MLS Western Conference All-Time Winners List

Since 1996 and the inaugural MLS season, the play-offs have been an event that every fan dreams of taking part in. The format of the playoffs may have changed over the years, but this has not affected their appeal.

Quite the opposite, in fact, with each year’s competition more fiercely contested than the last, and tickets to the legendary MLS Cup final becoming increasingly precious. But before they can get there, the best teams in each Conference — East and West — must battle it out to determine which of them will be the best representative.

A responsibility that some of them have turned into a veritable habit. In the West, no fewer than 14 franchises battle it out every year for a place on the bill that no one wants to miss.

12 Colorado Rapids

1997 Western Conference Champion

• Conference final appearances: 5 (1997, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2016)

From bottom of the table in 1996 to MLS Cup finalists the following year, Colorado Rapids‘ debut in the top flight was a roller-coaster ride. It was a turnaround that was boosted by a major overhaul in the off-season, with the arrival of a new coach, a new general manager and new players. Perhaps even beyond initial expectations.

For while the regular season was not necessarily brilliant (seventh overall with 38 points) and qualification for the play-offs came down to very little, the road to the top was perfectly negotiated. After triumphing over the Wizards, the best team in the West, in the Conference semi-final, the Rapids repeated the feat in the next round, overcoming the Dallas Burn to book their place in the MLS Cup, where they were eventually beaten by defending champions DC United.

11 Chicago Fire FC

1998 Western Conference Champion

• Conference final appearances: 1 (1998)

Chicago Fire FC could not have imagined a more successful start to their first season in the top flight. The second-best team in the MLS Western Conference at the end of the regular season and winners of the US Open Cup, Bob Bradley’s men went into the playoffs full of confidence. And they were going to need it to go all the way.

Firstly, they had to get past Colorado Rapids, runners-up in the last MLS edition; secondly, they had to get rid of LA Galaxy, the best team in the overall standings in 1998; and thirdly, they had to triumph over D.C United, the two-time defending champions. And that was all. In the end, the Illinoisians took the three steps to the top, winning both the Western Conference trophy and the MLS Cup… for the first and, until now, last time.

10 San Jose Earthquakes

2003 Western Conference Champion

• Conference final appearances: 1 (2003)

Two years after their first league title and a year after the disappointment of being eliminated in the semi-finals of the Conference playoffs, San Jose Earthquakes entered the 2003 season with a taste of revenge. However, despite leading the West at the end of the regular season, the fear of another disappointment resurfaced when they met 2002 winners LA Galaxy in the semifinals of the Conference playoffs.

Beaten 2-0 in the first leg and trailing 0-2 from the 13th minute of the return, the Northern Californian club’s hopes of qualifying seemed to have been dashed. But that was to be expected. Landon Donovan’s team managed to turn things around and eventually win by five goals to two (5-4 agg.), sending them through to the Western Conference final. And they didn’t miss a beat, knocking out the Wizards in a match with a crazy storyline, before going on to beat Chicago Fire FC to win the second MLS Cup in their history.

9 Sporting Kansas City

2004 Western Conference Champion

• Conference final appearances: 5 (1996, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2018)

Like the Earthquakes a year earlier, the 2004 season for Kansas City Wizards (the former name of Sporting Kansas City) also had a taste of unfinished business. Eliminated by the same Quakes on the brink of the MLS Cup final in 2003, the Missouri club took advantage of their reunion in the Conference play-off semi-finals to exact revenge.

Davy Arnaud’s team-mates went on to defeat LA Galaxy, the 2002 champions, and began dreaming of a second title, following on from their 2000 triumph. Their ambitions were finally dashed by DC United, who took advantage of their success in the league final to add a fifth MLS Cup to their already impressive trophy cabinet.

8 New York Red Bulls

2008 Western Conference Champion

• Conference final appearances: 1 (2008)

One point. In 2008, that was the difference between the NY Red Bulls and the Colorado Rapids when it came to the final playoff spot. The New Yorkers were forced to play in the West, as their 8th-placed finish meant they were unable to compete in their usual Eastern Conference. And what better way to start than against the Houston Dynamo, the second-best team of the season overall?

However, the Bulls overcame this obstacle to the surprise of observers. They then went on to scalp Real Salt Lake and claim the first trophy in the club’s history. The story could have been even better had Columbus Crew, favorites for the final title, not played a trick on them to win their first MLS Cup.

7 FC Dallas

2010 Western Conference Champion

• Conference final appearances: 4 (1997, 1999, 2010, 2015)

If FC Dallas‘ 2010 season had to be summed up in a single word, “regret” might be the most apt. Back in the playoffs three years after their last appearance, the Texan club were hoping to finally shatter their glass ceiling. And, by winning the Western Conference final against the LA Galaxy, in a sense they did just that, having never managed such a feat before.

