TAMPA, Fla. - The United Soccer League announced today the competition format for the 2025 League Two Playoffs presented by VensureHR.

The playoffs will field 35 teams from across the league’s four conferences. All 19 division winners will automatically qualify, while 10 division runners-up based on conference will also qualify for the Round of 32. Six teams from the Eastern Conference – five second-place teams and one third-place team – will play to determine the remaining three spots in the Round of 32.   

This year, the play-in round, formally known as the Eastern Conference Qualifying Round, will be known as the Eastern Conference First Round and kick off on July 14. The Round of 32 will begin on July 18 at eight different regional host sites, which will be announced at a later date. The League Two Final will be played on August 2 at the home stadium of the team qualified to host through the playoff host bid process.

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Playoff Structure: 

The playoffs will consist of 35 teams: 5 division winners and 3 division runners up from Southern and Central divisions (*no more than one team per division can earn a wild card spot*), as well as 4 division winners and 4 runners up from the Western Conference. 5 division winners from the Eastern Conference will automatically receive a berth in the round of 32, but the remaining 3 spots will be the outcome of the following static matchups: 

• South Atlantic 2nd place vs Chesapeake 2nd place 

• Northeast 2nd place vs Metropolitan 2nd place 

• Mid Atlantic 2nd place vs Metropolitan OR Northeast 3rd place (determined by higher PPG and continuing with USL League Two tiebreakers as needed) 

Hosts will be selected through the playoff host bid process. The dates for the 2025 playoffs are as follows: 

• First Round (Eastern Conference Only): July 14th - July 15th, 5 division winners automatically qualify for Round of 32 while (5) 2nd place teams and (1) 3rd place team (pending division) play a single-elimination, inter-division match to determine who advances to Round of 32. 

• Round of 32 & 16: July 18th and July 20th, hosted at eight regional sites. 

• Conference Final & National Semi-Final: July 25th and July 27th, hosted at two sites. 

• USL League Two Final: August 2nd, hosted at one location.