 60 minutes, bagging a brace. Ryan Kent has added a new spark to the team and Pedro de la Vega is getting going. The Sounders should be aiming for a home playoff game down the line.

7. INTER MIAMI CF (-4) | 4-1 L MIN

All of a sudden, things aren't looking so pretty for Inter Miami. They have lost four of their last five games in all competitions. Javier Mascherano put out a lineup of Lionel Messi and five central midfielders, and that did not work in the slightest against Minnesota. There was no speed or attacking threat on the flanks and Miami possessed the ball to no avail. Messi did get his goal, but that was the only event of note. Marcelo Weigandt had a rough time and scored in his own net. Sergio Busquets did win all seven of his tackle attempts and was one of the only positives in the match, so at least there's that.

8. NASHVILLE SC (+3) | 2-1 W CLT

Is Hany Mukhtar back? His form drop-off last season was striking, and it carried into the start of 2025, but something is starting to click for the former MVP. He has scored three goals and assisted two across the last three games. His beautiful finish against Charlotte equalized and set up a Jacob Shaffelburg winner just five minutes later. Mukhtar did have a rough giveaway that led to the lone Charlotte goal, but he did enough on the other end to make up for it and get the victory. Nashville played a great game as a unit and have gotten back on the right track as of late.

9. LOS ANGELES FC (+1) | 2-2 D VAN

Going on the road and taking a point off the 2025 Vancouver Whitecaps is no easy task, but LAFC will be disappointed not to win. Mark Delgado opened things up early, followed by a Denis Bouanga penalty minutes later. Bouanga is fully back and has extended his scoring form. Despite dominating in terms of quality chances, LAFC was not able to finish the job and choked away the 2-0 lead. This team is as good as most in this league, and a favorable schedule will start to shape up towards mid-May and beyond. They will also take on Club America at the end of the month for the right to play in the Club World Cup. LAFC still has some things to figure out as to who the two forwards next to Bouanga should be, but good depth isn't a bad thing and this team will probably end up being at least second-best in the West.

10. PORTLAND TIMBERS (+3) | 1-0 W SKC

All it took was a magical moment from Santiago Moreno to defeat Sporting Kansas City 1-0. David da Costa picked out Moreno for an overhead kick in the opening minutes, and that's all she wrote. A strong defensive effort, which is what Portland has been severely lacking, led the way. The game was extremely even from a statistics and possession standpoint, but the Timbers found the early score and coasted to victory without too much trouble. They did not have as much momentum going forward, but that's what teams must sacrifice in order to close out gritty one-goal wins.

11. ORLANDO CITY SC (-2) | 3-3 D NE

Orlando City has terrorized its fans with a boatload of draws. Orlando last dropped a game on March 8—quite a long time ago—but has tied six games in the period since. They now lead the league with six draws, no other team has five. They finally broke the duct of scoring goals when Eduard Atuesta is not in the lineup, but whatever they gave up structurally in defense led them to the same exact spot anyway. One of the most head-scratching decisions this season was the benching of Martin Ojeda for multiple games—he is their best player and he proved it with a hat trick against New England. Alex Freeman is also a legit player and the 20-year-old has an extremely bright future.

12. NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (-) | 3-3 D ORL

The sign of a good team is one that can battle back from a deficit, and do so quickly. The Revolution showed a whole different side of themselves in a wild 3-3 draw in Orlando. After getting shelled through the first half hour and a bit beyond, the Revs showed incredible fight to tie the game before halftime. The unlikely duo of Alhassan Yusuf and Matt Polster scored six minutes apart to send the game into the break tied. Ignatius Ganago has proved to be really good at drawing penalties, as he has now done so multiple times. The late foul gave Carles Gil the spotlight to become the hero once again, completing the comeback and earning a hard fought draw away from home. Despite the defensive breakdowns, the attack came alive and kept New England five unbeaten.

13. SAN DIEGO FC (+1) | 2-1 W STL

San Diego FC has battled back from a losing streak with two straight wins on the back of Anders Dreyer. Dreyer was phenomenal in every way and scored a goal from a near-impossible angle. Hirving Lozano was unable to follow up his previous performance with another great one, but St. Louis clearly had it out for him. Anibal Godoy had a masterclass in the midfield and assisted Milan Iloski for his second goal in as many games. Mikey Varas went back to Onni Valakari at striker, something that was San Diego proved to be better without a week ago. The upcoming three home games give SDFC a chance to jump towards the top of the West against mediocre opponents.

14. CHARLOTTE FC (-7) | 2-1 L NSH

Charlotte FC has officially entered a rut, and it's starting to get ugly. Three straight losses for The Crown have seen them fall down the Eastern Conference table. Pep Biel is coming back down to earth and will likely not end up near the MVP conversation, despite a great start. Wilfried Zaha couldn't get it going either and he heard it from Nashville's X admin after the game. Liel Abada scored first, but an immediate Nashville response one minute and six minutes later dug Charlotte a hole they were unable to escape. Wins must return soon, but best of luck to Charlotte in doing that anytime soon—six of the next eight games will be played away from their fortress at the Bank, and road games have not been nice.

