The 2025 MLS season continues, playing through the FIFA Club World Cup and Concacaf Gold Cup in an inconsistent schedule. Teams had two weeks off, played a match, and will go another 10 days without a game, breaking up the season across the summer months.
With another round of games, though, we've got yet another round of Power Rankings.
If you're unfamiliar, we use a data-based model to create these rankings and hopefully give a more holistic view of how teams are actually performing.
Overall Performance Index
Our power rankings are solely created by a data-based model we've pretentiously labeled "the Overall Performance Index" (OPI). This new model includes the same factors as the prior edition (points per game, strength of schedule, goal difference and expected goal difference), while adding several other factors to give a more rounded picture. Here's how the model is calculated (click here for a more in-depth explanation):
1. Points per game – 25%
2. Goals Added – 15%
3. Form (last four matches) – 15%
4. Goal difference – 13%
5. Strength of schedule – 10%
6. Expected goal difference – 10%
7. Home and away form – 12%
Let's dive in!
Vancouver Whitecaps hold onto the top spot, despite a 2-1 loss to Columbus Crew. Their score has been slowly decreasing over the last several weeks following their loss in the Concacaf Champions Cup final, but they still hold a four-point lead at the top. It's worth pointing out that they were without as many as four starters to the international break, so it's hard to take too many conclusions from the match.
Orlando City drop a spot despite a 1-0 win on the road against the Colorado Rapids. Don't let the drop fool you; their score actually increased. However, it wasn't enough to keep up with San Diego FC, who made a big step up with a dominant 4-2 win against Minnesota United on the road.
New York City FC also made a jump up two spots, dominating Atlanta United in a 4-0 home win with Hannes Wolf bagging yet another brace. They're making a play for top 10 in the rankings, and look like they'll overtake Charlotte FC in the next few weeks.
At the bottom, CF Montréal couldn't climb out of second-to-last place with a 3-1 win at the Houston Dynamo. Their score increased significantly, but they've dug themselves into a big enough hole that they couldn't pass DC United. However, the Black & Red keep slipping, and are on pace to challenge LA Galaxy for the sole spot at the bottom of the rankings.
Check back next week for another update.
