Major League Soccer announced Friday morning the full schedule for the 2020 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, with MLS Cup set to air on Saturday, December 12 at 7pm central on FOX, UniMás, TSN, and TVA Sports. From the league’s press release:
In an expansion of the postseason, 18 clubs will qualify for the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs. Seventeen postseason matches will be played after the November FIFA international window within a 22-day span from Nov. 20 through MLS Cup on Dec. 12, including an MLS record 14 postseason matches played over the span of 13 days.
Building on the excitement of last season’s Audi MLS Cup Playoffs that saw the highest-scoring postseason in MLS history (4.1 goals per match), this year’s playoffs will once again feature single-game elimination matches hosted by the higher-seeded club.
All 17 games of the expanded postseason will be broadcast nationally in the U.S. on ABC/ESPN/ESPN2/ESPN Deportes, FOX/FS1/FOX Deportes, and Univision’s UniMás and TUDN networks, in Canada on TSN and TVA Sports networks, and in more than 190 countries around the world.
Here’s the full post-season schedule:
Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs Schedule
Subject to change All times Eastern.
Eastern Conference Play-In Round (2 games)
(The lower-seeded advancing team will face the Eastern Conference No. 1 seed in Round 1, while the higher-seeded advancing team will face the Eastern Conference No. 2 seed.)
Friday, Nov. 20
(two games)
- 6:30 p.m. FS1/FOX Deportes, TSN, TVA Sports .
- 8:30 p.m. ESPN2/ESPN Deportes, TSN, TVA Sports
Eastern and Western Conference Round One (8 games)
(Western Conference No. 1 vs. No. 8 seed, No. 2 vs No. 7 seed, No. 3 vs. No. 6 seed, Nov. 4 vs No. 5 seed. Eastern Conference No. 1 vs lower advancing Play-In Round seed, No. 2 vs. higher advancing Play-In Round seed, No. 3 vs. No. 6 seed, Nov. 4 vs No. 5 seed)
Saturday, Nov. 21
(two games)
- 12 p.m. UniMás/TUDN, TSN, TVA Sports
- 3 p.m. UniMás/TUDN, TSN, TVA Sports
Sunday, Nov. 22
(three games)
- 4 p.m. FS1/FOX Deportes, TSN, TVA Sports
- 7:30 p.m. ESPN/ESPN Deportes, TSN, TVA Sports
- 10 p.m. ESPN/ESPN Deportes, TSN, TVA Sports
Tuesday, Nov. 24
(three games)
- 6 p.m. FS1/FOX Deportes, TSN, TVA Sports
- 8 p.m. ESPN/ESPN Deportes, TSN, TVA Sports
- 10:30 p.m. ESPN/ESPN Deportes, TSN, TVA Sports
Eastern and Western Conference Semifinal (4 games)
(One single-elimination game, winners advance to Conference Final)
Sunday, Nov. 29
(two games)
- 3 p.m. ABC/ESPN Deportes, TSN, TVA Sports
- 8 p.m. ESPN/ESPN Deportes, TSN, TVA Sports
Tuesday, Dec. 1
(one game)
- 6:30 or 9 p.m. FS1/FOX Deportes, TSN, TVA Sports
Wednesday, Dec. 2
(one game)
- 6:30 or 9 p.m. FS1/FOX Deportes, TSN, TVA Sports
Eastern and Western Conference Final (2 games)
(One single-elimination game, winners advance to MLS Cup)
Sunday, Dec. 6
(two games)
- 3 p.m. ABC/ESPN Deportes, TSN, TVA Sports
- 6:30 p.m. FS1/FOX Deportes, TSN, TVA Sports
2020 MLS Cup (1 game)
(Eastern Conference Champion vs. Western Conference Champion One single-elimination game that will crown the 2020 MLS Cup Champion.)
Saturday, Dec. 12
- 8 p.m.             FOX, UniMás//TUDN, TSN, TVA Sports
Ahead of a Decision Day trip to Orlando, Nashville SC currently sit in 8th place. While they could theoretically move into sixth and bypass the play-in round, it’s more likely that they’ll host one of the play-in matches on November 20, moving on to play on Tuesday, November 24 if they advance.
The FIFA international window could complicate things for Nashville. Midfielder AnÃbal Godoy has been called up to the Panamanian national team for their match against Japan on Friday, November 11, and a couple other Nashville players could be in the mix for a call up. With a 10 day quarantine period required by MLS following international travel, Godoy would be unavailable for the play-in round match, and could potentially be unavailable for the Round One match should Nashville advance.
Nashville’s final position will be determined after Sunday’s Decision Day round of matches. We’ll have all the details on scheduling then.
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