MLS Orlando City SC

Round of 16 Scenarios: Who Will City Play?

Published on July 21, 2020 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Orlando City SC News Release


With a 1-1 draw against Philadelphia on Monday night, Orlando City has officially won Group A in the MLS is Back Tournament. The Lions will play their Round of 16 game on Saturday, July 25 at 8 pm EST on ESPN2.

But who will Orlando be facing? The answer to that is fairly complicated.

As Group A winners, Orlando City enter the knockout phase on the A1 line. They will square off against one of the four "wild card" teams, the third-place teams that qualify for the knockout rounds. Because of the way the quarterfinal is structured, Orlando cannot face a team from their own group or Groups B or F in the Round of 16, so they will play the third place team from Group C, D, or E.

MLS has yet to clarify exactly how the third place teams will be distributed, which muddies the waters when trying to figure out exactly which wild card will face Orlando City. However, we can lay out the scenarios for how each team can finish in third.

Of the 12 teams in these three groups, only Columbus Crew SC in Group E are unable to finish third in any scenario.

Group C

Remaining games (all times Eastern):

Toronto FC (1-0-1, 4 pts, +1 GD, 6 GF) vs. New England Revolution (1-0-1, 4 pts, +1 GD, 3 GF), 7/21 9 am ESPN

DC United (0-0-2, 2 pts, 0 GD, 3 GF) vs. Montreal Impact (0-2-0, 0 pts, -2 GD, 3 GF), 7/21 10:30 pm, ESPN2/TUDN

How each team can finish third:

Toronto FC - Loss vs. NE, DC win vs. MTL

New England Revolution - Loss vs. TOR, DC win vs. MTL OR Draw vs. TOR, DC win vs. MTL by 2 goals OR by 1 goal and more total goals for than NE

DC United - Draw vs. MTL OR Win vs. MTL by 1 goal, TOR-NE draw where TOR and NE both hold goals for tiebreaker

Montreal Impact - Win vs. DC (eliminated in all other scenarios)

Group D

Remaining games (all times Eastern):

Real Salt Lake (1-0-1, 4 pts, +2 GD, 2 GF) vs. Sporting Kansas City (1-1-0, 3 pts, 0 GD, 4 GF), 7/22 9 am ESPN

Minnesota United (1-0-1, 4 pts, +1 GD, 2 GF) vs. Colorado Rapids (0-2-0, 0 pts, -3 GD, 2 GF), 7/22 10:30 pm ESPN

How each team can finish third:

Real Salt Lake - Loss vs. SKC, MIN win or draw vs. COL OR Loss vs. SKC, MIN loss vs. COL where MIN holds goal differential or goals for tiebreaker over RSL

Minnesota United - Loss vs. COL, SKC win vs. RSL where RSL holds goal differential or goals for tiebreaker over MIN OR Loss vs. COL, SKC draw vs. RSL where SKC holds goal differential or goals for tiebreaker over MIN

Sporting Kansas City - Loss vs. RSL and COL loss or draw vs. MIN OR Loss vs. RSL and COL win where SKC holds tiebreakers over COL OR Draw vs. RSL and MIN win vs. COL

Colorado Rapids - Win vs. MIN and SKC loss vs. RSL where COL gains at least three goals in goal difference over SKC

Group E

Remaining games:

Columbus Crew (2-0-0, 6 pts, +6 GD, 6 GF) vs. Atlanta United (0-2-0, 0 pts, -2 GD, 0 GF), 7/21 8 pm ESPN2/TUDN

New York Red Bulls (1-1-0, 3 pts, -1 GD, 1 GF) vs. FC Cincinnati (1-1-0, 3 pts, -3 GD, 1 GF), 7/22 8 pm ESPN

How each team can finish third:

New York Red Bulls - Loss vs. CIN and ATL loss or draw vs. CLB

FC Cincinnati - Draw vs. RBNY OR Loss vs. RBNY and ATL loss or draw vs. CLB

Atlanta United - Win vs. CLB and RBNY-CIN cannot end in a draw

Check out the Orlando City SC Statistics

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Major League Soccer Stories from July 21, 2020


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