Austin FC II win 2023 MLS NEXT Pro Cup
Austin FC II captured the 2023 MLS NEXT Pro Cup on Sunday, defeating the defending champion Columbus Crew 2, 3-1, at Lower.com Field in Columbus. Austin earned the League’s second-ever Cup after winning all four of their playoff matches on the road over higher-seeded teams.
Sign up for The Daily Kickoff in your inbox! The Daily Kickoff is more than an article – it can be delivered to your email account as well.
Long-time readers of The Daily Kickoff will be familiar with our Watchgridometer. It’s not really appropriate for the playoffs because we don’t need to sort through the games by which ones are “must-watch.” You’re reading The Daily Kickoff brought to you by MLSsoccer.com. You’re going to watch all the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs games games.
That being said, a key element of the Watchgridometer, our Watchability Meter, still has a role to play. Here’s every Round One matchup (and potential Round One matchup) ranked by entertainment potential.*
*Based on a playoff-level grading scale.
- Game 1: Monday, Oct. 30 | 9 pm ET (Lumen Field, MLS Season Pass/FS1/ FS2 (Spanish)/TSN/RDS)
- Game 2: Saturday, Nov. 4 | 9 pm ET (Toyota Stadium, MLS Season Pass)
- Game 3 (if necessary): Friday, Nov. 10 | 10 pm ET (Lumen Field, MLS Season Pass)
Potential for very good/entertainingly bad soccer: 5/10 | Chances created: 4/10 | Narrative: 3/10 | Aesthetics: 7/10 | Totally subjective bonus points: 4/10
Total Watchability Score: 23/50
It’s not that I don’t have any faith in Dallas, but there’s a clear favorite here. And they’re not the clear favorite because of their overwhelming performance in attack this season. We could see three straight 1-0 games in this series and I wouldn’t blink.
- Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 29 | 8 pm ET (TQL Stadium, MLS Season Pass/FS1/ FOX Deportes /TSN, RDS)
- Game 2: Saturday, Nov. 4 | 7 pm ET (TBD, MLS Season Pass)
- Game 3 (if necessary): Saturday, Nov. 11 | 2 pm ET (TQL Stadium, MLS Season Pass)
Potential for very good/entertainingly bad soccer: 6/10 | Chances created: 5/10 | Narrative: 2/10 | Aesthetics: 9/10 | Totally subjective bonus points: 4/10
Total Watchability Score: 26/50
If Charlotte FC beat New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference Wild Card round on Wednesday (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass):
Once again, it’s not that I don’t have any faith in Charlotte, but there’s a clear (heavy, heavy) favorite here. At the very least, there’s the chance we see a whole handful of goals. Potentially from one team, but still. Plus, we’d see some outstanding crowds.
- Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 29 | 10 pm ET (CITYPARK, MLS Season Pass/FS1/ FOX Deportes /TSN/RDS)
- Game 2: Sunday, Nov. 5 | 5 pm ET (TBD, MLS Season Pass)
- Game 3 (if necessary): Saturday, Nov. 11 | 6 pm ET (CITYPARK, MLS Season Pass)
Potential for very good/entertainingly bad soccer: 4/10 | Chances created: 6/10 | Narrative: 7/10 | Aesthetics: 8/10 | Totally subjective bonus points: 2/10
Total Watchability Score: 27/50
If San Jose Earthquakes beat Sporting Kansas City in the Western Conference Wild Card round on Wednesday (9:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass):
Ok, last time…It’s not that I don’t have any faith in San Jose, but there’s a clear favorite here. San Jose tripped and fell about 100 yards from the finish line and skidded across on their face. They struggled down the stretch and St. Louis took care of business. Unless Cristian Espinoza goes on all-time heater, the Quakes are going to have a lot of trouble finding the net.
- Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 29 | 8 pm ET (TQL Stadium, MLS Season Pass/FS1/ FOX Deportes /TSN, RDS)
- Game 2: Saturday, Nov. 4 | 7 pm ET (TBD, MLS Season Pass)
- Game 3 (if necessary): Saturday, Nov. 11 | 2 pm ET (TQL Stadium, MLS Season Pass)
Potential for very good/entertainingly bad soccer: 4/10 | Chances created: 4/10 | Narrative: 6/10 | Aesthetics: 5/10 | Totally subjective bonus points: 9/10
Total Watchability Score: 28/50
If New York Red Bulls beat Charlotte FC in the Eastern Conference Wild Card round on Wednesday (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass):
Now we’re getting somewhere. If you’ve been checking in with us this year somewhat regularly, you’ll know we’ve been Red Bulls truthers for the majority of the season. They have excellent underlying numbers. Like top-five team in the league kind of underlying numbers. And they caught an upswing of momentum just in time to make the playoffs. They’re the favorite heading into the Wild Card game with Charlotte and may have more for FC Cincinnati than most folks will expect.
I know, I know. It’s the Red Bulls. It won’t be beautiful soccer. But it might be highly competitive soccer.
- Game 1: Monday, Oct. 30 | 7 pm ET (Exploria Stadium, MLS Season Pass/FS1/ FOX Deportes /TSN/RDS)
- Game 2: Tuesday, Nov. 7 | 9 pm ET (GEODIS Park, MLS Season Pass)
- Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, Nov. 12 | 5 pm ET (Exploria Stadium, MLS Season Pass)
Potential for very good/entertainingly bad soccer: 4/10 | Chances created: 3/10 | Narrative: 6/10 | Aesthetics: 9/10 | Totally subjective bonus points: 7/10
Total Watchability Score: 29/50
Like the Red Bulls matchup with Cincy, I don’t think we can expect beautiful soccer. Not with Nashville involved. But we should have a great atmosphere in both buildings and, most importantly, it feels like there’s zero chance of Orlando playing a normal playoff series. A boring, straightforward series here runs counter to every belief I have about MLS. Something weird is going to happen. Or, I dunno, maybe at least Duncan McGuire and Hany Mukhtar will do something cool.
- Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 28 | 5 pm ET (Subaru Park, MLS Season Pass)
- Game 2: Wednesday, Nov. 8 | 7 pm ET (Gillette Stadium, MLS Season Pass/FS1/ FOX Deportes/TSN/RDS)
- Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, Nov. 12 | 3 pm ET (Subaru Park, MLS Season Pass)
Potential for very good/entertainingly bad soccer: 7/10 | Chances created: 7/10 | Narrative: 6/10 | Aesthetics: 7/10 | Totally subjective bonus points: 4/10
Total Watchability Score: 31/50
It feels strange to have this one so low, but both of these teams are stumbling into the playoffs. The Revs won for the first time in three games on Decision Day when they played this same Philly team. That gave New England their third win since Leagues Cup and left Philadelphia with just three wins since Leagues Cup.
But New England still have Carles Gil, and Philadelphia have felt like a team waiting for more meaningful games since the CCL semifinals. There’s every chance this one could become a ton of fun in a hurry. The attacking talent on the field and the two styles of play make it somewhat likely.
- Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 29 | 6 pm ET (Shell Energy Stadium, MLS Season Pass)
- Game 2: Monday, Nov. 6 | 9 pm ET (America First Field, MLS Season Pass)
- Game 3 (if necessary): Saturday, Nov. 11 | 4 pm ET (Shell Energy Stadium, MLS Season Pass)
Potential for very good/entertainingly bad soccer: 8/10 | Chances created: 7/10 | Narrative: 6/10 | Aesthetics: 6/10 | Totally subjective bonus points: 7/10
Total Watchability Score: 32/50
With Chicho Arango potentially out, neither of these teams have a go-to goal scorer. And that’s exactly why this one could be a blast. Houston have been a joy to watch all year because they’ve been pushed to create some of the best team goals of the season time and time again. RSL will need to have something similar up their sleeve, or they’ll need guys like Diego Luna to step up and make something special happen. It feels like this one will be high-scoring and high-energy from the jump between two teams who thrive when they’re giving a little extra effort.
