MLS Cup 2016

The MLS Cup 2016 was the 21st edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer. It took place on December 10, 2016, at BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The match featured two teams: Toronto FC and Seattle Sounders FC.

This was a special event because it was the first time two new teams competed in the final. The game ended with no goals from either team, which had never happened before in the MLS Cup. The Seattle Sounders FC won their first title by winning a penalty shoot-out.

For Toronto FC, this was an important moment as they became the first Canadian team to play in the MLS Cup. The Seattle Sounders FC had an amazing season, changing their manager and moving up from near the bottom of the league to win a place in the playoffs.

Road to the final

Further information: 2016 MLS Cup playoffs

The MLS Cup is the big championship game of Major League Soccer, a top soccer league in the United States and Canada. In 2016, twenty teams played 34 games each from March to October. The best teams then played in the playoffs from October to December to decide who would compete in the MLS Cup final.

This year was special because both teams in the final, Toronto FC and Seattle Sounders FC, were new to the big stage. Neither team had ever been in the MLS Cup before. They met once during the regular season and tied 1–1.

Toronto FC

Further information: 2016 Toronto FC season

Toronto FC became the first team from Canada to reach the MLS Cup final. They brought in new players and worked hard to improve. In the playoffs, they beat Philadelphia Union and then had an amazing series against New York City FC, winning 7–5 overall. They also beat their rivals, Montreal Impact, to reach the final.

Seattle Sounders FC

Further information: 2016 Seattle Sounders FC season

The Seattle Sounders had been in the league for eight years but had never reached the MLS Cup final before. They had a tough season but made it to the playoffs by the end. In the playoffs, they beat Sporting Kansas City, then FC Dallas, and finally the Colorado Rapids to win their conference and reach the big game.

Summary of results

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Venue

BMO Field was chosen to host the MLS Cup 2016 after Toronto FC won the Eastern Conference Championship. The stadium had previously hosted the MLS Cup 2010, the 2008 MLS All-Star Game, and the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup. Before the 2016 season, it was renovated with new seats and a roof, costing C$150 million. The owners spent extra money to keep the field in good shape because it is also used by the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.

A temporary grandstand was added to the south end of the stadium to hold more fans. This was originally for the 104th Grey Cup and the National Hockey League’s Centennial Classic. Fans could use these seats if Toronto made it to the playoffs after the CFL championship. With these extra seats, the stadium could hold about 36,000 people for soccer games. Public transport services were increased to help fans get to BMO Field on the night of the final.

Broadcasting

The 2016 final was shown on Fox Sports on regular TV in the United States for the first time since 2008. It was also shown in Spanish on UniMás and on the radio by ESPN Deportes Radio. In Canada, the match was broadcast in English by TSN and in French by RDS. The game was also shown around the world on different channels.

Fox and TSN had special pre-game shows, and Fox used a virtual reality app for the first time to show the match.

The 2016 final had a lot of viewers, with 3.5 million people watching across all channels. On Fox, 1.4 million people watched, which was the most for an English broadcast in the United States since 2001. In Spanish, about 601,000 people watched on UniMás. In Canada, around 1.5 million people watched on TSN and RDS, which was a new record. The Seattle–Tacoma area had a rating of 9.9 for the match.

Broadcaster	Language	Commentators		Other staff
		Play-by-play	Color
Television
Fox	English	John Strong	Brad Friedel	Alexi Lalas, Julie Stewart-Binks
UniMás	Spanish	Raúl Guzmán	Diego Balado, Marcelo Balboa	Gonzalo Pineda, Ramsés Sandoval
TSN	English	Luke Wileman	Steven Caldwell	Kristian Jack, Vic Rauter, Andi Petrillo, James Duthie
RDS	French	Claudine Douville	Jean Gounelle	Patrick Friolet
Radio
Sirius XM	English	Joe Tolleson	Janusz Michallik, Glenn Crooks
TSN Radio	English	Gareth Wheeler	Terry Dunfield

Match

The match began at 8:16 p.m. Eastern Time at BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The weather was very cold, with the ground temperature at −5 °C (23 °F) and feeling like −12 °C (10 °F) with the wind.

Toronto had many chances to score in the first half but couldn’t manage a goal. The second half saw more missed chances and strong defending from Seattle, keeping the score at 0–0 after extra time. In the penalty shoot-out, Seattle won 5–4, claiming their first ever MLS Cup title.

Toronto FC

Seattle Sounders FC

Post-match

Seattle Sounders FC became the first team in MLS history to not have a shot on goal during regular play. Their goalkeeper, Stefan Frei, received the MLS Cup Most Valuable Player award for keeping the goal safe. The team’s success under their new coach was a big surprise, moving up to win the championship.

Seattle earned a place in a big international competition, and Toronto also qualified by winning another tournament. Seattle won a prize for being champions, while Toronto received a smaller prize as the runners-up. Both teams met again the next year, with Toronto winning that time. Seattle celebrated their victory with a parade that many fans attended. This was Seattle’s first MLS championship, adding to their previous titles from earlier leagues.