A quarter of the MLS season is officially in the books, as teams hit the nine and 10-game marks of the 34-match regular season campaign over the past week, which featured the majority of teams playing two matches.
Wednesday’s Matchday 9 slate brought some of the most chaotic moments of the season so far, with a pair of 4–4 draws, as well as a 3–3 tie between Toronto FC and the Philadelphia Union, in which Toronto’s Luka Gavran scored the third goalkeeper goal in MLS history.
Meanwhile, the San Jose Earthquakes dominated their way to two wins, and the Vancouver Whitecaps moved to eight wins in nine games with a commanding performance against the Colorado Rapids, among just a few of the storylines this week.
With Matchday 9 and 10 in the rearview, here’s how the teams stack up in the latest edition of Sports Illustrated’s MLS Power Rankings.
MLS Power Rankings Matchday 10: Clubs 30–11
30. Sporting Kansas City (Previous: 30)
29. Philadelphia Union (Previous: 28)
28. Atlanta United (Previous: 29)
27. Orlando City (Previous: 26)
26. CF Montréal (Previous: 27)
25. St. Louis CITY SC (Previous: 24)
24. D.C. United (Previous: 25)
23. Colorado Rapids (Previous: 20)
22. New England Revolution (Previous: 23)
21. Portland Timbers (Previous: 22)
20. Houston Dynamo (Previous: 20)
19. Austin FC (Previous: 21)
18. Toronto FC (Previous: 18)
17. FC Dallas (Previous: 15)
16. Minnesota United (Previous: 14)
15. LA Galaxy (Previous: 17)
14. Red Bull New York (Previous: 13)
13. Columbus Crew (Previous: 16)
12. San Diego FC (Previous: 11)
11. Charlotte FC (Previous: 10)
10. New York City FC 📉 (Previous: 9)
The good vibes for New York City FC from the start of the season have largely evaporated, with this week featuring a blown 4–2 lead in second-half stoppage time to settle for a 4–4 draw against FC Cincinnati, before losing 1–0 to a CF Montréal team that has largely struggled in 2026.
Although the primary reason remains the lack of a genuine goalscoring threat outside of Nicolás Fernández and Maxi Moralez, the last two games showcased defensive shortcomings, with a pair of underwhelming performances from veteran center back Thiago Martins and a lack of critical moments between the sticks for Matt Freese, who suddenly could be slipping in the USMNT depth chart.
Given Alonso Martínez’s injury, it doesn’t appear any quick offensive fix is in the works for Pascal Jansen’s men. Yet, they will look to continue advancing in the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, facing local rivals Red Bull New York in the round of 16, before turning their focus to their next MLS match against Columbus Crew.
9. Real Salt Lake 📉 (Previous: 8)
Hoping for a chance to take some massive steps into the upper ranks of the Western Conference, Real Salt Lake were unable to make much of the week, losing to Inter Miami 2–0 at home before falling 2–1 to the LA Galaxy on the road.
While there have been standout moments—the loss to LA saw Zavier Gozo score his fifth goal contribution of the season—the inconsistencies that can come with relying on youth showed this week.
At the same time, as much as USMNT World Cup hopeful Diego Luna has returned to form, he wasn’t able to overwhelm Miami’s midfield and couldn’t control the game against the Galaxy.
Overall, this RSL side under manager Pablo Mastroeni is still very much a work in progress. Luckily, they should have at least one more year with the youngsters and Luna, which could make 2026 simply a warm-up for bigger plans down the road.
8. FC Cincinnati 🆙 (Previous: 12)
Pavel Bucha ➡️ Kevin Denkey 💥@fccincinnati takes the lead just before half.
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 26, 2026
📺 Apple TV: https://t.co/y3S2oT6z8b pic.twitter.com/a2sZShzyNL
Why hello there, Kévin Denkey!
With rumors swirling about FC Cincinnati potentially luring Neymar to Ohio, the current Designated Players on the roster used this week to make sure no one would give them up too easily.
For Denkey, the club’s record signing from ahead of the 2025 season, that meant a four-goal week, scoring a brace in a 4–4 comeback to draw New York City FC and another pair in a 2–0 win over Red Bull New York.
