The penultimate weekend of MLS is now in our rearview mirrors but only after plenty of drama around the league, it left the remaining road ahead in 2026 with plenty of potential twists and turns. Let’s dig into a few of the key stories from around MLS on Matchday 33.

It hasn’t been the Supporters’ Shield defense Inter Miami was hoping for, but they took a massive step towards wrapping up second place in the Eastern Conference with a comeback win, spurred on by goals from Germán Berterame and Lionel Messi, in front of more than 50,000 people at Gillette Stadium Saturday evening.

The Herons have struggled to find any lasting tactical balance since parting ways with head coach Javier Mascherano early on this season, and heading into the final weekend of the campaign, that problem ceretainly remains.

With plenty of strong teams around them in the Eastern Conference, it could be a trickier path to defend their MLS Cup crown in the playoffs this season, but you simply can’t ignore the star-power at Kily González’s disposal down the stretch.

The Seattle Sounders must hate be sick of the sight of their Cascadia rivals this season. After falling 5-1 to the conference-leading Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday and the eventual victory for the Portland Timbers later that evening, the Sounders fell all the way out of the playoff picture for the time being, losing their top-nine spot to the Timbers.

It was not the first time they had tasted such a sour defeat either, having lost 5-1 at home to the Timbers just after the World Cup this past this summer. In all matches against their Cascadia neighbors to the north and south this season, the Sounders have zero wins and have lost the four matches by a combined score of 14-3.

Schmetzer’s side are not buried yet, however. They sit level on points with 9th place Colorado, and with a win against LAFC on Decision Day (plus some help in other matches) they could still sneak into the postseason, where they are always dangerous.

It’s been a bizarre few weeks for St. Louis City. The Western Conference side very recently saw a sensational 21-match come to an end amid a US Open Cup triumph. But since then, they have been anything but imperious. After losing at home to 13th place San Diego on Saturday, St. Louis have now gone five MLS matches without a win and four straight defeats.

The all-encompassing, controlled style of soccer under young head coach Yoan Damet has seen it’s effectiveness wane in recent weeks and teams are exploiting them for it.

The silver lining remaining for City, however, is that they still control their destiny in the Western Conference top-four picture. A Decision Day draw or win over Houston will ensure they finish fourth or higher and with that, they will earn home-field advantage in the opening round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Finally, we have to take stock of the general playoff picture. After noting the twists in the final few Western Conference spots, further up the table we had some notable results as well. LAFC had the chance to put pressure on the top-four with a win over Minnesota United, but the Black and Gold capitulated at home in a 3-1 defeat to see their hopes get extinguished.

With both St. Louis and Houston suffering defeat, San Jose’s narrow win over Real Salt Lake gave them control of 3rd place in the conference heading into the final weekend.

In the Easter Conference, meanwhile, the red-hot Columbus Crew jumped up into 8th thanks to a comfortable home win over DC United. This time a few weeks ago the Crew looked down and out for the 2026 season, now they will most certainly be a team to avoid should they ride this form into the postseason.

Elsewhere in the east, both New York clubs saw their playoff hopes come to an end, marking a truly disappointing season for both, albeit for different reasons. NYCFC manager Pascal Jansen will be under immense pressure heading into the sprint season.