The MLS 2026 playoffs follow the format adopted in 2023, with 18 teams qualifying from the regular season, the nine highest-placed clubs from each conference, playing a single-elimination path to the championship match (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLS_Cup_playoffs). The wild-card round trims each conference to eight, and from there every tie is one leg, which is why lower seeds keep causing early upsets.
The final is the MLS Cup itself, played in November or December between the Eastern and Western Conference champions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLS_Cup). The current bracket and kickoff times are listed on the league site at https://www.mlssoccer.com/, and home-field advantage goes to the higher seed all the way through, which makes the late-season Shield race genuinely meaningful.
My honest advice for following the run: pick one conference finalist to track seriously instead of spreading attention across every tie, because the single-leg format means form on the night matters more than the season table. And on quiet nights between matchdays, switching to a completely different kind of TV night helps, like this streaming setup tips for your TV at home, which walks through subtitles and app settings that make any big-screen session smoother.