2025 MLS Week 19 Power Rankings

The Week 19 Power Rankings:

1. INTER MIAMI CF (+2) | 2-1 W NE, 2-1 W NSH

Lionel Messi is on an absolute tear and it's unclear if anyone will be able to stop him from winning a second straight MVP award. He has a brace in five consecutive matches and has Miami in a sneakily perfect spot to pounce. With all the other matches and the lack of games played thus far, Inter Miami has been disregarded as a team in the middle of the Eastern Conference. In reality, they've got three games in hand and are set up to reach the summit of the conference if they continue their current form. The schedule makers wanted them to play FC Cincinnati on two occassions at the end of the month, so those will be crucial ahead of yet another competition—Leagues Cup.

2. NASHVILLE SC (-1) | 2-1 L MIA

If there's a way to break your 14-game unbeaten run, of course it's going to be at the hands of Messi. It was truly an unbelievable run and Nashville should be proud of what they've got going right now. They battled in the loss and Hany Mukhtar got himself on the scoresheet, but there wasn't enough of the ball or creation to do much else. Sam Surridge is now tied with Messi atop the Golden Boot race with 16 goals apiece.

3. COLUMBUS CREW (+2) | 4-2 W FCC

Hell seemed real for Columbus when they looked up at the scoreboard to see a nightmare 2-0 deficit in five minutes against their rivals. Oh how fast things can change. Max Arfsten was a welcome return for the Crew after spending the last month getting bad-mouthed by USMNT fans. He equalized the match before halftime just moments after Diego Rossi halved the score. The Crew finished the job by creating two more chances and putting four past their Ohio foes on the road. A fabulous, season-defining result for Wilfried Nancy's side.

4. SAN DIEGO FC (+2) | 2-1 W CHI

San Diego bounced back from a rough loss through Anders Dreyer. Dreyer leads MLS with 26 goal contributions and is probably ahead of the pack in the MVP race, but he's going to have to stay at this pace if he wants any chance. He has been absolutely immense over the recent run of matches. They were able to handle a road trip to Chicago and leave with all three points to remain top of the Western Conference.

5. PHILADELPHIA UNION (+2) | 2-0 W RBNY

Philly really needed to re-prove themselves and a first half flurry allowed them to do just that. Kai Wagner played yet another perfect game for the Union and is actually playing the best soccer he ever has in MLS now in his seventh season and constantly being rumored to leave. The defense was stout and allowed Bruno Damiani and Indiana Vassilev to steal the headlines with a goal each. Tai Baribo has completely fallen out of form and it remains to be seen if he will get it back, but he's always been the ultimate streaky player. The Union are right back in the mix but the five-team race for the top of the East is heating up.

6. MINNESOTA UNITED (+2) | 4-1 W SJ

Minnesota United simply shellacked San Jose. They were just better through and through, and it's no surprise that the striker duo is finally back in form. Kelvin Yeboah is slowly starting to get back to himself, but it's Tani Oluwaseyi that has been the more consistent part of this attack. Anthony Markanich is on an unthinkable run scoring wise from his defensive position. This might just be the best set piece team in the world, any corner is a danger. Any throw-in is even more of a danger when Michael Boxall is lofting it into the area. The Loons feel good right now.

7. FC CINCINNATI (-5) | 4-2 L CLB

Right when Cincy had turned it around and returned to winning games by one goal as they have been all season, it all broke down. It's been such a weird season for Cincinnati. They go on runs of pure consistency but nothing short of a lackluster on-field product when watching the team play. The cycle then restarts after taking a bad loss as a result of the incompetence. It's been said all season but it just isn't sustainable to get outplayed in so many games and still win—that won't fly in the postseason and it has to change now. Evander is doing what he can to carry the load and is a prime MVP candidate, but it hasn't been pretty for Miles Robinson, Matt Miazga and in this particular game, Luca Orellano.

