The Philadelphia Union clinched the 2025 Major League Soccer Supporters’ Shield with a game to spare, after beating New York City FC 1-0 on Saturday night at Subaru Park.
Philadelphia has 66 points in 33 games, with none of the contending teams, including last year’s winners Inter Miami, able to catch up in the remaining matches.
– Messi gets 3 assists, Alba scores 2 in Miami win
The Union went into Saturday’s game knowing a win would seal the Shield as the best regular-season team, but anything less could have pushed the drama to the final day, with Miami, FC Cincinnati, the Vancouver Whitecaps and LAFC the other teams still in contention.
But Danish forward Mikael Uhre calmed the nerves in Chester, Pennsylvania, by scoring off a deflected strike five minutes before halftime.
The anxiety resurfaced in the final moments of the 90 minutes when Máximo Carrizo appeared to have equalized for NYCFC, but the assistant referee called offside. Minutes later, the final whistle blew to spark ecstatic celebrations.
The Union claimed their first piece of silverware under coach Bradley Carnell, who joined the team in January ahead of the 2025 MLS campaign. He has inspired Philadelphia to a 20-7-6 record, which leads the Eastern Conference table and ensures home-field advantage in the playoffs.
Carnell, who was fired by St. Louis City midway through last season, replaced longtime Philadelphia coach Jim Curtin after the Union failed to make the playoffs last year.
“I always expect, because I have high standards, these players have high standards, this,” Carnell told Apple TV. “It’s a winning team, and it just needed to be rediscovered, a little bit of the foundations just needed to be filed off and polished.
“But man, these guys emptied the tank. These guys are winners, I’m so glad they won today.”
While big names such as Lionel Messi at Inter Miami, Son Heung-Min at LAFC and Thomas Müller at the Vancouver Whitecaps have joined the league in recent times, the Union have prospered with a less-heralded roster.
“We’re not the superstars. I’m not the super coach. We don’t care, we like it this way. We fly under the radar. We make mistakes. We grow, we learn and we move on, and then we’re 66 points later,” Carnell said before walking off when asked about his departure from St. Louis.
The 2025 Supporters’ Shield victory also secures the Philadelphia Union a ticket to the next edition of the Concacaf Champions Cup, joining Inter Miami, the Seattle Sounders, LA Galaxy, Nashville SC and the Vancouver Whitecaps.
The Union previously won the Supporters’ Shield in 2020, after concluding the campaign with a 14-4-5 record to win the first-ever trophy for the club.
I really appreciate content like this—it’s clear, informative, and actually helpful. Definitely worth reading!