The Togo international attacker stood out in his connections with Evander, a partnership that has struggled to flourish for over a year, as well as with Pavel Bucha. Evander, the club’s current star Brazilian, also scored against NYCFC, making him the highest-scoring Brazilian player in MLS history.
While it wasn’t a win against NYCFC, scoring six goals—four from Denkey—and picking up four of a possible six points makes for a pretty good week for FC Cincinnati, who are set to face Chicago Fire next week.
7. Inter Miami 📉 (Previous: 6)
Who knows whether Javier Mascherano is watching any Inter Miami games these days—but if he is, he can probably rest knowing it wasn’t his coaching outlook or plans that were causing Inter Miami’s struggles this season.
While the midweek slate saw the Herons pick up a commanding 2–0 win over Real Salt Lake on the road, the weekend left a sour taste, with a 1–1 draw against the New England Revolution off a defensive error from Maxi Falcón, leaving the club with three draws in as many games at Nu Stadium.
For new manager Guillermo Hoyos, the lack of a “new coach bump” is concerning. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi was held off the scoresheet twice and has been evidently frustrated with his teammates and opponents on the pitch. The biggest concern, however, has to be Falcón’s defensive liability, with his tentativeness against New England costing his side all three points.
On the positive side, Luis Suárez continues to enjoy a resurgence at 39 years old, picking up a goal and an assist in the week, while Rodrigo De Paul has leveled up his play, showcasing himself with a goal against Salt Lake and some stellar play on the weekend.
Sitting second in the Eastern Conference, the Herons are still in a decent position for a regular MLS club. Yet, with such demanding standards and expectations, there is no doubt a tense feeling heading into the Florida Derby against Orlando City next weekend.
6. Chicago Fire 🆙 (Previous: 7)
Philip Zinckernagel ➡️ Hugo Cuypers
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 26, 2026
That's 3 unanswered for @ChicagoFire! pic.twitter.com/ctGrmMKSQx
Undefeated in five games and boasting four wins in that spell, the Chicago Fire are enjoying some of their best soccer under manager Gregg Berhalter.
This week saw them out of action for the 11-game midweek slate, before trouncing bottom-of-the-table Sporting Kansas City 5–0 in one of the most commanding performances in Berhalter’s tenure.
Shifting to the 4-2-3-1 this week, the Fire played with more interplay between all attackers, with Hugo Cuypers and Philip Zinckernagel each scoring a brace and orchestrating plenty of chances between their pairing. At the same time, Maren Haile-Selassie stood out as the No. 10.
With the level that Sporting Kansas City is playing at this season, it’s hard to take too much from a commanding win of this sort, but the three points are still vital. Next up, it’s a U.S. Open Cup clash against St. Louis CITY SC.
5. LAFC 📉 (Previous: 4)
After a few weeks of defensive missteps, LAFC were back to their best in the defensive third this week, keeping two clean sheets in a scoreless draw against the Colorado Rapids and a 1–0 win over Minnesota United. Yet neither performance was pretty, and the club relied on Hugo Lloris to make six saves across the two games, while Minnesota placed only three of its 23 shots on target.
Son Heung-min is still awaiting his first goal of the 2026 MLS season, but was left out of the lineup against Minnesota, with manager Marc Dos Santos eyeing a full-strength squad for the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals against Liga MX giants, Deportivo Toluca.
However, even with the focus clearly on the Champions Cup, the team didn’t falter too much. Canada international and midfield lynchpin Stephen Eustàquio returned from injury, while Venezuelan youngster David Martínez scored an outstanding strike for the Minnesota win.
Now, it’s all eyes on the Concacaf Champions Cup—even if it means surrendering a top-end squad against San Diego FC next weekend.
4. Seattle Sounders 🆙 (Previous: 5)
The Seattle Sounders played just one game this week and came away as 2–1 victors against FC Dallas, despite struggling with the Texas side’s press at points throughout the early moments.
This game, however, could have looked very different if it had included Seattle’s Cristian Roldan or either of FC Dallas’s potent striker duo of Petar Musa and Logan Farrington, all of whom did not see the pitch in the contest.
