For nearly two decades, Seattle Sounders FC have been synonymous with the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs.
The Sounders have failed to qualify for the postseason just once since joining MLS in 2009. They've also reached MLS Cup presented by Audi four times, winning league titles in 2016 and 2019.
But now, when hosting Saturday’s Decision Day showdown with LAFC, the Sounders face the possibility of a second postseason miss in 18 MLS seasons, the other coming in 2022 (7 pm ET | Apple TV).
Seattle enter Decision Day below the playoff line at 10th in the Western Conference standings, tied with the Portland Timbers and Colorado Rapids on 43 points but trailing both on tiebreakers.
They'll likely need to defeat LAFC to get in, plus get some help elsewhere. A draw and other favorable results could also tilt the scales in their favor.
“Personally, I don’t like it,” head coach Brian Schmetzer said this week. “I mean, we shot ourselves in the foot in multiple, multiple games.
“I don’t like the position we’re in. But that’s reality, and we’re facing reality and trying to make sure that we do everything we can to get a result on Saturday.”
Picking up the pieces
Seattle's predicament worsened after last weekend's 5-1 defeat at Cascadia rivals Vancouver Whitecaps FC, marking the club's fifth straight winless match after finding steam in recent months.
The Vancouver setback prompted Schmetzer to take an unconventional approach to preparing his team for their regular-season finale. Rather than review film of the Vancouver defeat with the full squad, Schmetzer invited players to identify areas they believe need improvement, opening the floor for candid conversations.
According to midfielder Paul Rothrock, the exercise produced some of Seattle's most productive training sessions in weeks.
“Credit to Brian and the staff. They were willing to be vulnerable too in this moment and say, ‘Hey, give us feedback here,’ and I think people were willing to give it,” Rothrock said ahead of his first game back from a long-term hamstring injury.
“We talked about a number of principles of accountability and trying to make trainings more competitive and whatnot as well. I’m not going to give the details away of everything that went on in there. That’s a sacred place, but I’ll just say a number of people spoke, and I do think we’re better as a group for that.”
One last opportunity
For veteran winger Paul Arriola, Saturday offers a chance to reverse a pattern that has plagued Seattle throughout 2026.
“I think too many games this year we’ve been reactive. We haven’t been proactive. We haven’t been on the front foot,” Arriola said.
“I think this game, that’s what it’s going to be about, right? It’s going to be about kind of rolling your sleeves up and believing in this veteran group, the guys who in the locker room that have been in big games, that have played in finals, won finals, been around for a long time.”
That championship pedigree remains a source of belief for Albert Rusnák, who pointed to the club’s recent trophy-winning experience as evidence that the 2025 Leagues Cup champions can still deliver when the stakes are highest.
Against a playoff-bound LAFC side featuring Son Heung-Min and Denis Bouanga, Seattle will need to summon that big-game mentality once more, or one of MLS’s most enduring traditions of postseason success could fall short.
“It’s easy to be confident when things are going well and you’re winning and you’re scoring and all that,” said Rusnák, who leads the team with 15 assists. “But you also have to stay confident when it’s not going so good.
“We know it’s there. We know we can win big games, finals, and, I want to say over the last couple of years, or ever since I came here, when it really mattered, the big games, I think we showed up.”
