Best MLS Records From The 2022 Season

The 2022 season came to a dramatic crescendo courtesy of Gareth Bale and John McCarthy producing the heroics in LAFC’s penalty shootout win over Philadelphia Union in the MLS Cup. It was undoubtedly the most jaw-dropping spectacle fans had been treated to in the league’s twenty-year year history and made for a fitting closing act for what has been an enthralling season. Join us here at SinkorSwimSports as we take a look at the 2022 campaign for some of the best MLS records the division served up over the year. 

• Top 7 MLS Records Of All Time
• 2022 MLS Cup Final Review – Bale And McCarthy Give LAFC Their First Title

Philly Deliver The Goals

With an average of 2.96 goals per game, the 2022 MLS season saw the most goals per ninety since 2019. 

Jim Curtin’s Philadelphia Union were the side that embraced this free-flowing finishing the most. On the back of their attacking trio of Daniel Gazdag (22G, 10A), Julian Carranza (14G, 9A), and Mikael Uhre (13G, 6A), Philadelphia scored the most goals in the MLS 2022 season, hitting 72 in 34 regular season matches (2.1 per game), as well as 7 in the playoffs. 

The Union registered four different hattricks during the season, and also recorded both the biggest home win and biggest away win of the season with their 7-0 and 0-6 wins over D.C. in July and August. 

Charlotte Announce Their Arrival 

2022 Marked Charlotte FC’s first-ever foray into the Major League Soccer world, and Zoran Krneta’s side kicked things off with a bang on the opening day of the season. 73,019 Fans packed out the Bank of America Stadium on March 5, 2022, setting the highest MLS attendance for Charlotte’s match against LA Galaxy. 

Total attendance for the MLS broke past ten million for the first time, keeping the division firmly in the top ten most-watched football divisions in the world. 

Atlanta United once again finished the season with the highest average attendance in Major League Soccer, closing the campaign with 47,116 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Cincy Show Their Steeliness 

Supporters Shield winners LAFC unsurprisingly set the record for the most consecutive wins in the MLS 2022, winning 7 matches between July, 9 and August, 17.

However, it was Pat Noonan’s Cincinnati side that would steal the record for the longest-unbeaten run. The Orange and Blue side managed to go 11 matches unbeaten between  July, 23 and September, 27 in a run that included matches against Philadelphia, New York City, Real Salt Lake, and Seattle Sounders. 2022 marked the first time Cincinnati had made the postseason playoffs, with this feat being achieved largely on the back of Noonan only overseeing nine regular-season losses. 

Toronto’s Run To Forget

Prior to the 2022 season kicking off, we had Toronto tipped as a potential dark horse storyline to follow. Having picked up veteran Major League Soccer manager Bob Bradley, the Canadian outfit splashed the cash with the acquisitions of Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernadeschi. However, despite the hefty wage bill, 2022 saw Toronto pick up the (dis)honor of racking up the most consecutive losses in the MLS season. 

Between April, 24 and May, 14 and then again between September, 4 and October, 9, Toronto lost five matches straight. Bradley’s men lost 18 matches in total across the 2022 MLS season. 

Chicago Fire also broke the bank to bring in a star name from Europe in the summer, but Xherdan Shaqiri wasn’t able to prevent the team from setting the longest winless run in 2022. Between April, 2 and May, 28, the Fire went 10 matches without a win, and only won 10 times all season in total. 

Hany Mukhtar Prolific In Front Of Goal

Carlos Vela in 2019 was the last player to score over 20 goals in an MLS season, but the 2022 season certainly saw the frontmen in the division rediscover their form. Even with the midseason departures of Valentín Castellanos and Adam Buksa, the year saw three different players stretch past this mark. 

Austin’s Sebastián Driussi (22) and Philadelphia’s Daniel Gazdag (22) both put up impressive numbers, however it was Nashville’s Hany Mukhtar that ended up walking away with the 2022 MLS Golden Boot award. In a stellar campaign, the German won the Landon Donovan MVP Award with 34 goal contributions (23G, 11A) in the year, tied for the fifth-most in a single MLS season. In total, he bagged 65.4% of Nashville’s goals over the season.