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The cream of the crop: which American soccer teams have the most MLS Cups to their name?

The cream of the crop: which American soccer teams have the most MLS Cups to their name?
22 Dec
2022
Not in Hall of Fame

The MLS Cup occurs each year in the American soccer calendar and sees the winning team of both the Eastern and Western Conference Finals go against one other in the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. It has existed since 1996 and since then has celebrated 15 different winners – here are the clubs that have won the most trophies.

LA Galaxy (5 wins)

Not only have LA Galaxy celebrated the most title wins, but they have also featured in the most finals (9). Despite reaching three finals without success (1996, 1999, and 2001), their first taste of glory came in 2002 with a 1-0 victory over New England Revolution. Another win in 2005 followed before the Galaxy began their so-called ‘dynasty’ categorized by their multiple high-profile players, such as Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane, and David Beckham.

The Galaxy featured in four finals between 2009 and 2014, winning three of them. Keane scored in their most recent victory in 2014, while at the time his former side Liverpool came within two points of Premier League glory behind Manchester City. Jurgen Klopp’s side was among many bookmakers’ football betting tips to be up there again this season, however, a slow start to the campaign saw them enter the international break sixth in the league. The Reds could certainly do with Keane’s firepower up top, although his two years in Los Angeles beyond 2014 garnered no further trophies, as their last MLS Cup to date remains the 2014 edition.

D.C. United (4 wins)

While just below LA Galaxy in terms of title wins, D.C. United achieved that feat in just five finals. In fact, the inaugural MLS Cup actually featured a final between United and the Galaxy, the latter of whom threw away a two-nil lead before Eddie Pope eventually scored the golden goal to make it 3-2 and D.C. United is the tournament’s first-ever winner. This launched the beginning of a true dynasty in the late nineties and early noughties.

Under the management of American soccer legend Bruce Arena, United featured in each of the first four finals, losing only the 1998 edition. Three MLS Cups formed part of the eight major trophies won by Arena and co. before the turn of the millennium, marking the club’s most prolific period to date. Since then, United returned to celebrate their fourth MLS Cup in 2004, again by a 3-2 margin. The side from the capital has since struggled to replicate that form in the modern day, though, with their most recent major trophy coming in 2013.

Seattle Sounders (2 wins)

There are several teams that place third on this list with two wins to their name. Houston Dynamo, Sporting Kansas City, Colombus Crew, and San Jose Earthquakes all boast a duo of titles, however, Seattle Sounders have been the most recently prolific side. The Sounders were only founded in 2007 – some 11 years after the first MLS Cup was formed – and didn’t come close to glory until 2014. Then, they won their first Supporters Shield, two years later playing in their first MLS Cup final.

The Sounders duly won that match on penalties against Toronto, before playing in three more finals between then and the present day (2017, 2019, and 2020). Their second taste of success came in the 2019 edition in what was a rematch of 2016 final. This time, goals from Kelvin Leerdam, Victor Rodriguez, and Raul Ruidiaz helped the Sounders to a 3-1 victory over their Canadian counterparts in regulation time. However, they then fell to a 3-0 defeat the following year to Columbus Crew, which is their most recent MLS Cup final to date.

As American football continues to grow, the competitive nature of the MLS Cup is steadily increasing. This is reflected in the high number of diverse winners, which is seeing the dynasties of the early years coming to an end. The glory is now shared between a wide selection of impressive sides, the most recent being Gareth Bale’s Los Angeles FC in November 2022.

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Kirk Buchner, "The Committee Chairman", is the owner and operator of the site.  Kirk can be contacted at [email protected] .

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