EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsIt's Monday, MLS action is back, and it's time for ESPN's Power Rankings.Which team looks the strongest? Which one is in for a long year? Our writers studied the action from across Matchday 11 to come up with this week's order. Let's dive in.- Messi tracker: Goals, assists, key moments in 2026- Who is Chicago Fire and Bafana defender Mbekezeli 'TLB' Mbokazi?- Can Griezmann win Champions League to leave Atltico for MLS?1. Vancouver WhitecapsPrevious ranking: 1The Whitecaps collected their first draw of the year in a 1-1 draw against the Galaxy in SoCal, and will need to recover quickly as they face first-place San Jose next weekend in NorCal. They still have the best goal differential in MLS, but will need to maintain their success as their season flips to a heavy schedule on the road.2. San Jose EarthquakesPrevious ranking: 3With Timo Werner already out injured, the Quakes' ascendant young star Niko Tsakiris stepped up to help his side earn a 1-1 draw with Toronto, despite leaving the match early with an apparent leg injury. It's their first draw of the season and ironically, second-place Vancouver (just behind them with a game in hand but league-best goal differential) did the same in a 1-1 draw. They play each other next in a marquee matchup next weekend.3. Nashville SCPrevious ranking: 2Ahead of a pivotal Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal with Tigres this Tuesday, Nashville put out a rotated team in Philadelphia and got a 0-0 draw. That'll do fine as they focus on a comeback in the second leg in Mexico.4. LAFCPrevious ranking: 4Gone are the days when LAFC felt impossible to score on. After starting the year with six straight clean sheets, LAFC has conceded eight goals in five games, including two in San Diego to trail 2-0 before clawing their way back to a draw. Ryan Hollingshead salvaged the point in the 14th minute of stoppage time.5. Inter Miami CFPrevious ranking: 5What's worse than fumbling a 3-0 lead? Doing it against your rivals. The Herons looked electric for the first 35 minutes and were only limited to three goals because of Maxime Crpeau's seven first-half saves. But they stuttered their way to a 4-3 defeat at home in a second-half collapse featuring a hat trick from the other Argentine No. 10: Orlando's Martn Ojeda.6. Real Salt LakePrevious ranking: 8Nineteen-year-old Zavier Gozo did his part to keep USMNT stock watchers wondering if an uncapped player can make the World Cup team, as the teenage talent scored the first of two goals in a 2-0 win against Portland. Diego Luna, who is also playing for a World Cup roster spot, added the second to mark his third of the year and first since April 18. At the other end of a comprehensive team performance, RSL kept their first clean sheet of the year.7. Seattle SoundersPrevious ranking: 6Paul Rothrock was typically impactful, scoring the lone goal in a 1-1 draw with Kansas City. Still, the Sounders will regret dropping points against the league's last-placed team (and Cristian Roldan will regret the errant pass to set up Dejan Joveljic's goal), or letting the team with the fewest season goals scored (eight) add to their goals conceded tally of five, the lowest in the league.8. Minnesota UnitedPrevious ranking: 9A week after getting his first start for the Loons, Colombia star James Rodrguez didn't travel for Minnesota's 3-2 win against Columbus due to a previously scheduled medical procedure. Still, Minnesota recovered from last week's defeat to LAFC with a come-from-behind win featuring three second-half goals and a brace from Kelvin Yeboah.9. LA GalaxyPrevious ranking: 14The Galaxy have pulled together a string of strong performances against top 10 teams despite missing the team's top scorer Jo�o Klauss, due to injury. A week after Marco Reus scored twice to seal a win against RSL, Joseph Paintsil scored his second of the year to secure a point against second-place Vancouver.10. Chicago FirePrevious ranking: 7Hugo Cuypers scored twice for Chicago to mark his seventh straight game with a goal, a new Fire record. Cuypers' brace was enough to finish the weekend tied atop the Golden Boot race, but not enough to secure three points in a 3-2 loss to a 10-man Cincinnati, as one of the league's toughest defensive teams conceded three of 11 goals this season (sixth least in MLS) against one team.11. FC DallasPrevious ranking: 11In the 54th minute of a 2-0 win against Red Bull New York, Petar Musa finished off a smart pass from Ran Binyamin (his first goal contribution of the season) to score his 10th goal of the year, putting him neck-and-neck with Cuypers atop the goal charts. The 23-year-old American midfielder Sam Sarver came off the bench to claim his first of the year and secure the win.12. Colorado RapidsPrevious ranking: 12After a tough run of games, Colorado could have used a positive result against Houston (who now sit just above them in the Western Conference), but succumbed to a 72nd-minute goal from Lawrence Ennali to walk away with no points.13. FC CincinnatiPrevious ranking: 14Six minutes after Roman Celentano stopped Cuypers from getting a hat trick from the penalty spot, Evander scored his third of the night from the other penalty spot to secure a 3-2 win against Chicago and claim his first MLS hat trick. Not bad for a team that finished with 10 players (for the fifth time this season), but also thanks to Celentano's eight saves.14. New England RevolutionPrevious ranking: 15The Revs are on a stellar run of form, and are undefeated in six