MLS Power Rankings: Minnesota routs Miami to climb the order

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 12 to come up with this week’s order of all 30 teams in the league. Let’s dive in.

Previous ranking: 1

The Whitecaps fell behind by two goals against LAFC, but a brace from Brian White and the goalkeeping of Yohei Takaoka at the end saw the Whitecaps earn a 2-2 draw. It wasn’t their best start, but they showed tenacity in the comeback, and White made a game-changing statement with his goals. That’s essential stuff for any trophy-contending team.

Previous ranking: 2

Dániel Gazdag’s return to Subaru Park didn’t immediately go to plan. The Crew were chasing the game for most of the match, and Patrick Schulte’s four saves were necessary to limit the Union to two goals. But Wilfried Nancy’s squad hung on, patiently built their attack with 70% of the ball, and stole a 2-2 draw in second-half stoppage time to avoid their second loss of the year.

Previous ranking: 4

Philly was this close to taking down Columbus but allowed the visitors to equalize twice on Saturday at Subaru Park. Fumbling the win thanks to a match-ending equalizer scored off a set piece in stoppage time will sting, but the Union were the better team for much of the match, scored two gorgeous goals and showed again why they belong toward the top of MLS this season.

Previous ranking: 3

After losing 4-1 to Minnesota, the Herons have lost four of their past five games across all competitions. The frustration is evident (that includes co-owner David Beckham, who took to social media to defend his club from the Loons’ social account calling them “Pink Phony Club”). Their defending needs work and coordination, but they’ve got time to make it right.

Previous ranking: 5

The Sounders are undefeated in their past five games (four wins, one draw) after beating Houston 3-1. It wasn’t their toughest test of the season, and the Dynamo played down a man from the 38th minute on, but Albert Rusnák’s brace punished the hosts.

Previous ranking: 10

The Loons don’t need the ball to hurt you. Hosting the Herons in Minnesota, the second-in-the-West hosts beat Miami 4-1 with 27% of the ball, elite execution of set pieces and a game plan that works.

Previous ranking: 8

FCC are proof you don’t need decisive wins and big margins to sit on top of the Eastern Conference. The 2023 Supporters’ Shield winners beat Austin 2-1 on Saturday, marking their eighth straight game decided by one goal or less. And with 17 goals on the season, they’ve scored fewer goals than the seven teams just below them in the East. Evander was elite (scoring a beautiful first goal, and assisting the second), but they’ve still got questions in attack.

Previous ranking: 7

Nashville picked up a statement 2-1 victory against Charlotte on Saturday, as the hosts responded to Liel Abada’s opening goal with two goals in five minutes to beat one of the stronger teams in the East this season.

Previous ranking: 9

That three-game losing streak is certainly in the rearview now. After beating Dallas 5-0 last week, San Diego beat St. Louis 2-1 on Saturday and once again, Anders Dreyer was a star.

Previous ranking: 6

Charlotte is still one of the best teams in the East, but back-to-back losses to Columbus and then Nashville have taken a bit of the air out of the team’s East-topping aspirations.

Previous ranking: 11

LAFC are undefeated in their past five games (two wins, three draws) and nearly took down the top team on Sunday. Vancouver deserved the 2-2 comeback, but LAFC put them on the back foot initially and nearly stole victory at the end.

Previous ranking: 12

After falling 4-1 last weekend (their only loss in their past eight games), the Timbers kept a clean sheet against SKC, with Santiago Moreno’s 10th-minute bicycle kick enough to seal the 1-0 victory.

Previous ranking: 17

In a rematch of last year’s MLS Cup, the Red Bulls ran circles around the Galaxy and embarrassed the visitors with a 7-0 victory. Suddenly, (against the worst team in the league) their attack was fully unleashed: Those seven goals account for 37% of their scoring output this season.

Previous ranking: 13

Orlando can’t stop drawing teams. Saturday’s 3-3 goalfest was a more entertaining way to do it, though, as it marked the Lions’ fifth draw in their past six regular season games, but the first with any goals in it. They finished the weekend in a playoff place but have tough tests ahead: Charlotte in midweek and Miami after that.

