The win secures top seed & home-field advantage in Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs
NEW YORK (Saturday, September 30, 2023) – FC Cincinnati has won the Supporters’ Shield, an award given to the MLS team with the best overall regular season record by the supporters. Cincinnati’s 3-2 victory tonight over Toronto FC secured the accolade along with the top seed in the Eastern Conference and home-field advantage throughout the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. As the Supporters’ Shield winners, the Orange and Blue qualified to compete in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup for the first time in club history.
Building on its first-ever postseason berth in 2022, Cincinnati is expected to begin their postseason journey October 29 through November 1 in the Round One Best-of-3 series against the Eastern Conference winner of the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs Wild Card match. The Round One Best-of-3 series schedule will be finalized upon the release of the full Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs schedule.
At the helm since 2022, head coach Pat Noonan has guided the club’s on-field transformation, with Saturday’s win over Toronto improving the club’s record to 19-4-8 in 2023 and securing the club’s first-ever trophy as an MLS club with three games remaining in their regular-season schedule.
Leading Cincinnati’s pursuit of the Supporters’ Shield has been club captain Luciano ‘Lucho’ Acosta, who currently leads the league in goal contributions (28) and is tied atop the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi standings with 15 goals. No MLS player has recorded more regular season assists than Acosta’s 42 since he joined Cincinnati ahead of the 2021 season, and he is one of two players to record at least 30 goals and 30 assists over that stretch as well.
In claiming the Supporters’ Shield, Cincinnati has also made history across the five U.S men’s professional leagues (MLB, MLS, NBA, NHL, NFL) as they are the first team among these leagues to finish last in three consecutive seasons before winning a regular season title within the two years that followed. They are also just the fourth team in the history of the five leagues to have finished last in their league in three consecutive seasons and countered with a winning season in either of the two years that followed.
Cincinnati will host the New York Red Bulls on October 4 and Atlanta United on Decision Day, October 21, with an opportunity to finish 2023 with the best home record in club history and surpass the 2018 New York Red Bulls (14-1-2) for the best single-season home record in league history.
Below is the list of all-time Supporters’ Shield winners, as sorted in reverse chronological order.
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*With three game remaining
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*Qualifies directly to the Concacaf Champions Cup Round of 16
