2025 MLS Week 16 Power Rankings

The Club World Cup is underway, but MLS pushes on. The halfway point has come and gone, and the final stretch awaits. The Western Conference is wide open for anyone who wants it, but the top of the East is far more structured, with just the final few spots there for the taking. The summer will be a tell-all in many cases, so this should be fun. The Week 16 Power Rankings:

1. PHILADELPHIA UNION (+1) | 2-1 W CLT

There's a new No. 1 in town. The Philadelphia Union are on an absolute tear. A total of 12 games unbeaten across all competitions has Philly atop the Supporters' Shield standings. They're even finding new, unlikely scorers. Jesus Bueno and a late stoppage time winning from Markus Anderson marked the first goals of the season for the pair. Philly is the class of the East and has been the most consistent team for months on end at this point, so their position is well deserved. Even with many starting pieces missing, they got the job done.

2. VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (-1) | 2-1 L CLB

The Vancouver Whitecaps have been far too good for that result in the final to ruin them, but it might take some time to recover. They suffered just their second loss of the season against Columbus and have been far less convincing across the last month of play. Ryan Gauld's return is still an absolute mystery and things don't sound great on that end. But, the talent is still there and the Whitecaps are missing key players in Brian White and Sebastian Berhalter at the moment. Vancouver should be just fine, but the upcoming stretch is unforgiving and they've been dethroned for the first time in a while.

3. NASHVILLE SC (-) | 2-0 W CHI

Nashville SC deserves all the respect in the world, they're playing some of the best football the league has seen this season. They are now on 11 unbeaten across all competitions—bookended by victories against Chicago Fire. It was once again the dynamic duo of Hany Mukhtar and Sam Surridge that put out the Fire. Mukhtar is back in MVP form and Surridge has been more clinical than ever as of late. This team has what it takes to contend with the current state of affairs.

4. SAN DIEGO FC (-) | 4-2 W MIN

San Diego FC had a first half to forget, outside of Anders Dreyer's wild long-range goal. They still managed to score four goals on one of the fellow top teams in the West and grab a huge away win—a testament to the legitimacy of this team. Dreyer has been one of the most effective players in the league up to this point. San Diego just lacks real consistent striker player from their starters, but man Milan Iloski has been absolutely electric in his limited minutes off the bench. It's always difficult to change the role of a quality super sub, but perhaps he's made his case.

5. FC CINCINNATI (+3) | 1-0 W NE

FC Cincinnati got back in the win column, and they've gotten back to winning games by one goal. It's never really convincing with this team, and until it is, those questions will remain. They do sit second in the East, Kevin Denkey is scoring at a high rate and even in a game where Evander was held quiet, Cincy grinded out a 1-0 win. Luca Orellano may have played his best game of the year, he was so influential and dangerous every time he got on the ball. The defensive effort was strong, but if Cincinnati wants to be a contender, they need to show some more killer instinct and take more risks.

6. COLUMBUS CREW (+3) | 2-1 W VAN

Columbus bounced back in a massive way, defeating Vancouver Whitecaps. This is a feat only two clubs have achieved this season. The scoreline could've been larger but Aziel Jackson was ruled offside a couple times. The Crew have gotten some goals out of Ibrahim Aliyu since acquiring him and Diego Rossi got on the scoresheet as well. The backline was a bit makeshift, but the Crew were able to get the job done nevertheless. They need to feed off this result and get back to their consistent ways.

7. INTER MIAMI CF (-1) | N/A

Inter Miami is off at the Club World Cup, where they played to an exciting 0-0 draw against Al Ahly. Oscar Ustari was the hero. Miami will need to get a huge result in the group stage next week if they want to advance.

8. LOS ANGELES FC (-1) | N/A

LAFC is set to begin their Club World Cup journey with a formidable opponent in Chelsea. That will be an interesting matchup, but LAFC does not have a ton of hope to make it out of Group D, they'll have to outlast Flamengo.

9. ORLANDO CITY SC (+1) | 1-0 W COL

Orlando City went to Colorado and played a very boring game quite frankly, but a connection between Marco Pasalic and Martin Ojeda was enough. Eduard Atuesta and Ojeda finally both made the starting lineup together. It's been a long time coming for Orlando to get their top guys in the team all starting at once. The defense has been much improved and the Lions picked up an important three points to get back to winning ways.

10. MINNESOTA UNITED (-5) | 4-2 L SD

Minnesota United was absolutely gifted a goal they had no influence on early in the match and still lost 4-2 at home. Certianly not a good look. Kelvin Yeboah finally scored a goal in MLS, but it didn't end up mattering. Wessel Speel had quite the welcome to MLS match in his league debut. The Loons really couldn't get anything going in their favor and took a rough loss that doesn't look great on their resume.