- Game 1: Saturday, Oct. 28 | 8 pm ET (BMO Stadium, MLS Season Pass)
- Game 2: Sunday, Nov. 5 | 7:30 pm ET (BC Place, MLS Season Pass/FS1/ FS2 (Spanish)/TSN/RDS
- Game 3 (if necessary): Thursday, Nov. 9 | 10 pm ET (BMO Stadium, MLS Season Pass)
Potential for very good/entertainingly bad soccer: 9/10 | Chances created: 9/10 | Narrative: 8/10 | Aesthetics: 6/10 | Totally subjective bonus points: 7/10
Total Watchability Score: 40/50
I love this matchup for a number of reasons. It’s not just the fact we’re getting Denis Bouanga versus Brian White and Ryan Gauld. It’s the fact we’re getting a rematch of a CCL matchup that was overwhelmingly one-sided. Things feel a lot different now though. The Caps have taken a few steps forward since then. It seems like they’ll be set to compete from start to finish here. Now if they can just figure out how to slow down Bouanga…
- Game 1: Wednesday, Nov. 1 | 7:30 pm ET (Lower.com Field, MLS Season Pass/FS1/ FS2 (Spanish)/TSN/RDS)
- Game 2: Tuesday, Nov. 7 | 7 pm ET (Mercedes-Benz Stadium, MLS Season Pass
- Game 3 (if necessary): Sunday, Nov. 12 | 7 pm ET (Lower.com Field, MLS Season Pass)
Potential for very good/entertainingly bad soccer: 10/10 | Chances created: 10/10 | Narrative: 6/10 | Aesthetics: 9/10 | Totally subjective bonus points: 8/10
Total Watchability Score: 43/50
Goals. All of them. Everywhere. All at once. All the time. So many.
Leads? Very much in danger. Defense? I don’t know what that is. Cucho, Diego Rossi, Julian Gressel, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Thiago Almada, Saba Lobjanidze, Xande Silva? Doing something awesome.
You’re welcome.
- Game 1: Sunday, Oct. 29 | 10 pm ET (CITYPARK, MLS Season Pass/FS1/ FOX Deportes /TSN/RDS)
- Game 2: Sunday, Nov. 5 | 5 pm ET (TBD, MLS Season Pass)
- Game 3 (if necessary): Saturday, Nov. 11 | 6 pm ET (CITYPARK, MLS Season Pass)
Potential for very good/entertainingly bad soccer: 9/10 | Chances created: 10/10 | Narrative: 10/10 | Aesthetics: 10/10 | Totally subjective bonus points: 8/10
Total Watchability Score: 47/50
If Sporting Kansas City beat San Jose Earthquakes in the Western Conference Wild Card round on Wednesday (9:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass):
I started thinking about this one sometime before Decision Day, and my excitement for it has built ever since. Obviously, SKC need to take down San Jose before we can get here, but if that happens, we’ll have a moment that will feel massive. The Narrative here is almost overwhelming. The new in-state(ish) rivals going head to head in front of raucous crowds as the older brother (SKC) looks to pull off an upset of the younger brother (STL) that’s been getting all the attention? That’s some incredible early world-building that can define future stakes for years. We could potentially be watching the genesis of one of the best rivalries in MLS if this matchup delivers.
It feels like it would. Since their 10-game winless streak to start the year, Sporting KC have been one of the better teams in the league. They’d have a ton of momentum heading into this one after making it in on Decision Day and winning a Wild Card game. Would that be enough to take down the best team in the West over the course of the season? I don’t know, but it does seem like there is a double-digit number of goals in this series. Did I mention that both crowds would be tinnitus-inducing madhouses? That part feels very important. It’s probably the best fan matchup of Round One too.
- Charles Boehm looked at who’s carrying momentum into the playoffs after Decision Day.
Good luck out there. Take it all in.