15. NEW YORK RED BULLS (+3) | 7-0 W LA

Where did that come from? To be fair, LA Galaxy were already the worst team in the league prior to their injury report consisting of all three Designated Players, but take nothing away from what it takes to score seven goals in an MLS game. Well, maybe a little for those that saw Miki Yamane's strike into his own goal in stoppage time. Emil Forsberg and Eric Choupo-Moting became the duo the Red Bulls have been yearning for all season, combining for four of the seven goals. Forsberg scored an unreal free kick into the top corner and assisted both of Choupo-Moting's goals. It was a perfect day at the office for a team that scored 37 percent of their season's tally of goals on the night.

16. SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (+3) | 2-0 W COL

The San Jose Earthquakes looked like a brand-new team in Colorado. Bruce Arena's side has been the fun team that played in high-scoring games, but really couldn't be taken too seriously even after wins. That perception changed entirely in a shoutout win away from home. San Jose posted an absolute defensive masterclass—a sentence that is rarely uttered. Rodrigues has been in and out of the lineup for whatever reason, but the backline is much better when he's in it. DeJuan Jones scored a goal and has enjoyed his return to playing soccer quite a bit. Chicho Arango bagged another and sits atop the scoring leaderboard. If the Quakes can channel more of this, there's something to be said about this team.

17. CHICAGO FIRE (+5) | 2-1 W ATL

Chicago Fire showed some resiliency in a game they nearly threw away, only to snatch it right back minutes later. After a horrific Sam Rogers own goal in the 80th minute, Rominigue Kouame responded with a late match-winner against Atlanta. It was a strange match from start to finish, but the Fire earned all three points at Soldier Field. Hugo Cuypers still has to be a bit more clinical in front of goal and put away his massive chances, but he scored his eighth of the season from the spot to tie the league lead. Sergio Oregel and Brian Gutierrez provided some really sharp moments in the midfield. Chicago is now a perfectly balanced 4-4-4 and has fringe playoff aspirations.

18. NEW YORK CITY FC (-3) | 1-0 L MTL

Where did Alonso Martinez leave his finishing boots? And how on earth did NYCFC lose to a winless CF Montreal one week after defeating FC Cincinnati? These questions lead the thinking for a loss a good team just cannot take. Martinez had all sorts of chances inside the box, but he was unable to put any of them into the back of the net. He now has 8.0 xG on an underachieving six goals this season. There was nothing to write home about, outside of the spectacular effort of Matt Freese in net. Freese was hung out to dry and made six saves, but he had no chance on the goal NYCFC conceded and lost on.

19. COLORADO RAPIDS (-3) | 2-0 L SJ

Everything good the Colorado Rapids had has now completely faded into the abyss. Four straight matches without a win and two consecutive losses to iffy teams leaves the Rapids in a poor spot. Djordje Mihailovic was just walking around all night on the shoulders of San Jose defenders, hardly ever touching the ball outside of the set pieces he's assigned to. The striker pairing did not work out in the loss and the Rapids mustered just four shots on target, none of which were really threatening. Connor Ronan was active in the midfield, but there just wasn't enough movement or effort from anyone else in the squad to help him out. It looks like the Rapids aren't even trying out there.

20. AUSTIN FC (-3) | 2-1 L FCC

Austin FC extended their slide with a loss to FC Cincinnati—though it wasn't a horrible performance. Brandon Vazquez scored from the penalty spot to keep the game close, but they could not find the equalizer. A bit of a different system saw Guilherme Biro at center back, while fellow fullbacks Zan Kolmanic and Jon Gallagher were in the fold. The benching of Osman Bukari made sense considering how useless he has been. Austin found some of the scoring they've been hoping for in the Open Cup midweek, but perhaps USL competition is the only way Uzuni and Vazquez can score consistently from open play.

21. FC DALLAS (-1) | 1-1 D RSL

There just isn't a whole lot to FC Dallas. Luciano Acosta does not fit in this team, which has been obvious from the start. He's doing what he can, but there simply isn't much to work with. Petar Musa returned to the fold off the bench, and Dallas badly needs him back in the starting lineup. Anderson Julio ultimately salvaged a point with an unbelievable solo run in the second half. Dallas did not capitalize on the red card Real Salt Lake received shortly after. For Osaze Urhoghide, it was another standout performance in a lackluster backline otherwise.

