Nashville SC eliminated from MLS playoff contention, misses postseason 1st time as MLS franchise
Nashville SC will miss the MLS playoffs for the first time ever.
What seemed all but certain after Nashville's 4-3 loss to D.C. United on Wednesday became official when D.C. beat the New England Revolution on Saturday. With two games left to play, Nashville (8-15-9, 33 points) has officially been eliminated from playoff contention. NSC cannot catch any of the top nine teams in the Eastern Conference, who all have at least 40 points.
Nashville faces New York City FC at Red Bull Arena on Sunday and faces the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field on Oct. 19 in its final game of the season.
The top seven teams in each conference receive a bye to the first round of the playoffs. The No. 8 and No. 9 seeds meet in a one-game wild card round to earn the right to face the No. 1 seed.
Nashville had reached the playoffs in each of its first four seasons, one of just three expansion teams in MLS history to do so. It was also one of four teams that had reached the playoffs each season from 2020-23.
Despite entering the season with hopes of contending for the MLS Cup, Nashville started slow in MLS play, leading to coach Gary Smith being fired in May. Nashville has gone 2-10-1 over its last 13 league games, yet remained in playoff contention under coach B.J. Callaghan, who was hired in July.
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After losing its first two league games under Callaghan, Nashville gained momentum with back-to-back wins over Atlanta United and Chicago, followed with a tie against FC Cincinnati. But it lost to two other playoff hopefuls in a five-day span, conceding an 86th-minute winner against New England and coughing up a 3-1 lead against D.C., all but ending its playoff chances.
This is the first time in Nashville SC's seven seasons of existence that it will not play postseason soccer, as it reached the United Soccer League playoffs in 2018 and 2019 in its previous incarnation as a second-division club.
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at and on Twitter