It was a moment when all hopes seemed justified. Even that of winning the MLS Cup. Against Colorado Rapids, it took David Ferreira’s team-mates an hour to be caught up in reality. Leading going into the 60th minute, Conor Casey’s equalizer undoubtedly dealt the Cowboys a blow. But nothing could match the own goal conceded by the unfortunate George John in extra time. It was a blow from which Dallas would never recover.

6 Real Salt Lake

2013 Western Conference Champion

• Conference final appearances: 4 (2008, 2011, 2013, 2021)

Despite two major setbacks during the season, Real Salt Lake ended 2013 in fourth place overall. This positive result ensured that club legend Jason Kreis’s men would be in the play-offs for the fifth year running. And so it was against defending champions LA Galaxy that the Royals embarked on an adventure in which they were hoping for the same outcome as in 2009, the year of their first league title.

And it all started well. After eliminating the Galaxy, the Red and Blues disposed of the Portland Timbers with relative ease, on their way to the MLS Cup final. But unlike four years earlier, the Utah club were unable to outclass Sporting KC and claim a second historic title.

5 Houston Dynamo

2006, 2007 Western Conference Champion

• Conference final appearances: 5 (2006, 2007, 2009, 2017, 2023)

Before being crownedMLS Eastern Conference champions on two occasions (2011, 2012), did you know that Houston Dynamo had achieved a similar feat in the West? First in 2006, when the Texans overcame Chivas USA and then the Colorado Rapids, before claiming their first-ever MLS title with a scalp of the New England Revolution.

Then, in 2007, they once again won their conference championship, before knocking out the Revolution for the second year running. A fate far more favorable than the one the Dynamo would meet a few years later, when they too were beaten twice by the LA Galaxy giant.

4 LAFC

2022, 2023 Western Conference Champion

• Conference final appearances: 3 (2019, 2022, 2023)

It has taken just a few years for Los Angeles FC to establish itself as one of the leading franchises on the North American football scene. Since acquiring professional status in 2018, the SoCal club has not only succeeded in attracting some of the game’s biggest stars, but also in getting them to perform together towards a common goal.

This success has been marked by two Conference West titles, but above all by the national coronation that came at the end of the club’s first-ever appearance in the MLS Cup final in 2022. A club with undisguised ambitions, intent on reminding the world that Los Angeles does not just belong to the Galaxy.

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3 Portland Timbers

2015, 2018, 2021 Western Conference Champion

• Conference final appearances: 4 (2013, 2015, 2018, 2021)

Supporting the Portland Timbers is like being guaranteed to celebrate a title every two or three years. Winners of the Supporters’ Shield in 2013 and 2017, the Green and Whites have also been Conference champions in 2015, 2018 and 2021.

But despite clinching the MLS title in their first MLS Cup final, the Timbers have reason to regret their failure to repeat the feat in their next two appearances, where they were beaten back-to-back by Atlanta United and New York City FC. All in all, a creditable record for a club that has only been playing in MLS since 2011.

2 Seattle Sounders FC

2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 Western Conference Champion

• Conference final appearances: 6 (2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020)

Four MLS Cup finals in five seasons. That is the outstanding record of Seattle Sounders between 2016 and 2020. The Sounders may be going through a real slump, with not a single Conference final since 2020, but they are nonetheless one of the most important clubs in North America’s top flight — and could even spring a surprise in 2024.

Conference champions on four occasions and MLS champions on two of them, they occupy second place in this ranking. These titles were won at the expense of Toronto FC, who were beaten twice, in 2016 and 2019, after relatively dominating proceedings. Toronto FC exacted revenge on their arch-rivals in 2017, denying them a second consecutive league title.

1 LA Galaxy

1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014 Western Conference Champion

• Conference final appearances: 11 (1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014)

When it comes to the teams that have made MLS history, the Los Angeles Galaxy are undoubtedly the most important. The most successful club of all time (5), it is also the one that has participated in the greatest number of MLS Cups since 1996 (9).

And while Columbus Crew hold the record for most appearances in a Conference Final in the East, the Galaxy dominate the West, with no fewer than 11 appearances (eight wins, three losses). An impressive record for a club that also boasts eight Supporters’ Shield titles, two U.S. Open Cups and a CONCACAF Champions League. For all these reasons, the lack of titles in the last ten years is a real anomaly for a club of its stature. But 2024 could be the year the Galaxy return to the limelight, a place they must occupy season after season.