Previous ranking: 16

The comeback continues for the Revs, who ended the weekend in a playoff spot after drawing Orlando 3-3. They fell behind twice and fought their way back to level, with a do-or-die defending mentality (shoutout to Aljaz Ivacic’s five saves) and one of the best No. 10s in the league in Carles Gil.

Previous ranking: 19

The DeJuan Jones and Bruce Arena reunion is off to a smashing start. Jones opened the scoring in a 2-0 win against Colorado to mark his first goal in his third start for his new club. Chicho Arango added a second to secure a 2-0 win for the Quakes.

Previous ranking: 14

The Rapids are winless in their past four games (two draws, two losses) after falling 2-0 to San Jose. They finished the weekend tied with three other teams on 16 points (including the Quakes) in the Western Conference standings but will need to generate higher-quality chances to hang on to a playoff spot.

Previous ranking: 20

Dallas’ results are kind of all over the place. FCD have shown they can take on the top teams, but they’ve also stumbled against lower-ranked opposition. They beat Miami, then floundered 5-0 against San Diego, but they recovered somewhat on Saturday with a 1-1 draw against RSL thanks to Anderson Julio’s goal against his former club.

Previous ranking: 21

After an 80th-minute own goal brought Atlanta level at Soldier Field, it looked like Chicago might fumble another opportunity to get a win at home this season, but Rominigue Kouamé came off the bench to score an 86th-minute winner. And with that, the Fire have a win at home.

Previous ranking: 18

Talk about temperamental. One week after beating the top team in the East, NYCFC lost to bottom-ranked Montréal 1-0 and looked like they deserved it. They’ll need to clean up their defending as they face 12th-place D.C. with nothing guaranteed.

Previous ranking: 15

Brandon Vázquez scored from the spot for Austin in a 2-1 loss to Cincinnati, marking his first goal against his former club scored at TQL Stadium (his first goal against them came in Concacaf play). That’s three goals in 11 games for the $10 million striker, who scored 43 goals for FCC as their second-highest all-time leading scorer.

Previous ranking: 24

Diego Luna is just so much fun to watch. He opened the scoring with some creative work with the ball to find space before curling his seventh goal of the season into the net. Unfortunately, RSL let former teammate Anderson Julio cut through their defense to find an equalizer for RSL in the 53rd minute, and they walked away with a 1-1 draw.

Previous ranking: 23

One thing we know Jack McGlynn can do from a free kick is drop a dime on somebody’s head. That’s how Houston got level with Seattle after trailing 1-0 early on, but a red card shortly after sent them down a man, and they ended the 2024 playoff rematch with a 3-1 loss.

Previous ranking: 27

Toronto is showing signs of life and beat D.C. 2-0 thanks to some brilliance from Lorenzo Insigne. The Italian scored the opening goal and forced the second, ruled an own goal, to make the difference in this win.

Previous ranking: 222

United produced a few opportunities against Toronto but found themselves coming up short, 2-0, faced with Lorenzo Insigne’s quality in front of goal and Sean Johnson ‘s five-save performance.

Previous ranking: 25

Atlanta is winless in six games and handed Chicago its first home win of the season. Brad Guzan (of course) pulled off some goalkeeping heroics, but it wasn’t enough in a 2-1 loss.

Previous ranking: 26

After losing 2-1 to San Diego, STL are winless in their past eight games in the MLS regular season. They play Kansas City in midweek with tough questions ahead if they can’t glean something from it.

Previous ranking: 29

Montréal picked up its first win of the year after beating NYCFC 1-0. The season hasn’t turned around entirely, and NYCFC defended poorly, but that’s progress.

Previous ranking: 28

Sporting conceded only one goal against Portland (an improvement from the four the Timbers put past them on April 13), but they didn’t produce enough to get anything from this game, falling 1-0.

Previous ranking: 30

If it were possible to rank the reigning champs lower than 30, we would need to do that after what just happened in New Jersey. The 2024 MLS Cup rematch ended 7-0 in the Red Bulls’ favor as the Galaxy all but gave up at Sports Illustrated Stadium. The Galaxy’s record-setting stumble extends to 12 games winless to start the year.