MLS Power Rankings: Is Charlotte a threat to league's best?

3 hours ago 4

Megan Swanick

Apr 21, 2025, 01:27 PM ET

The 2025 MLS season is now firmly underway, which means it's time for ESPN's Power Rankings.

Who's climbing the table? Who's in free fall? Our writers studied the action from across Matchday 9 to come up with this week's order of all 30 teams in the league. Let's dive in.

1. Vancouver Whitecaps

Previous ranking: 1

Saturday in Missouri, Vancouver collected its second draw of the year after a 0-0 meeting in St. Louis. That'll do for now for the Supporters' Shield leaders, who play Miami in the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal on Thursday.

2. Inter Miami CF

Previous ranking: 3

Benjamin Cremaschi scored the decisive goal for Miami in a 1-0 win over previously undefeated Columbus. Inter were outproduced and outshot, but delivered when it mattered with a diving header from the 20-year-old Floridian. It hasn't always looked convincing, but the Herons are now the only undefeated team in the league. Miami now turns its attention to a big intra-MLS Concacaf Champions Cup clash with Vancouver in midweek.

3. Columbus Crew

Previous ranking: 2

All good things come to an end. The post-Cucho Hernández-era Crew have finally lost a game after falling 1-0 to Inter Miami in front of 60,129 in Cleveland. Columbus out-produced Miami in the attack, creating eight big chances to two and outshooting the visitors 16-7. Wilfried Nancy ball was on full display as the Crew often looked like the better team at Huntington Bank Stadium, but they failed to finish off some beautiful plays, including the chance for an equalizer at the end.

4. Charlotte FC

Previous ranking: 8

After beating a 10-man San Diego 3-0 at Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte is still the only team in MLS with a perfect home record in 2025 (5-0-0). Having a man advantage for more than half the match certainly helped, but Charlotte outshot a strong San Diego side 11-2 on target, and if not for C.J. dos Santos seven saves, this scoreline would have been even worse for the visitors.

5. FC Cincinnati

Previous ranking: 7

Cincinnati beat Chicago 3-2 on Saturday, bringing the team to five games undefeated (four consecutive wins and one draw) since losing to Charlotte on March 15. Matt Miazga clocked his first start since returning from a knee injury and Evander announced his return by scoring a brace. Between now and the Hell is Real Derby on May 17, FCC have a surmountable schedule and the signs point toward momentum building.

6. San Diego FC

Previous ranking: 4

Thanks to Liel Abada's 11th-minute goal, San Diego was already chasing the game when disaster struck just before halftime. Andrés Reyes was sent off after a second yellow, Patrick Agyemang fired home the ensuing penalty and Charlotte (who is undefeated at home this season) went into the interval up 2-0. C.J. dos Santos made a valiant seven saves, but it wasn't enough to salvage their collapse in a 3-0 loss in Charlotte.

7. Philadelphia Union

Previous ranking: 9

Philly was up 2-0 against Atlanta by the 50th minute, thanks to a lovely volley from Quinn Sullivan and a second goal from Danley Jean Jacques. Six minutes later, Jovan Lukic was sent off with a second yellow, and the Union went down to 10 men. Thanks to some vintage Andre Blake heroics in goal and Tai Baribo's seventh goal of the year (putting him atop the Golden Boot race), they still cruised to a 3-0 win over the Five Stripes.

8. Colorado Rapids

Previous ranking: 6

What a difference a week can make. The Rapids looked strong in a defeat to San Diego a week ago but could only manage a 2-2 draw against Houston on Saturday night in Texas. Ondrej Lingr's 96th-minute equalizer for the Dynamo might sting for a while.

9. Minnesota United

Previous ranking: 5

The Loons still haven't lost a game since their opening match against LAFC, but they're fumbling points against beatable teams as they continue to look uninspired in the attack. After drawing the East's 14th-placed Toronto 0-0 last weekend, Minnesota hosted Dallas (ninth in the West) and picked up another 0-0 draw.

10. Seattle Sounders

Previous ranking: 16

Two of Seattle's three victories this season have come in the past two weekends. After a 1-0 win against Dallas, the Sounders are picking up steam after decisively beating Nashville 3-0. Stefan Frei was electric in goal and made three saves for a Sounders team that was up by three by the 34th minute.

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Paul Rothrock scores goal for Seattle Sounders FC

11. LAFC

Previous ranking: 13

Thanks to a penalty in the 90th minute that Denis Bouanga put away, LAFC collected a 3-3 draw in Portland. It was their first match since Steve Cherundolo announced he'd be departing his role as manager and moving back to Germany at the close of the season.

12. Austin FC

Previous ranking: 14

Austin recovered from last weekend's 5-1 faceplant against Vancouver by beating the Galaxy 1-0. Brandon Vázquez scored the winner in the 81st minute, marking his first goal for Los Verde and redeeming himself from a poorly taken penalty fired right at John McCarthy.

13. Portland Timbers

Previous ranking: 15

Phil Neville has the Timbers in pretty solid form these days. They let LAFC seal a 3-3 draw after conceding a penalty in the 90th minute, but Portland has three wins and two draws from its past five games as it heads to Los Angeles to take on the winless Galaxy.

