FULLTIME: It’s not the result they were looking for, but the 1-1 tied to the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday is hardly a disaster for the Seattle Sounders. The Sounders close out the regular season on a six-game winless run — their longest since 2013 — but still finish second in the Western Conference, clinched a 2022 Concacaf Champions League spot and won the Cascadia Cup as well.

The Sounders will play Real Salt Lake in the first round of the playoffs after they grabbed a late winner against Sporting KC.

WHITECAPS 1, SOUNDERS 1: After dominating much of the early play, the Whitecaps equalized through a Ryan Gauld header after he was first to a ball that was head back by Brian White.

WHITECAPS 0, SOUNDERS 1: Fredy Montero converted his penalty in the 7th minute, giving him seven goals on the season and the Sounders’ their first lead since the last time they played the Whitecaps.

By almost any metric, this has been a highly successful season for the Seattle Sounders. They’ve already claimed the third-most points in franchise history and can post their best-ever goal-difference, depending on how things go in the regular-season finale against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday.

Despite all that success, though, a lot rides on this game. A win would guarantee that the Sounders win the Western Conference for just the second time in franchise history, while anything less would leave them in danger of dropping all the way to third. Just for good measure, the Cascadia Cup is also technically still up for grabs, although it would require the Whitecaps to win by four goals in order to claim it.

The Whitecaps should pose quite the challenge. They’ve only lost two games since July 7 and are a remarkable 8-2-4 over their past 14. Still, they could miss the playoffs with a loss combined with other results.

One of those two recent losses, it should be said, was to the Sounders in their last meeting. The Sounders won that game 4-1, which also happened to be the last time Seattle claimed all three points.

Notes

• Raúl Ruidíaz currently trails the Golden Boot race by one goal, but will need to pass Valentin Castellanos who will surely have the assists tiebreaker (8-1). If Ruidíaz were to win the Golden Boot, he’d be the first Sounder to pull off the feat. Ruidíaz has already tied the Sounders’ record for regular-season goals in a season and all-competition goals (19) in a season.
• The Sounders bring an 11-game unbeaten run against the Whitecaps into this match. The Whitecaps last beat the Sounders on April 14, 2017 at B.C. Place.
• This will be the 146th meeting between these two teams across all leagues and competitions. No teams in North American soccer history have faced each other more.

Playoff scenarios

In its simplest form, the Sounders will clinch the top spot in the Western Conference with a win. But they can also win the West as long as they match the results of Sporting KC AND the Rapids don’t win.

If Sporting KC posts a better result, they’ll jump the Sounders in the standings as long as they don’t score six fewer goals than the Sounders.

The Rapids must win in order to jump the Sounders in the standings. Although they can equal the Sounders’ point total with a tie and a Sounders loss, the Sounders would hold the wins tiebreaker.

Cascadia Cup scenarios

The Sounders will win their third straight Cascadia Cup as long as they don’t lose by four goals. The Sounders are currently tied with the Timbers but already hold the tiebreaker. The Sounders hold a three-point lead and have already beaten the Whitecaps 4-1 head-to-head.

Absences: Injury, international duty and suspension

Vancouver

OUT: Caio Alexandre (L foot, fifth metatarsal fracture); Tosaint Ricketts (R calf strain)

Seattle

QUESTIONABLE: João Paulo (R hamstring strain); Nico Lodeiro (R knee inflammation); Jimmy Medranda (R hamstring pain); Raul Ruidíaz (L hamstring strain)

OUT: Will Bruin (R knee surgery); Jordy Delem (R ACL tear)

Officials

REF: Fotis Bazakos; AR1 (bench): Chris Wattam; AR2 (opposite): Jeffrey Greeson; 4th: Alain Ruch; VAR: Alejandro Mariscal; AVAR: Rene Parra

How to Watch

Match date/kickoff time: Sunday, 3:08 PM PT

Venue: BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia

Online Streaming: Amazon Prime (affiliate link, in-market), ESPN+ (affiliate link, out of market)

Local English TV: Fox13+ (Costigan, Keller, Zakuani)

Local Radio: 950 KJR-AM Seattle (Costigan, Keller, Zakuani)

Local Spanish Radio: El Rey 1360 AM (Rodriguez, Maqueda, Tapia)

Local Spanish TV: KUNS-TV Univision-Seattle

International TV:

Brazil: DAZN
Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain: DAZN
Latin America: ESPN Latin America
Sweden: C-More

Lineups

Highlights will be posted as the match progresses.

This is Seattle Sounders at Whitecaps; watch with us

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