Sporting KC to play at Houston Dynamo in MLS Western Conference Semifinals: details

Kansas City Star
·3 min read

Sporting Kansas City, a winner in the Major League Soccer wild card round and best-of-three first round, will take on the Houston Dynamo next.

The league on Sunday released the match schedule and broadcast details for the MLS Cup Playoffs Eastern and Western Conference Semifinals. Eight teams are left in the 2023 postseason field, four from each conference.

No. 8 seed Sporting KC is the only lower seed to defeat a higher seed thus far: The Kansas City club swept No. 1 seed St. Louis City SC after eliminating the San Jose Earthquakes to reach its first conference-semifinal appearance since 2018.

The semifinal round matches will be played as doubleheaders, with two Eastern Conference matches on Saturday, Nov. 25, and the two Western Conference matches slated for Sunday, Nov. 26.

Here’s the conference semifinals schedule, with all four matches set to be broadcast via MLS Season Pass on Apple TV (note that Sporting KC’s match will also be shown on FS1/ FOX Deportes/TSN/RDS):

Saturday, Nov. 25:

  • No. 2 Orlando City SC vs. No. 3 Columbus Crew, 4:30 p.m. CT from Exploria Stadium, Orlando

  • No. 1 FC Cincinnati vs. No 4 Philadelphia Union, 7 p.m. CT at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati

Sunday, Nov. 26:

  • No. 4 Houston Dynamo FC vs. No. 8 Sporting KC, 6 p.m. CT at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston

  • No. 2 Seattle Sounders FC vs. No. 3 LAFC, 8:30 p.m. CT at Lumen Field in Seattle

The conference semifinals, conference finals, and MLS Cup final are all single-elimination matches. Per MLS, “If the score of one of these matches is tied at the end of regulation, two 15-minute extra time periods will be played in their entirety. If the score is still tied at the end of the two extra time periods, teams will participate in kicks from the penalty spot to determine the winner.”

The MLS conference finals will be contested Dec. 2-3; the 2023 MLS Cup match is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 9 at 3 p.m. CT.

Here’s a recap of all 2023 MLS playoff matches to date:

Wild Card Round:

  • Sporting KC 0-0 San Jose Earthquakes (Sporting KC advance 4-2 on penalty kicks)

  • New York Red Bulls 5-2 Charlotte FC (Red Bulls advance)

Round One Best-of-3 Series:

No. 1 FC Cincinnati at No. 8 NY Red Bulls; Cincinnati advance:

  • Game 1: FC Cincinnati 3-0 New York Red Bulls

  • Game 2: FC Cincinnati 1-1 New York Red Bulls (Cincinnati win 8-7 on penalties)

No. 2 Orlando City SC at No. 7 Nashville SC; Orlando advance:

  • Game 1: Orlando City SC 1-0 Nashville SC

  • Game 2: Orlando City SC 1-0 Nashville SC

No. 3 Columbus Crew vs. No. 6 Atlanta United; Crew advance:

  • Game 1: Columbus Crew 2-0 Atlanta United

  • Game 2: Atlanta United 4-2 Columbus Crew

  • Game 3: Columbus Crew 4-2 Atlanta United

No. 4 Philadelphia at No. 5 New England; Philadelphia advance:

  • Game 1: Philadelphia Union 3-1 New England Revolution

  • Game 2: Philadelphia Union 1-0 New England Revolution

No. 1 St. Louis City SC vs. No. 8 Sporting KC; Sporting KC advance:

  • Game 1: Sporting Kansas City 4-1 St. Louis City SC

  • Game 2: Sporting Kansas City 2-1 St. Louis City SC

No. 2 Seattle Sounders FC vs. No. 7 FC Dallas; Sounders advance:

  • Game 1: Seattle Sounders FC 2-0 FC Dallas

  • Game 2: FC Dallas 3-1 Seattle Sounders FC

  • Game 3: Seattle Sounders 1-0 FC Dallas

No. 3 LAFC at No. 6 Vancouver Whitecaps FC; LAFC advance:

  • Game 1: LAFC 5-2 Vancouver Whitecaps FC

  • Game 2: LAFC 1-0 Vancouver Whitecaps FC

No. 4 Houston Dynamo vs. No. 5 Real Salt Lake; Dynamo advance:

  • Game 1: Houston Dynamo 2-1 Real Salt Lake

  • Game 2: Real Salt Lake 1-1 Houston Dynamo (RSL win 5-4 on penalties)

  • Game 3: Houston Dynamo 1-1 Real Salt Lake (Dynamo win 4-3 on penalties)