Five teams with the best chances to win MLS Cup in 2025

Major League Soccer returns Saturday with a brand new season and there's plenty of reason for intrigue as Lionel Messi and Co. are back on the pitch. In the league's 30th season, there will be a new club entering the fold as San Diego FC become the latest expansion team.

While the West Coast side's championship aspirations might have to be put on hold for the time being, there are still plenty of worthy competitors that will be battling it out to hoist MLS Cup later in the season.

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— Major League Soccer (@MLS) February 22, 2025

Inter Miami

They were the best team in MLS throughout the regular season last year, but when it came down to playoff time Miami fell short. This season, there's no reason to believe that Messi and the rest of the club cannot reach their full potential.

This is about as stacked of a roster as there is in recent memory with World Cup winners and promising young talents. Look for Miami to be the odd-on favorite throughout the 2025 season.

Los Angeles Galaxy

The Galaxy won MLS Cup a season ago, but they'll certainly be tested this year as they look to repeat as champions. LA has lost plenty of key pieces, most notably Dejan Joveljic and Jalen Neal. The club has has retooled though with several promising additions, including former Columbus Crew striker Christian Ramirez.

Los Angeles FC

The other LA club has been quite active this offseason as well, including with a number of huge losses in their squad including Carlos Vela, Eduard Atuesta and Mateusz Borgusz. However, LAFC still have the firepower up front in order to lead a charge towards MLS Cup.

Olivier Giroud will now be paired with the addition of Jeremy Ebobisse, while Denis Bouanga is still the playmaker that makes things happen for the team and is arguably the most dangerous attacker in the Western Conference.

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Atlanta United

There's been a lot of exciting moves this offseason, but Atlanta fans have to be amongst the happiest in the league with what their club has done. Their transfers have been highlighted by the return of club favorite Miguel Almiron, who returns after spending years away in the Premier League with Newcastle.

The Eastern Conference side has an extremely balanced roster, and if anyone can contend with Miami it will likely be Atlanta.

FC Cincinnati

Finally, Cincinnati has become one of the most stable clubs in MLS since joining the league and while Pat Noonan's team suffered a big blow when Luciano Acosta left for FC Dallas the team turned right around and replaced him with a superstar in Evander. After an early exit in last season's MLS Cup Playoffs, there's a lot of hype around Cincinnati as they look to avenge that disappointing end to 2024.

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