11. PORTLAND TIMBERS (-) | 1-1 D SJ

The Portland Timbers should be ashamed of their 1-1 draw with San Jose. After going up a man early in the second half on some rough calls, they continued to get dominated for large portions of the game under the Friday night lights at Providence Park. When the breakthrough did come for Juan Mosquera in the 71st minute, it felt like an undeserved goal. Just over 20 minutes later, the Timbers conceded to a 10-man Earthquakes in stoppage time. They lost the xG battle by quite a bit despite having the ball for large portions of the second half and the attack really couldn't create a thing. Portland has to be better to stay afloat in the West.

12. NEW YORK CITY FC (+3) | 4-0 W ATL

New week, same story for New York City—they're impossible to comprehend. This time, they scored three goals in four minutes and all four of their goals in a 15-minute span on a Thursday night at Yankee Stadium. Atlanta United has been brutal, sure, but NYCFC absolutely blew their wheels off early in the second half. Hannes Wolf had a fantastic few minutes with a quick brace. Maxi Moralez continues to beat Father Time and Justin Haak has been phenomenal as well. Monsef Bakrar got in on the action with a lovely finish, and now NYCFC is squarely in it in the Eastern Conference.

13. NEW YORK RED BULLS (-) | 2-1 L ATX

The New York Red Bulls were on a great run of form before taking a bad loss in Austin. Their only offensive contribution was a lovely header scored by Brandon Vazquez on his own net. The Red Bulls managed one single shot on target in the whole match. It just wasn't good enough from the whole squad. On the bright side, Lewis Morgan is back. He came in off the bench after a long time away, he's been hurt so often but it would be such a massive help to have his abilities back in this team.

14. SEATTLE SOUNDERS (-) | N/A

The Seattle Sounders don't stand a chance in the Club World Cup, to put it bluntly. A loss to Botafogo in their home stadium leads the way for what should be guaranteed losses against Atletico Madrid and European champion Paris Saint-Germain. It must be said that Seattle was absolutely immense in the game and will feel so hard done by the loss, they quite literally left it all out there.

15. NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (-3) | 1-0 L FCC

The New England Revolution perenially have either the worst physios or the worst luck. Every year, injuries derail this team. The 3-5-2 formation requires two competent forwards—the Revs have four on the roster. And yet, Luis Diaz is one of the guys starting up top, a player who has no technical ability whatsoever. The Revs are missing Ignatius Ganago, Leonardo Campana and Luca Langoni. They can't score goals. The only chances come from the wingbacks right now, and that isn't sustainable.

16. CHICAGO FIRE (-) | 2-0 L NSH

Chicago Fire were playing great soccer, but Nashville has been the opponent of nightmares this season. They have lost by a combined 9-1 across the two matchups this season. Brian Gutierrez returned to the lineup and played well, but there were no other performances to speak of. Chicago has been wildly inconsistent but still has a great chance at crawling into one of those play-in spots if they can keep stealing unlikely wins, especially on the road like they have been.

17. CHARLOTTE FC (-) | 2-1 L PHI

Wilfried Zaha's smug looks were short-lived after Charlotte conceded a stoppage time goal to lose in Philadelphia. It has all come crashing down for The Crown across the last couple months. They still cling to the very last playoff spot, but wins have become few and far between. Pep Biel's consistency hasn't been sustained and the midfield hasn't provided much help recently. Patrick Agyemang being away with the national team doesn't help either. Charlotte can still make the playoffs but it's going to take a real turnaround.

18. SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (-) | 1-1 D POR

The San Jose Earthquakes had to steal a point through Preston Judd, but the stats say they probably deserved more. Ian Harkes had a brutal pair of yellow cards that hampered his team. Chicho Arango was a welcome return to the squad. San Jose needs Cristian Espinoza to be a bit more active, he hasn't contributed to a goal in a month now. With the state of the Western Conference, they've still got a good shot to see the postseason. The next step is advancing in the playoffs, something they've done just one time since 2003.

19. FC DALLAS (+5) | 4-2 W SKC

At long last, Petar Musa and Luciano Acosta actually did some things together. Acosta scored a brace and Musa scored one and could've had more. It was a solid team performance which included four goals against Sporting Kansas City. Alvaro Augusto made his MLS debut at center back and showed well in his first outing. Dallas can certainly build off this effort and have some hope back into the locker room.

20. AUSTIN FC (+5) | 2-1 W RBNY

Austin FC claimed a huge win over the New York Red Bulls at home. Brandon Vazquez did it at both ends, but his goal was the winner and righted his wrong on the own goal. Guilherme Biro rose above to score a header as well. The defensive effort was solid, as it was early in the season for Austin. Again, the West is so bad after the first few teams that literally anyone that wins a few games can make the playoffs, and even though Austin hasn't been great, they've got enough guys to make that a reality.

