It's Monday, and another week of MLS action is in the books, which means it's time for ESPN's Power Rankings.
Who's climbing the table, and who's in free fall? Our writers studied the action from across Matchday 34 to come up with this week's order of all 30 teams in the league. Let's dive in.
1. Philadelphia Union
Previous ranking: 1
The Union got back on track after a 7-0 regular-season loss to the Whitecaps and a 3-1 loss to Nashville in the U.S. Open Cup semis with a 1-0 win over the New England Revolution on Saturday. They still hold the lead in the Supporters' Shield race.
2. Vancouver Whitecaps
Previous ranking: 6
Even banged-up and on short rest after a midweek Canadian Championship victory, the 'Caps took care of business in Kansas City. Jesper Sorensen's side won 2-0 and is first in the West in points per game.
3. FC Cincinnati
Previous ranking: 3
Ever the game-breaker, Evander secured three lovely assists in Cincinnati's 3-2 road win over the LA Galaxy on Saturday. The Brazilian's fingerprints were all over the match, which also featured a brace for Brenner.
4. San Diego FC
Previous ranking: 2
Despite Anders Dreyer giving his team a lead in the first half, San Diego couldn't secure all three points in Atlanta over the weekend. They had to settle for a 1-1 draw, a result that could prove decisive in the Shield race.
5. Seattle Sounders
Previous ranking: 4
It appears that a jam-packed schedule is catching up to the Sounders, who have now failed to win three straight games in league play following a heartbreaking 2-1 road loss to Austin FC on Sunday. They haven't impressed since the Leagues Cup final.
6. Inter Miami CF
Previous ranking: 7
Thanks to three goal contributions from Lionel Messi, Miami took down D.C. United 3-2 on Saturday. It looks like no one is stopping the Argentine en route to this season's MVP award: He leads the league in combined goals and assists (32).
Inter Miami CF vs. DC United - Game Highlights
7. LAFC
Previous ranking: 9
Son Heung-min and Denis Bouanga continue to terrorize opposing defenses. The pair tallied all four of LAFC's goals in a 4-1 win over Real Salt Lake on Sunday night. Zooming out further, LAFC have scored 12 goals in their past three games; Son and Bouanga have scored all 12 of them. This team is a terror in the final third right now.
8. Orlando City
Previous ranking: 11
Orlando's 3-2 win over Nashville didn't come easily, with Duncan McGuire scoring a 95th-minute winner to secure the victory. In the hyper-competitive Eastern Conference, taking three points from another team jockeying for playoff seeding has immense value.
9. Nashville SC
Previous ranking: 12
B.J. Callaghan's Nashville team fought back from a two-goal hole and looked primed to earn a draw on the road in Orlando on Saturday, only to lose 3-2 after a 95th-minute concession. They've won just one of their past seven in MLS play.
10. New York City FC
Previous ranking: 14
NYCFC did what no other MLS team has been able to do since June: They beat Charlotte FC. Alonso Martínez's pair of penalty conversions did the trick, helping New York City to a 2-0 win and keeping them inside the East's top four.
11. Minnesota United
Previous ranking: 8
Light on strikers and missing key players deeper downfield after a midweek U.S. Open Cup defeat, Minnesota fell to the Chicago Fire 3-0 on Saturday. More than that, Eric Ramsay's team got a taste of its own medicine by conceding two of those goals on set pieces.
12. Charlotte FC
Previous ranking: 5
Charlotte's dreams of winning a league-record 10 games in a row came crashing down after a 2-0 loss to NYCFC on Saturday. They badly missed Pep Biel from the opening whistle and struggled to break down their host's 4-4-2 block in the first hour without their Spanish playmaker.
13. Columbus Crew
Previous ranking: 10
The Crew's injury situation keeps getting worse: star striker Wessam Abou Ali was subbed off before halftime of his team's 1-1 draw with Toronto due to an ankle injury, joining Diego Rossi, Sean Zawadzki, and Mo Farsi on the trainer's table.
14. Chicago Fire
Previous ranking: 16
Gregg Berhalter's willingness to shift his team's shape from a 4-3-3 to a 3-4-3 mixed with set piece excellence against Minnesota gave Chicago the necessary pieces to earn a 3-0 win on the road. They're holding tight to the East's final playoff spot.
15. FC Dallas
Previous ranking: 19
Don't look now, but Dallas has picked up three wins and three draws in its past six MLS games after a 3-1 win against the Colorado Rapids on Saturday. Eric Quill's team has been leaning into a combative low block ever since Lucho Acosta left, and it's paying off.