8. SEATTLE SOUNDERS (+1) | 3-2 W SKC

Nouhou might actually need therapy. It's getting to a point where he's genuinely just a net negative when he's on the field and is hurting his team. Brian Schmetzer says he's going to deal with him after he sniped an SKC fan in the crowd with a ball. Seattle did survive, however. They grabbed a 3-2 win with the help of a Jordan Morris return up top. Albert Rusnak was great and Jackson Ragen put in a shift at center back as the Sounders still deal with tons of injuries on the defensive side of things. Cristian Roldan has been an absolute rock this year and is playing one of his best seasons ever as far as pure box-to-box duties go.

9. LOS ANGELES FC (+1) | 3-0 W COL, 2-0 W DAL

A perfect week for LAFC, who are going to keep rising in the table, as expected. Five goals for, zero against and two clean sheets. Javairo Dilrosun is incredibly average and it would be a grave mistake to keep him at the club in the current DP nature, so he will most likely depart the club after next week. Denis Bouanga has continued his resurgence, while the backline and midfield are just doing their job. LAFC is in great shape in the West, and it still feels like they could have a big move in them.

10. VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (-6) | 3-0 L COL

This might be real, the Vancouver Whitecaps may actually be in some trouble. The win against LAFC quited the doubters temporarily, but now it's just bad getting worse. Losing 3-0 to LA Galaxy was unfathomable, but doing the same against Colorado a week later is simply not good. Vancouver has conceded 11 games in its last four matches, and that includes one clean sheet.

11. ORLANDO CITY SC (-) | 1-1 D MTL

Orlando City has put themselves on the outside looking in at the top teams in the East. The split happens right before them, and the last three games are the indication of that. They are now winless in three with two straight draws. Martin Ojeda has carried this attack all season long when there was nothing else, and he did so again. A draw with Montreal truly was not a good result. Alex Freeman returned from the Gold Cup and played another fantastic game.

12. NEW YORK CITY FC (-) | 2-0 L CLT

NYCFC's back-and-forth nature is becoming predictable, they were due for a loss after a win. It wasn't a bad performacne at all, they just weren't clinical enough and that has been a growing theme. Alonso Martinez might have a huge finishing problem, it's been happening all year long. He missed two big chances, bringing his season total to a whopping 18. He leads the legaue by quite a margin and has not been able to hit the back of the net. When he's not scoring, NYCFC is faltering. The addition of Nicolas Fernandez brings in a good dribbler to take the pressure off Maxi Moralez.

13. CHARLOTTE FC (+7) | 2-0 W NYC

Charlotte FC earned an astronomical rise this week thanks to a whole lot of awful results from the middling teams in MLS. They probably don't deserve to be this high with the wild falloff they've had, but a 2-0 win against NYCFC may just turn the season around. Charlotte really needed a clean sheet to bring back their defensive confidence. Kerwin Vargas scored a screamer and Idan Toklomati is looking like a fine starting striker with the departure of Patrick Agyemang looming. Still want a little more from avid Snapchat user Wilfried Zaha.

14. NEW YORK RED BULLS (-) | 2-0 L PHI

The Red Bulls are in this weird purgatory where they really haven't moved down because no one below them can win games, despite the fact that New York also cannot win games. It's now been five straight games of no winning. The playoff streak is once again in some danger, but they're still in a decent spot to at least be a play-in team again. The upcoming match against New England on Wednesday is going to be huge for playoff position—a win there makes everything a lot more comfortable.

15. PORTLAND TIMBERS (-2) | 2-1 L STL

The Portland Timbers tried to push the Toronto loss under the rug with a win against New England, but a 2-1 loss against St. Louis, probably the worst team in the league entering the match, won't be forgotten anytime soon. This is starting to get concerning in terms of bad losses. David da Costa seems to be back, but that's not enough. Kevin Kelsy hasn't been good enough and there's not a whole lot of help coming fromt he midfield and fullbacks at the moment. The Timbers need to right the ship before it's too late, because these are games they can't be losing.

16. SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (-1) | 4-1 L MIN

San Jose was manhandled by Minnesota, there's not much else to it. The one bright spot to be highlighted is once again the 21-year-old Beaux Leroux, who did absolutely everything in the middle, including a huge six tackles tally. The rest of his team let him down in the forced possession play that Minnesota makes opposing teams have. The Earthquakes ended up snatching a consolation goal through substitutes to ruin the clean sheet.

17. REAL SALT LAKE (+4) | 1-0 W HOU

All of a sudden, playoff position is in the crosshairs of Real Salt Lake. Diego Luna is another USMNT returnee, but it wasn't even him who won RSL the game this time. Willy Agada scored the lone goal in the match and extended the unbeaten run to four games. RSL seemed like a lost cause prior, but they can't get too much respect yet because of the difficulty of schedule. The next stretch before Leagues Cup will likely tell everything that needs to be known about RSL's fate.

18. HOUSTON DYNAMO (-2) | 1-0 L RSL

It seems backwards that Jack McGlynn came back to the Houston midfield just for them to lose. He created eight chances in his return to the team, but none of those were turned home. Ezequiel Ponce managed to touch the ball just 19 times after suggesting he might be a real striker for the Dynamo. They've got speed in Lawrence Ennali, but he doesn't give a whole lot outside of dribbling ability. McGlynn is doing everything he can to feed those attackers, but Houston lacks many guys that can punish teams. Franco Escobar has been fabulous back in the lineup consistently and it seems Griffin Dorsey may have lost his job.

19. COLORADO RAPIDS (+4) | 3-0 L LAFC, 3-0 W VAN

It wasn't a great performance midweek, but the 3-0 thrashing of Vancouver essentially cancels it out. Colorado will still be happy with their week. Djordje Mihailovic dished out a hat trick of assists on eight chances created. He was absolutely everywhere, though he lost his penalty taking duties to Rafael Navarro because of one miss—Navarro missed his chance from the spot in this one. Mihailoivc is getting Navarro and Calvin Harris involved going forward. Zack Steffen's return between the pipes is just an extra plus and he kept a clean sheet straight away.

20. CHICAGO FIRE (-3) | 2-1 L SD

Chicago Fire lost again, it's been a brutal schedule recently. They've pretty much played all the best teams in the league across both competitions and have lost almost all of those matches. The Fire have been dumped out of the playoff positions and couldn't get the job done against San Diego despite taking more shots. Hugo Cuypers scored a goal late on, but it meant just about nothing in the grand scheme of the game.

21. NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (-2) | 2-1 L MIA, 0-0 D ATX

New England's Caleb Porter problem lives on. The forcing of the five-back system is a weekly occurrence, and the Revolution not winning is as well. Luca Langoni looked sharper than he has in a long time, but the same cannot be said for an absolute bust of a signing in Leo Campana and a lackluster Tomas Chancalay. Peyton Miller and Ilay Feingold both missed out with injuries, and Porter still trotted out wingbacks. It just doesn't make sense, and the Revs really have no hope with this man at the helm. Alhassan Yusuf has been unreal in the midfield and Carles Gil is always great, but there's not much else to look at. Mamadou Fofana is suspended for the next match, so if Porter still puts out five defenders with three starters out, it will truly be a stubborn sight to see.

22. AUSTIN FC (-) | 0-0 D NE

Austin FC hasn't been horrible, but it's just not a good enough product. Brandon Vazquez went down with a torn ACL and will be out for a long time—he was a questionable All-Star but he will now be forced to miss the home event and hopefully he has a speedy recovery. Myrto Uzuni will not be holding down the striker fort for one, he missed two big chances and has a hard time hitting the back of the net. Osman Bukari is really fast but tends to not do much with the final ball. Brad Stuver, though, just fantastic in his eight saves and a game-saving performance and clean sheet.

