Messi to Inter Miami? How MLS works

The Major League Soccer It has been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years. She was characterized, among many things, by capturing the attention of the stars when they decide to say goodbye to Europe. Now it would be the turn of Lionel Messi, who could land at Inter Miami. How does the tournament work? It has a very particular format, it awards two trophies in the season and there are no relegations.

Carlos Vela, Gonzalo Higuaín, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Sebastian Giovinco, David Villa, Giorgio Chiellini, Chicharito Hernández, Gareth Bale, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Beckham They are just a handful of names that make up an extensive list of elite soccer players who landed in the MLS at some point in their careers.

Now, it could become the destination of the best player in the world. Yeah, Lionel Messi One of his main possibilities is to reach the United States after ending his relationship with Paris Saint Germain, with Inter Miami as the main suitor. That is why at Olé we tell you what you need to know about the contest.

Like, for example, Liga MX, Major League Soccer divides its championship into two parts. First the regular season is played and then the play-offs are set up to define who will become champion.

In the first instance there a total of 29 teams, divided into Eastern Conference and Western Conference. Although the format varied through the years, currently each club must play a total of 34 games each. Recently added St. Louis City SC y San Diego FC will soon do the same (2025).

At the end of the regular phase, the top seven qualifiers from each conference will advance to the play-offs. The 1st will get their tickets directly to the semifinals, while their six pursuers will do so from the first round.

In the preliminary phase, the crosses will be determined as follows: 2nd place faces 7th, 3rd against 6th, and 4th and 5th. They will face a single match and with the best classified obtaining the locality. The winners will continue their way to the semifinals of the conference and, later, to the final, which will also be a single game.

As in the NBA, the winners of each conference will meet to determine who is the MLS champion.based in the stadium of the team that has scored the most points during the regular season.

It should be noted that in the United States there is no system of promotion and relegation. Although there are other categories and divisions, such as the Championship, they serve within the structure of North American soccer, but do not grant a place in the MLS.

Major League Soccer awards two trophies during its tournament. At the end of the regular phase, whoever manages to obtain the most units among all the teams of both conferences will win the MLS Supporters’ Shield. Then, the very final that determines the league champion will award the MLS Cup.

In addition, in the United States the U.S. Open Cup (USOC). Around 100 teams battle to determine who wins the domestic cup. The format is simple: direct elimination. Four previous rounds, round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and final. In the event of a tie in regular time, first a 30-minute extension is played and, if parity persists, it will go to penalty shootout.

The MLS awards three of the four places that the United States has for the Concacaf Champions League. First, he will go MLS Cup champion. Second, who gets the Supporters’ Shield. Third, the best placed in the conference opposite the holder of the Supporters’ Shield.

Of course, the Canadian clubs that participate in Major League Soccer will not be taken into account for this classification method, since they are included in the Canadian Soccer Championship.

In addition, in North America the Leagues Cup, a friendly contest between MLS and Liga MX. In total, 47 teams will participate! They will be the 18 from Mexico and the 29 from the United States and Canada. It is usually held in a month, where the local competition of each country is on standby. The champions of each tournament are positioned in 16th place. Then, there will be 15 groups of three teams, where the best two classified advance. The kill-kill round will continue until a champion is determined.

In 2007, MLS implemented the Designated Player Rule, also known as the Beckham Law.. The league adapted it to regulate salary caps, making each club have the possibility of granting this benefit to a certain footballer, excluding him from the team’s salary mass. Thus, franchises can hire elite footballers.

In its first two years of life, DC United was crowned champion in a row and it was the great appearance of a young league. At that time, the current regulations dictated that the game did not end when 90 minutes had been played, but rather when the clock reached zero.

Yes, game time ran in reverse. In fact, it counted as net time: every time a play was stopped, the stopwatch stopped. Just in 2004! They removed this system to implement the traditional one, which is still used until now.

Well known in hockey as Australian penalty kicks, the famous shoot-outs were implemented in the MLS to break parity in games that ended in a tie and lasted throughout the 90s. It was used to define meetings and they had a fun dynamic, to say the least.

What did it consist of? A penalty shootout with five shots for each side. Each “kicker” had five seconds to cover 32 meters and beat the keeper in any way they could think of, further drawing attention to the eccentric ways of scoring. Eluding the goalie, throw it at a stick or poke it a few centimeters away. For all tastes and colors.

The winner, from yapa, took an extra point, instead of three as if it were a victory. It lasted until 1999, when it was decided to be eliminated to introduce a new standard…

When the shoot-out was shelved, The famous Golden Goal rule appeared as a tiebreaker system in MLS. The happy goal-wins. It was used from 2000 to 2003 and for the next season they returned to normality, following the guidelines of traditional football.