Watch the Game Highlights from LAFC vs. Real Salt Lake, 09/21/2025
16. Austin FC
Previous ranking: 18
Myrto Uzuni's late winner stamped an emotional exclamation point on Austin's latest outing, a 2-1 victory over the Sounders. The win put much-needed space between Austin FC and the West's wild-card spots.
17. New York Red Bulls
Previous ranking: 17
A 2-0 win over Montreal on Saturday keeps the Red Bulls within touching distance of the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot. Still, they're two points behind Chicago and they've played one more game than the Fire. Reaching the postseason will be an uphill battle.
18. Portland Timbers
Previous ranking: 13
Even with David Da Costa back in the lineup, giving the Timbers extra firepower alongside Kristoffer Velde in the attacking midfield line, the Timbers fell flat in a 1-0 loss in Houston on Saturday. Phil Neville has a tactical puzzle to solve.
19. San Jose Earthquakes
Previous ranking: 15
Playoff teams don't tend to concede three goals at home to St. Louis ... in the first half. San Jose, then, doesn't look to be headed to the playoffs. Bruce Arena's team sits 12th in the West -- and still has an outside shot to extend its season -- but Saturday's 3-1 loss to St. Louis didn't help matters.
20. Houston Dynamo
Previous ranking: 23
Death, taxes and Jack McGlynn dropping set piece dimes. There are only so many sure things in life, but McGlynn's corner kick assist that gave Houston a 1-0 win over Portland on Saturday sure felt like one of them. The USMNT midfielder continues to thrive on dead balls.
21. Colorado Rapids
Previous ranking: 21
Chris Armas' Colorado team has allowed at least three goals in three of their past four games after falling 3-1 in Dallas on Saturday. Even with a back line partially rebuilt in the summer window, the Rapids' defensive frailties continue to gnaw at them.
22. Real Salt Lake
Previous ranking: 20
While Brayan Vera's wonderstrike gave Real Salt Lake hope that they could topple LAFC at BMO Stadium, the visitors quickly conceded a pair of goals before halftime and ended up falling 4-1 to a fellow Western Conference outfit. The talent gap between the two teams simply proved to be too great.
23. Toronto FC
Previous ranking: 25
By quickly knifing into space behind Columbus' back line, Toronto found the back of the net via Richie Laryea and earned themselves a 1-1 draw in Ohio on Saturday. Remarkably, Robin Fraser & Co. have now drawn six straight games in MLS play, failing to do anything but pick up points one at a time since Djordje Mihailovic arrived via trade.
24. St. Louis City SC
Previous ranking: 26
There appear to be precious few useful building blocks in this St. Louis squad, but Marcel Hartel is a player worth building around. The German attacking midfielder provided a goal and an assist in his team's 3-1 road win over the Earthquakes on Saturday.
25. LA Galaxy
Previous ranking: 22
Already short-handed in the attack, a second yellow card to Isaiah Parente saw the Galaxy go down to 10 men for the final forty minutes of their 3-2 loss to Cincinnati. The hosts simply had no answer for Evander's line-breaking precision or for Kévin Denkey and Brenner's clever off-ball runs.
26. New England Revolution
Previous ranking: 24
The Revs dropped their first game in the post-Caleb Porter era, losing 1-0 against the Union on Saturday. A red-card offense committed out of frustration by 17-year-old starlet Peyton Miller soured proceedings further for New England, which finds itself officially eliminated from playoff contention.
27. CF Montréal
Previous ranking: 27
Though they created a couple of clear-cut looks at Carlos Coronel's goal, Montréal's attack was left wanting in a 2-0 loss to the Red Bulls on Saturday. They've won just two home games all season long.
28. Atlanta United
Previous ranking: 30
After a sloppy turnover from Steven Alzate gifted Dreyer the opener, Atlanta fought back to earn a 1-1 draw with San Diego. Notably, the central defensive pairing of Stian Gregersen and newcomer Juan Berrocal looked sharp against a high-powered attacking foe.
29. D.C. United
Previous ranking: 28
Even while off-field questions swirl surrounding the club's decision to replace general manager Ally Mackay with first-time front office-type Erkut Sogut, D.C. fell 3-2 to Miami on Saturday. The scoreline flatters D.C. United, who never truly had an answer for their host's various attacking threats.
30. Sporting Kansas City
Previous ranking: 29
Up against a Vancouver squad missing at least four starters, including Brian White and Thomas Müller, Kansas City limped to a 2-0 home loss. This year simply can't end fast enough for SKC.