21. SPORTING KANSAS CITY (-2) | 4-2 L DAL

Sporting Kansas City had some momentum going, but that has now come and gone. Santiago Munoz has provided a couple good moments now, but there's not a whole lot to be impressed by when it comes to SKC. The Khiry Shelton right back experiment not being over is continually a mystery and he played a disasterclass to the tune of a three yellow card equivalent. Shapi Suleymanov scored a beauty, Dejan Joveljic has been very good as of late, but it doesn't matter much if you concede three goals or more at home.

22. HOUSTON DYNAMO (-2) | 3-1 L MTL

The Houston Dynamo won some games, but their luck has turned. A 3-1 loss to CF Montreal is the kind of loss that can be a dagger to your season, but again, not in this edition of the Western Conference. Losing 3-1 at home to a team that can't score and can't win should be a real eye-opener, even without Jack McGlynn. Ondrej Lingr took on McGlynn's role by scoring and creating, but that wasn't enough without their main man at the controls.

23. COLORADO RAPIDS (-1) | 1-0 L ORL

The Colorado Rapids just haven't been good enough for some time now. Djordje Mihailovic doesn't have any help. Contributors from last year have given nothing—Cole Bassett is a shadow of his former self and Rafael Navarro has been useless. There were questions about retaining Navarro despite his high-scoring season last year, and those suspicions are coming to light. There's been no energy off the wings. The midfield has fallen off from what it was earlier in the year as well. The Rapids are in some trouble.

24. REAL SALT LAKE (-5) | 2-0 W DC

Real Salt Lake needed a result without Diego Luna, and the elderly and youth combined to make that hapen. Johnny Russell scored his first RSL goal at the age of 35, while 18-year-old Zavier Gozo cleaned things up later on. Pablo Ruiz has played a select few incredible games this season, and this was one of them with five chances created. Diogo Goncalves returned to the lineup and was much better, providing an assist. The defensive effort was strong enough to keep a clean sheet and RSL are very much in the race.

25. DC UNITED (-4) | 2-0 L RSL

DC United gave up seven goals last week and another two this week on the back of a shock win over FC Cincinnati. It's been quite a strange season. Christian Benteke remains out, and they could really use him. Gabriel Pirani had a few good games, but that hasn't lasted either. DC has essentially no chance to make the playoffs this season with 15 matches left to play, their 38 goals conceded this season is nearly as bad as it gets.

26. ATLANTA UNITED (-3) | 4-0 L NYC

Atlanta United lose again—this time in the most embarrassing fashion yet. A 4-0 spanking against NYCFC was their largest margin of losing this season. They gave up three goals in four minutes. Brooks Lennon is just a brutal footballer, there probably isn't a single Atlanta fan who wants to see his face in the team sheet at this point. Brad Guzan certainly did not have a fun go at it either. Will Reilly started in the midfield. Emmanuel Latte Lath still hasn't hit the back of the net in months on end. What a mess.

27. CF MONTREAL (+3) | 3-1 W HOU

CF Montreal went to Houston and earned a decisive win. Prince Owusu struck twice in as many minutes despite rarely touching the ball through the rest of the match. Sometimes, you just have to be clinical in your moments. There were tons of assists to go around for the attacking midfielders and outside players. Jalen Neal scored a powerful header as well. Montreal grabbed a huge win that finally puts them over double-digit points, but there's not much else to mention here until they go on a big run.

28. ST. LOUIS CITY SC (-2) | 3-3 D LA

St. Louis City came alive with a hat trick from Joao Klauss, and they still should've lost the game—that's the sign of a bad team, not that this wasn't already known. On the back of a first win in a long time over a rotated San Jose side, there was some hope, but now it's two games without a win once again. Klauss showed flashes of his first season in STL with some help from Marcel Hartel and Celio Pompeu, but they absolutely folded and it took a stoppage time equalizer from Klauss to even get a point.

29. TORONTO FC (-2) | N/A

Toronto FC didn't play a match, but their 10 losses and lackluster form keep them right near the cellar, where they have lived every single week.

30. LA GALAXY (-2) | 3-3 D STL

LA Galaxy finally showed some moments of class, and the fact they still choked the game away puts them right back at the bottom. Gabriel Pec announced he was back in training last week, and he backed that up with a brace in the actual game. He finally showed the ability everyone knows he has. On the other side, Joseph Paintsil just hasn't been the same player though. Matheus Nascimento has shown well and scored his first goal in the start. Marco Reus was fantastic and had a wonderful assist to show for it. With all that being said, it's a 3-3 draw at 90+5'. This team is cursed.