22. REAL SALT LAKE (+1) | 1-1 D DAL

Willy Agada arrived at Real Salt Lake with the purpose of fixing the team's striker problems. Instead, he was sent off for diving in the penalty area. The second yellow card in seven minutes left RSL down a man for the final half hour of the game. Diego Luna is really good and scored a fabulous goal, so it's too bad the guys around him don't have any real ability. Diogo Goncalves can probably be ruled a bust at this point. Emeka Eneli and Braian Ojeda remain the heartbeat and perennial bright spots for RSL. It'll be a dip back into the striker purgatory next week against Portland.

23. TORONTO FC (+5) | 2-0 W DC

Welcome back, Lorenzo Insigne. The 5-foot-4 former star scored a lovely diving header against DC United—his first goal MLS goal in 329 days. It has been a serious struggle for the big signing, who can fairly be called one of the biggest busts MLS has seen as far as expectations for a signing go. He also assisted the other goal, setting up DC United's Lucas Bartlett. Federico Bernardeschi was also fantastic with five completed dribbles and four chances created. Theo Corbeanu made a lung-busting run to assist the Insigne goal with his absurd speed. Sean Johnson has played well this season—he made five saves an completed an absolute robbery on Christian Benteke. TFC can be dangerous with some consistency from the Italians, but it always seems to fall by the wayside the match after a good game.

24. HOUSTON DYNAMO (-3) | 3-1 L SEA

Femi Awodesu created himself an amazing YouTube title 38 minutes into the loss to Seattle. Not only did he score a goal to equalize the game—off one of the most perfect crosses ever seen from Jack McGlynn—but he was sent off six minutes later on a horrific blunder by referee Victor Rivas. It was a whole bunch of nothing for the Dynamo otherwise after seeing red in a second straight game—Franco Escobar missed this one after being sent off last week.

25. DC UNITED (-1) | 2-0 L TFC

DC United won a couple of quality games, but no one is fooled by the act. This is not a good team. Aaron Herrera did everything he could to get his team on the board with his five chances created, but Christian Benteke did not leave the game on the scoresheet, making it difficult for DC to win. Luis Barraza tried to keep them in it on eight saves, but Lucas Bartlett's own goal was the icing on the cake. A total of 25 goals conceded in 12 matches is a sign of a team beyond saving.

26. SPORTING KANSAS CITY (-) | 1-0 L POR

Sporting Kansas City only conceded once early on, but they were unable to battle back and tie the game. Manu Garcia and Daniel Salloi were active but could not create anything clear enough to score the all-important goal. It was an extremely even game, but the three shots on target and 11 on goal did not find the back of the net. Portland was just more clinical with its one chance and left with all three points. SKC hasn't been awful as of late, but this still isn't a playoff-quality team.

27. CF MONTREAL (+2) | 1-0 W NYC

CF Montreal completed a shock win at Yankee Stadium for their first victory of 2025. It took 12 games, but there's now a one in the win column. Prince Owusu was immense, somehow creating six chances at the striker position and scoring a beautiful curler to win the game. Giacomo Vrioni is starting to get integrated into the team and will likely to continue earning more minutes. It was a stout defensive performance all-around, not something that is normally said about Montreal. It's certainly a result to build on, but the playoff spots are a very long winning streak away in the quality-filled Eastern Conference this season.

28. ATLANTA UNITED (-3) | 2-1 L CHI

To Ronny Deila's credit, he tried something else. It still didn't work. His team just doesn't look like they care—there's a severe lack of effort on the pitch. Brooks Lennon played in a more advanced role and Ronald Hernandez made his first start since opening day. This opened up Miguel Almiron and Emmanuel Latte Lath to play higher up the pitch together, but it still did not amount to much. Latte Lath would be banging goals in for most other teams in the league, and his frustration is showing as he racks up the yellow cards—he leads MLS with six. Not only did Alexey Miranchuk continue not having the final product necessary, but he conceded a rough handball for a penalty on the other end. An own goal gave Atlanta life for five minutes, but that quickly faded when they conceded again soon after for a sixth straight winless game.

29. ST. LOUIS CITY SC (-2) | 2-1 L SD

St. Louis City's good start seems years away now. They have not won in their last eight MLS matches. Things were level at zero entering the final 10 minutes of the contest, but that quickly changed when they conceded twice late on. They did end up scoring a goal through Kyle Hiebert after Marcel Hartel played a ball into the box. Conrad Wallem put up a solid performance for STL, but there were few moments of note. St. Louis did muster 1.74 xG and win that battle by a decent margin, but San Diego was just more clinical with their chances and it's just another loss.

30. LA GALAXY (-) | 7-0 L RBNY

There's no words. Touchdown, New York, and the extra point is good. Things were already bad enough, but all three DPs filled the injury report for the Galaxy, and it made things just that much worse. Miki Yamane and John McCarthy must have been competing for who could play the most hands-down horrendous game in MLS history. Yamane's own goal sums up the 2025 Galaxy perfectly, who have now tied the all-time worst start the league has ever seen through 12 games.