USL Playoff Race 2026
USL Playoff Race 2026: who has clinched a place, who is mathematically out, and how many points the chasers still need. Eighth place — the last playoff berth — currently sits on 37 points in the Eastern Conference, 40 in the Western and 46 in League One. Both leagues' tiebreakers, the bracket, the post-season dates and why there is no promotion or relegation are below.
Eastern Conference
13 clubs. The top eight qualify; there is no wild card and no cross-conference play-in.
| # | Team | Pts | Pld | Left | W | D | L | GD | vs 8th | Max | To clinch | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 62 | 31 | 0 | 18 | 8 | 5 | +26 | +25 | 62 | — | Clinched |
| 2 | Charleston Battery | 54 | 31 | 0 | 16 | 6 | 9 | +21 | +17 | 54 | — | Clinched |
| 3 | Detroit City FC | 51 | 31 | 0 | 14 | 9 | 8 | +12 | +14 | 51 | — | Clinched |
| 4 | Louisville City FC | 50 | 31 | 0 | 14 | 8 | 9 | +9 | +13 | 50 | — | Clinched |
| 5 | Hartford Athletic | 46 | 31 | 0 | 11 | 13 | 7 | +3 | +9 | 46 | — | Clinched |
| 6 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 45 | 31 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 12 | +2 | +8 | 45 | — | Clinched |
| 7 | Rhode Island FC | 43 | 31 | 0 | 12 | 7 | 12 | +9 | +6 | 43 | — | Clinched |
| 8 | Miami FC | 37 | 31 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 12 | -10 | +0 | 37 | — | Clinched |
| 9 | Indy Eleven | 34 | 30 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 14 | -6 | -3 | 34 | — | Eliminated |
| 10 | Loudoun United FC | 31 | 30 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 11 | -10 | -6 | 31 | — | Eliminated |
| 11 | Birmingham Legion FC | 30 | 30 | 0 | 6 | 12 | 12 | -6 | -7 | 30 | — | Eliminated |
| 12 | Brooklyn FC | 21 | 30 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 19 | -29 | -16 | 21 | — | Eliminated |
| 13 | Sporting Jax | 14 | 30 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 22 | -46 | -23 | 14 | — | Eliminated |
Left = games still scheduled. vs 8th = points above or below the eighth place currently holding the last playoff berth. Max = the most points this club can finish on. To clinch = how many more points guarantee a place even if every rival wins every remaining game — a worst case, so fewer may be enough in practice; “—” means the club cannot yet get there on its own results alone. Clubs level on points are listed by goal difference here, but the league separates them with the tiebreakers below, which use figures this page does not compute.
Western Conference
12 clubs — including Lexington SC, who play in the West despite being the easternmost side in it. The top eight qualify.
| # | Team | Pts | Pld | Left | W | D | L | GD | vs 8th | Max | To clinch | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Paso Locomotive FC | 53 | 31 | 0 | 16 | 5 | 10 | +11 | +13 | 53 | — | Clinched |
| 2 | New Mexico United | 52 | 30 | 1 | 15 | 7 | 8 | +11 | +12 | 55 | — | Clinched |
| 3 | Sacramento Republic | 51 | 30 | 1 | 13 | 12 | 5 | +14 | +11 | 54 | — | Clinched |
| 4 | Lexington SC | 49 | 31 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 10 | +18 | +9 | 49 | — | Clinched |
| 5 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | 48 | 31 | 0 | 13 | 9 | 9 | +6 | +8 | 48 | — | Clinched |
| 6 | San Antonio FC | 45 | 31 | 0 | 11 | 12 | 8 | +1 | +5 | 45 | — | Clinched |
| 7 | FC Tulsa | 43 | 30 | 1 | 11 | 10 | 9 | +3 | +3 | 46 | — | Clinched |
| 8 | Phoenix Rising FC | 40 | 30 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 10 | -1 | +0 | 43 | — | Clinched |
| 9 | Orange County SC | 39 | 30 | 0 | 10 | 9 | 11 | -10 | -1 | 39 | — | Eliminated |
| 10 | Oakland Roots SC | 38 | 30 | 0 | 9 | 11 | 10 | -1 | -2 | 38 | — | Eliminated |
| 11 | Las Vegas Lights FC | 36 | 30 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 14 | -7 | -4 | 36 | — | Eliminated |
| 12 | Monterey Bay FC | 24 | 30 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 18 | -20 | -16 | 24 | — | Eliminated |
Left = games still scheduled. vs 8th = points above or below the eighth place currently holding the last playoff berth. Max = the most points this club can finish on. To clinch = how many more points guarantee a place even if every rival wins every remaining game — a worst case, so fewer may be enough in practice; “—” means the club cannot yet get there on its own results alone. Clubs level on points are listed by goal difference here, but the league separates them with the tiebreakers below, which use figures this page does not compute.