regular-season games (five wins, one draw) after beating Charlotte 1-0 Saturday evening. Carles Gil put away a 97th-minute penalty and Matt Turner made four saves in his third clean sheet of the season to secure three points.15. San Diego FCPrevious ranking: 13The team that finished first in the Western Conference last year were minutes away from beating LAFC to claim their first win in nine regular-season games before conceding a goal in the 14th-minute of stoppage time to settle for a 2-2 draw.16. Charlotte FCPrevious ranking: 17With a few notable injuries, including Tim Ream, Charlotte suffered their fourth straight defeat in all competitions (and third in MLS) in a 1-0 loss to New England. Kristijan Kahlina can save a lot, but a 97th-minute penalty from Gil was all it took to deny Charlotte of any points.17. Toronto FCPrevious ranking: 19Saturday's 1-1 draw with San Jose is their fourth draw in five weekends. But with Josh Sargent out injured, holding the first-place team in the league to just a point is an impressive result for Toronto.18. Red Bull New YorkPrevious ranking: 16It's not quite panic time, but Michael Bradley's squad are winless since April 4 in the regular season after losing 2-0 to FC Dallas. That said, while starting three teenagers and six players under 23 (and the first four players off the bench under 22), Bradley's young team is still building toward a bright future.19. New York City FCPrevious ranking: 13Despite their success in the U.S. Open Cup (they beat their New York rivals midweek), the Pigeons haven't won a regular-season game since March 14. Conceding two goals at home against a D.C. United side that's only scored 13 and is missing their top scorer -- Tai Baribo -- isn't great either.20. Portland TimbersPrevious ranking: 20Despite Canadian goalkeeper James Pantemis' 13 saves, Portland were scoreless in a 2-0 defeat to RSL. After winning twice but losing three times in their past five weekends, the Timbers have a more forgiving test against last-place Kansas City at home up next, and Juan Mosquera (who has a goal and assist in his only 45 minutes played this season) could be fit to play.21. Austin FCPrevious ranking: 21On Sunday against St. Louis, Austin recovered from an eight-game winless slump with their second straight 2-0 win, this time with a second-half goal and assist from Christian Ramrez to break through Roman Brki. There's more good news for Verde fans: former MLS All-Star Brandon Vzquez made his return from ACL injury, subbing in in the 88th minute.22. D.C. UnitedPrevious ranking: 24The odds weren't in their favor, but D.C. managed a 2-0 win at Citi Field despite entering Sunday's match with the league's second-fewest shots on target and their top scorer Baribo, was injured. Romanian forward Louis Munteanu scored early off a throw-in and again on a penalty to secure the win and keep D.C. undefeated in four games.23. Columbus CrewPrevious ranking: 22The Crew were up 2-0 at home but allowed three second-half goals in the span of 15 minutes in a 3-2 loss to the Loons. With audible boos at the final whistle, Columbus will need to win back their fans on a three-game East Coast swing to play NYCFC, Red Bull New York, and then Philly.24. Houston DynamoPrevious ranking: 25The Dynamo will be pleased with a sorely needed win after beating Colorado 1-0 with a gorgeous goal from Lawrence Ennali (his third of the year), as it marks their third hard-fought win in four regular-season games ahead of a tough schedule.25. Orlando CityPrevious ranking: 29Despite Crpeau's seven first-half saves (Jesse Marsch will be pleased with the Canadian goalkeepers on either side despite the scoreline), things looked dire early as Orlando trailed 3-0 on the road. But Ojeda's hat trick brought them level before Tyrese Spicer's 93rd-minute goal sealed the biggest surprise comeback of the year against Miami. Orlando is now the first team in MLS history to overcome a three-goal deficit to win on the road.26. St. Louis City SCPrevious ranking: 23The good news is that Roman Brki is still an MLS Goalkeeper of the Year-worthy keeper. The bad news is that Brad Stuver (who made five saves to keep them scoreless) is also a good goalkeeper, and they lost anyway to a 2-0 loss to Austin FC.27. Atlanta UnitedPrevious ranking: 26It's too soon to call it a turnaround, but Atlanta have three wins in three games across all competitions after beating Montral 3-1 with a brace of goals from Saba Lobzhanidze (his first in MLS since 2024). With two straight regular-season wins against the lower-ranked Canadian teams (Toronto and Montral), they've got the Galaxy next.28. Sporting Kansas CityPrevious ranking: 30Close your eyes and guess who scored in a 1-1 draw against Seattle? You guessed it: Serbian striker Joveljic scored his fifth goal of the season (63% of the team's total) while Stefan Cleveland proffered seven saves to call things even against the Sounders.29. CF MontralPrevious ranking: 27Despite a sixth-minute goal from Matthew Longstaff, Montral lost 3-1 to Atlanta and ended the match with 10 players with a late red card. Montral tends to lose, but when you get comprehensively beaten by your fellow basement dwellers, that says something about your chances of climbing out.30. Philadelphia UnionPrevious ranking: 28Philly collected their first win of the year on April 11 against Montral and haven't done it again since. Saturday's 0-0 draw with Nashville is their third draw in four games, but a point against a talented (but rotated) Nashville team is worthy of celebrating in a season this bad.