23. SPORTING KANSAS CITY (-5) | 3-2 L SEA

Sporting's run has come to an end. Dejan Joveljic has been scoring goals and did so in the loss to Seattle, but it wasn't enough. SKC was gifted two penalties and scored both, but that was the only reason they were in the game that they once trailed 3-0 in. SKC enjoyed a decent little run but there's no reason that this team would make the playoffs, even in a not so good Western Conference.

24. TORONTO FC (-) | 1-1 D ATL

It just makes sense that Charlie Sharp kicked straight through an attacker while attempting to clear in the ball as the clock ticked towards 100 minutes. A bunch of failed clear attempts resulted in a late as can be penalty equalizer for Atlanta. This is a team playing with zero DPs, so they're not going to be good, but at least they're chippy. Deybi Flores was class in his short 53-minute cameo and Theo Corbeanu is always dangerous whn he's on the ball. Ola Brynhildsen definitely isn't the right fit, but who actually is in Toronto?

25. CF MONTREAL (+1) | 1-1 D ORL

CF Montreal hasn't been that bad recently, which makes it even more crazy that they now find themselves in Wooden Spoon position. The whole non spending money thing is well established and has been talked about plenty, there's not a whole lot else to note about this squad. Gennadiy Synchuk pops in from his constant injuries to show some incredible speed and spark before disappearing again, and he did exactly that in the draw in Orlando. He completed five dribbles while finishing four tackles—usually that combination isn't from the same player. He gives Montreal some life and Prince Owusu is working with what he can.

26. FC DALLAS (-1) | 2-0 L LAFC

FC Dallas is entering the worst team in the league conversation. Osaze Urhoghide was their saving grace and his prolonged absence has left this team in a pit of losing. Luciano Acosta didn't even start the loss against LAFC and Petar Musa didn't do much of anything up top. Dallas managed a single shot on goal and lost their fourth straight game. In those four games, they've conceded 11 goals.

27. LA GALAXY (+2) | 2-1 W DC

The dream inches a tad closer. It's now 12 points, the equivalent of four wins if everyone else above them was to gain no ground. Obviously, it's going to take a historic run of winning to make the playoffs. Riqui Puig may return in a couple months for the final stretch as well. The Galaxy defeated DC United and won their second straight game, which is of course the first time this season. The wingers are showing a little more juice and Marco Reus has been class. Matheus Nascimento is looking like a proper striker as well. Good things all around for the Galaxy as of late.

28. ST. LOUIS CITY SC (+2) | 2-1 W POR

Out of nowhere, St. Louis defeated Portland. Down 1-0, it seemed another loss was inbound, but St. Louis fought back. At long last, Marcel Hartel took over. He's been creating for others all season long and trying to will his team to wins, but it was unsuccessful. He scored a goal in MLS play for the first time in 11 matches, and he did it twice. He equalized the game in the second half only to win it 13 minutes later. He also created seven chances in the effort, of course none of which were put away by teammates. It's a feel-good win for St. Louis

29. DC UNITED (-2) | 2-1 L LA

DC United sure knows what it takes to be bad at soccer in the modern era of MLS. The early years of the league have saved their reputation, as it's been a long, long time since DCU has done anything well. Christian Benteke still isn't starting games, and it's been established that there isn't a whole lot else to look at. Gabriel Pirani has looked alright in some pockets and Joao Peglow as well, but DC United desires an unrecognizable makeover.

30. ATLANTA UNITED (-2) | 1-1 D TFC

Welcome to the cellar, Atlanta United. The combination of payroll, pure disappointment and drama has the Five Stripes destined for the dead last spot in the rankings. Finally, they've arrived. For some reason, they've been on the road for five straight contests, but of course they won zero of them. They conceded 10 goals and scored just two, getting shut out in three. It almost makes it worse that Atlanta was given a 90+11' penalty that allowed them to force a point in a trip to Toronto. Emmanuel Latte Lath ended his 100 some-odd day run of not scoring a goal with a penalty that Sean Johnson practically saved, only for the spin to settle the ball inside the post late on. The teams that are technically worse than Atlanta tend to show at least some spark, but they've just got nothing.