USL League One
17 clubs in a single table, no conferences. The top eight qualify.
| # | Team | Pts | Pld | Left | W | D | L | GD | vs 8th | Max | To clinch | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charlotte Independence | 69 | 33 | 1 | 21 | 6 | 6 | +32 | +23 | 72 | — | Clinched |
| 2 | Union Omaha SC | 63 | 33 | 0 | 19 | 6 | 8 | +20 | +17 | 63 | — | Clinched |
| 3 | AC Boise | 61 | 33 | 1 | 18 | 7 | 8 | +12 | +15 | 64 | — | Clinched |
| 4 | Forward Madison FC | 59 | 33 | 1 | 17 | 8 | 8 | +25 | +13 | 62 | — | Clinched |
| 5 | One Knoxville SC | 54 | 33 | 0 | 15 | 9 | 9 | +14 | +8 | 54 | — | Clinched |
| 6 | Spokane Velocity FC | 54 | 33 | 0 | 16 | 6 | 11 | +5 | +8 | 54 | — | Clinched |
| 7 | Chattanooga Red Wolves SC | 48 | 33 | 1 | 14 | 6 | 13 | +6 | +2 | 51 | — | Clinched |
| 8 | FC Naples | 46 | 33 | 0 | 14 | 4 | 15 | -11 | +0 | 46 | — | Clinched |
| 9 | Fort Wayne FC | 45 | 32 | 0 | 12 | 9 | 11 | +5 | -1 | 45 | — | Eliminated |
| 10 | Westchester SC | 40 | 32 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 14 | +4 | -6 | 40 | — | Eliminated |
| 11 | Sarasota Paradise | 40 | 32 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 14 | -2 | -6 | 40 | — | Eliminated |
| 12 | Corpus Christi FC | 37 | 32 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 13 | -15 | -9 | 37 | — | Eliminated |
| 13 | AV Alta FC | 34 | 32 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 14 | -8 | -12 | 34 | — | Eliminated |
| 14 | Portland Hearts of Pine | 34 | 32 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 14 | -10 | -12 | 34 | — | Eliminated |
| 15 | Greenville Triumph SC | 30 | 32 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 18 | -23 | -16 | 30 | — | Eliminated |
| 16 | New York Cosmos | 27 | 32 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 19 | -26 | -19 | 27 | — | Eliminated |
| 17 | Richmond Kickers | 26 | 32 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 20 | -28 | -20 | 26 | — | Eliminated |
Left = games still scheduled. vs 8th = points above or below the eighth place currently holding the last playoff berth. Max = the most points this club can finish on. To clinch = how many more points guarantee a place even if every rival wins every remaining game — a worst case, so fewer may be enough in practice; “—” means the club cannot yet get there on its own results alone. Clubs level on points are listed by goal difference here, but the league separates them with the tiebreakers below, which use figures this page does not compute.
Tiebreakers
USL Championship
- Total wins against conference opponents
- Goal difference against conference opponents
- Goals scored against conference opponents
- Head-to-head points against the tied conference opponent(s)
- Points per game against conference opponents
- Points per game against non-conference opponents
- Fewest disciplinary points
- A drawing of lots by the league
Every one of the first six steps is measured against conference opponents only.
USL League One
- Total wins
- Goal difference
- Goals scored
- Points earned against the top four teams in the table
- Fewest disciplinary points
- A drawing of lots by the league
League One does not use head-to-head at all — a difference from the Championship that is easy to get wrong.
Neither league publishes how disciplinary points are calculated from yellow and red cards, so that step is listed but not quantified here.
Format and dates
USL Championship
Four single-game knockout rounds. The bracket is fixed and is not reseeded between rounds: 1v8, 2v7, 3v6, 4v5. The higher seed hosts. A tie after 90 minutes goes to extra time and then penalties.
| Regular season | 6 March – 1 November 2026 |
|---|---|
| Conference quarter-finals | 30 October – 1 November 2026 |
| Conference semi-finals | 6 – 8 November 2026 |
| Conference finals | 13 – 15 November 2026 |
| USL Championship final | 21 November 2026 |
USL League One
Three single-game knockout rounds from a fixed bracket, with the higher seed hosting each round.
| Regular season | 7 March – 8 November 2026 |
|---|---|
| Quarter-finals | 31 October – 2 November 2026 |
| Semi-finals | November 2026 — date not yet announced |
| USL League One final | November 2026 — date not yet announced |
Who hosts
In every round the higher seed hosts, including the final. Because the two Championship finalists come from different conferences, their seedings are not directly comparable; the league sets hosting priority for the final itself, and in recent seasons the side with the better regular-season record has hosted. This page does not state a fixed formula for that, because the published 2024 rule and what actually happened in 2025 do not agree.
Promotion and relegation
There is none in 2026. Finishing bottom of the USL Championship does not send a club down to USL League One, and winning League One does not send a club up. The two competitions run side by side and their tables are unrelated.
USL owners voted in 2025 to introduce promotion and relegation, but it depends on the launch of a third division, USL Premier, and the league is targeting 2028. Nothing about the 2026 season is affected.
Clubs do still move between the divisions — through a commercial application to the league, not through results. Athletic Club Boise announced on 9 September 2026 that it will join the Championship for 2027 that way, while sitting third in League One.
Notes
USL Championship: 381 of 383 games played. USL League One: 276 of 278 games played.
Updated 2026-11-02 02:00 UTC
Data sources
USL Championship — matches: ESPN site.api soccer/usa.usl.1; standings: FOX Sports /soccer/usl-championship/standings
USL League One — matches: ESPN site.api soccer/usa.usl.l1; standings: FOX Sports /soccer/usl-league-one/standings
Clinched and eliminated are stated only when they are mathematically certain from the games still scheduled. Where the arithmetic does not settle it, this page says nothing — it carries no probabilities, no projections and no predictions.