Nashville SC made history on Saturday afternoon at CF Montréal. After a barnstorming 2026 season, the Boys in Gold's 2-0 win in Quebec secured them the Supporters’ Shield, one of the two biggest prizes on offer in Major League Soccer.
Here’s what you need to know about the trophy and what winning it means for Nashville
What is the Supporters’ Shield?
The Supporters’ Shield is one of the two premier prizes in Major League Soccer, awarded annually to the team which accumulates the most points across its 34-game regular season.
Unlike many major European competitions, which crown their winners based on the regular season alone, the Supporters’ Shield does not decide MLS’ overall league champion. That honor is achieved through the MLS Cup Playoffs, a knockout-style bracket taking place once the regular season ends.
The winner of the Supporters’ Shield receives several perks in addition to the trophy itself, headlined by home-field advantage throughout the Playoffs. Apart from one game in the best-of-three opening round, the Supporters’ Shield winner is guaranteed to host every Playoff game it participates in, including the championship game should it make it that far. This comes with the overall No. 1 seed, ensuring the — on paper — easiest trek to the title. Since 2006, the winning club also earns automatic qualification to the Concacaf Champions Cup, North America’s premier international competition. Nashville made the semifinals of the 2026 edition this spring, which it qualified for by winning last season’s U.S. Open Cup, its first-ever trophy.
The Supporters' Shield marks the second trophy in Nashville SC history, its second in two seasons and its first No. 1 seed in the Playoffs.
History of the trophy
The Supporters’ Shield hasn’t always been held in the esteem it is now.
When MLS was founded in 1996, its regular season existed solely to decide playoff seeding. But, after noticing the discrepancy between it and competitor leagues across the world, MLS certified the Supporters’ Shield in 1999 and retroactively awarded it to the regular-season champions from preceding seasons.
The winner of the Supporters’ Shield has gone on to win MLS Cup eight times since its certification, most recently by LAFC in 2022. The all-time points record for the Supporters’ Shield belongs to Inter Miami, who accumulated 74 in the 2024 season a year before taking the Playoff crown.
Should the Boys in Gold take five more points from the final nine available, they would seize that record and cement themselves firmly as the most dominant regular-season team in league history.