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Denis Bouanga equalizes for LAFC with PK in 90th minute

Denis Bouanga delivers a clutch penalty kick for LAFC in the 90th minute to equalize vs. Portland.

14. Nashville SC

Previous ranking: 10

Nashville lost 3-0 to Seattle on Saturday, Stefan Frei making eight saves to preserve the clean sheet. The Music City side is still missing Walker Zimmerman in the backline, but three of its four losses this season have come in the past four weeks. That's a rough run of form for the team in sixth in the Eastern Conference.

15. Orlando City

Previous ranking: 12

Orlando hasn't scored a goal since March 29. It also collected its third straight 0-0 draw over the weekend, this time against a winless Montreal. Oscar Pareja's recently rudderless Lions needed six saves from Pedro Gallese to ward off one of the weakest teams in the league.

16. Chicago Fire

Previous ranking: 18

After holding Miami to a draw last weekend, Chicago lost 3-2 to Cincinnati at Soldier Field. In one of the more bizarre plays of the weekend, Evander (back in the XI for the visitors) opened the scoring on a counterattack in the ninth minute after Mauricio Pineda tripped over the ref. Chasing the game from then on, the Fire succumbed to Cincy's dynamic attack despite firing off 18 shots and pulling back two goals by the 85th minute.

17. FC Dallas

Previous ranking: 17

After drawing a solid Minnesota side 0-0 on Saturday, Dallas is now winless in its past three games as it prepares to face Inter Miami next weekend. It's not time to panic; Dallas is a solid team, but it's heading into a few difficult matchdays.

18. New York Red Bulls

Previous ranking: 11

The Red Bulls hosted old foes D.C. and handed their rivals their first victory in more than a month. After a 2-1 loss in New Jersey, fans don't have much to celebrate, but that assist from Emil Forsberg in Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting's goal is certainly something to hang on to.

19. D.C. United

Previous ranking: 26

D.C. hadn't won a game since March 6, and lost its past four, heading into an O.G. MLS rivalry match with the Red Bulls. Christian Benteke, easily one of the most impactful players in the league last season, walked off with an injury in the 29th minute, but United still pulled off the 2-1 victory with a first-half brace from João Peglow (his first in MLS).

20. Houston Dynamo

Previous ranking: 22

Ondrej Lingr came off the bench to score the 2-2 equalizer in the 96th minute, with a well-placed header that made him Houston's first Designated Player to score in their first appearance. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how to make a debut in MLS.

21. St. Louis City SC

Previous ranking: 24

After having an early goal called back, STL held Vancouver to a 0-0 draw at home. That's a massive feat for a team with mixed results and four straight losses while playing the top team in the Supporters' Shield standings. Next up: two West Coast tests on the road against LAFC and Seattle.

22. New England Revolution

Previous ranking: 25

Behold! A goal from open play! In a 2-0 win over NYCFC, the Revs finally scored from open play, eight games into their season.

23. Toronto FC

Previous ranking: 27

Toronto has been making some progress lately. After three straight draws against strong teams, the Reds picked up their first win of the year in a 1-0 victory against RSL. They were outshot 23-2 and only managed one shot on target, but they made it count, as Theo Corbeanu scored the game-winning goal in the ninth minute.

24. New York City FC

Previous ranking: 19

After losing 2-0 to the Revolution on Saturday, the Pigeons win the award for being the first team in 2025 to allow a goal from open play against New England.

25. Real Salt Lake

Previous ranking: 23

Diego Luna looked pretty cool at Coachella last week. He looked less cool getting sent off in the 61st minute in a 1-0 loss to Toronto, helping the Reds to their first win of 2025.

26. Sporting Kansas City

Previous ranking: 28

The bad: after allowing three goals against San Jose, SKC are tied with D.C. for most conceded (19) in MLS. The good: they also scored five, the 5-3 scoreline enough to walk away with their second win of the season.

27. San Jose Earthquakes

Previous ranking: 21

With a non-penalty xG of 18.2 and 19 goals scored, no team in MLS has produced more quality scoring opportunities, or put more goals in the net. That was reflected in the three goals the Quakes put past Kansas City on Saturday. Unfortunately, only Kansas City and D.C. have allowed more goals. That was also reflected on Saturday, as Bruce Arena's squad allowed five goals in a 5-3 loss at home.

28. Atlanta United

Previous ranking: 20

Atlanta looked lackadaisical against a team that battles for every ball, and went down 2-0 by the 50th minute on the road in Philly. The Five Stripes were handed a lifeline when Jovan Lukic was sent off in the 56th minute, but mustered a mere four shots through the rest of the game. The team that spent the most money in the winter window is slipping deeper down the rankings.

29. CF Montréal

Previous ranking: 29

Montréal is one of just two teams that hasn't won a game yet in 2025. The Quebecois couldn't muster a goal against 10-man Orlando in a 0-0 draw on Saturday, but it still earned them a point, bringing their season total to three. It's not a lot, but it's something.