Without those key players, it left former Dallas star Jesús Ferreira to step up with a goal and a missed penalty, as well as veteran Sounders forward Jordan Morris, who scored a goal and assisted as a winger.
It wasn’t the prettiest for the Sounders, but the three points moved them to fourth in the Western Conference ahead of next week’s match against last-place Sporting Kansas City.
3. Nashville SC 📉 (Previous: 2)
The best news from Nashville SC this week came with the reintroduction of Sam Surridge on Saturday, as the English striker came off the bench to score a brace in a 4–2 win over Charlotte FC in his first appearance since April 11.
Outside of Surridge’s goals, captain Hany Mukhtar also made history, netting a goal and an assist to become the third fastest player in MLS history to hit 150 regular season goal contributions, trailing only league legends Landon Donovan and Preki.
While the two goals against will be cause for some concern, the match followed a common theme for Nashville, at least when it came to an attack. Leaning on both Mukhtar and Cristian Espinoza, before Surridge’s introduction, the team extended their goal differential lead, now outscoring opponents 21–6 in the seven wins, one loss and one draw this season.
Now, the focus turns to the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals, where they meet Tigres UANL in Tuesday night’s first of two legs, with the winner set to face either LAFC or Deportivo Toluca in the final ahead of the World Cup.
2. Vancouver Whitecaps 📉 (Previous: 1)
The Vancouver Whitecaps fall in the rankings to San Jose this week, despite earning a commanding 3–1 victory over the Colorado Rapids.
As they have been so often at home, the Whitecaps controlled every aspect of the match, with Andrés Cubas and Sebastian Berhalter orchestrating midfield patterns and providing key passes to striker Brian White, as well as direct-facing wingers Emmanuel Sabbi, Bruno Caicedo and Cheikh Sabaly.
Throughout the approach, it was evident that Jesper Sørensen had planned to attack Colorado’s wide defenders and to take advantage of long balls into the top of the final third, leaving Rapids goalkeeper Zack Steffen to make a decision of whether to come out or not.
Dominance on the pitch isn’t anything new for the Whitecaps in the past year, and the club will be dreaming of an MLS Cup this season, while also courting new ownership to remain in the market. Now, things get challenging, with the next eight MLS matches on the road.
1. San Jose Earthquakes 🆙 (Previous: 2)
Everything is going right for the San Jose Earthquakes right now.
This week saw the Earthquakes take the top spot in the Supporters’ Shield table, thrashing Austin FC 5–1 on Wednesday, before beating St. Louis CITY 3–2 on Saturday.
While it took a few games for him to get entirely up to speed, Timo Werner has hit top form, scoring three times this week, while Preston Judd continued his immense form, now up to six goals and two assists in 10 games.
The Earthquakes are 5-0-0 away from home, a feat only done twice in MLS history ( La Galaxy in 1998, Red Bull New York in 2022) and boast an incredible nine wins in 10 games, which has never been done before in MLS’s post-shootout era (2000)..
During their successful spell, they have taken advantage of wide areas for most of their attacks, avoiding shutdown defensive midfielders, while creating the most crossing opportunities of any MLS team. With that, they’ve created an immense amount of high-quality scoring chances, while still being able to counterpress in the center of the park through Niko Tsakiris and others.
Led by 74-year-old manager Bruce Arena, the team can already be dreaming of the trophies, including the U.S. Open Cup—they have a round of 16 match against Minnesota United on Tuesday—but more importantly, both the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup.
READ THE LATEST MLS NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FC
- Explaining the Explicit Protest Against LAFC by Fans of Fallen European Giants
- How Fans Across MLS Hope to Save Muller’s Vancouver Whitecaps From Ultimate Heartbreak
- James Rodriguez Makes World Cup Guarantee After First MLS Start
- Grading Inter Miami, Messi’s Underwhelming Showing Against USMNT Hopeful
This article was originally published on www.si.com as MLS Power Rankings: San Jose Dominates, Inter Miami Underwhelms and More After Matchday 10.
