Every 2004 MLS playoff matchup, three ways: the season race carried on into the postseason, who beat their seeding, and the bracket.
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The same race these clubs ran all season, carried on through the postseason on one scale and on real dates.
Where each club finished the season against how far it went, ranked on record rather than seed.
Who played whom, round by round, which no line chart can say.
D.C. United won the 2004 title from a regular season record of 11-10-9. 8 teams reached the playoffs and the bracket ran 3 rounds. Every matchup below is taken from the MLS stats API except one penalty shootout score, which the API does not carry, written in from Wikipedia's MLS Cup Playoffs article for the season, and which match went to extra time, which the API does not record before 2011, written in from Wikipedia's MLS Cup Playoffs article for the season; nothing on this page is estimated.
| Round | Won by | Result | Opponent | Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conference Semifinals | New England Revolution | 2-1 on aggregate | Columbus Crew | October 23 to October 31, 2004 |
| Conference Semifinals | Kansas City Wizards | 3-2 on aggregate | San Jose Earthquakes | October 24 to October 30, 2004 |
| Conference Semifinals | LA Galaxy | 2-1 on aggregate | Colorado Rapids | October 22 to October 30, 2004 |
| Conference Semifinals | D.C. United | 4-0 on aggregate | MetroStars | October 23 to October 30, 2004 |
| Conference Finals | Kansas City Wizards | 2-0 | LA Galaxy | November 5, 2004 |
| Conference Finals | D.C. United | 3-3 after extra time, 4-3 on penalties | New England Revolution | November 6, 2004 |
| MLS Cup | D.C. United | 3-2 | Kansas City Wizards | November 14, 2004 |
The left column ranks this field by regular season record, not by seed number: seeding rules differ by era, so this site uses records everywhere instead. The right column groups clubs by the round they went out in, which is not the same as the number of rounds they won, because a bye carries a club further without it winning anything. The figure beside a name is places moved between the two columns, and part of it is only where a club sat inside its band. Nothing here is a prediction. The data notes carry the whole method, and a standings race and the playoffs that followed it says what each of the three views is for.