The best time of the year has arrived, as Seattle Sounders FC host Real Salt Lake on Nov. 19 for the Western Conference Wild Card match in the Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs (10 pm ET | Apple TV).

Below are the five biggest storylines to watch when Seattle face RSL at Lumen Field in the single-elimination game.

The winner will meet top-seeded Vancouver Whitecaps FC in a Round One Best-of-3 Series beginning Nov. 22, moving one step closer to MLS Cup presented by Audi on Dec. 18.

In the final wintertime playoffs before the MLS calendar switch, Seattle aim to add one last trophy to their jam-packed cabinet.

The only team to win all five major trophies on offer throughout their illustrious history, the Sounders reached MLS Cup four times in five years from 2016 to 2020, lifting the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy in 2016 and 2019.

Seattle have also qualified for the postseason in 17 of 18 MLS seasons – the most of any club during that span – while notching the most playoff wins (26) of any club since their 2009 debut season.

If you had to guess which team boasts the longest active playoff qualification streak in the Western Conference, would you say Real Salt Lake? If so, you'd be right. 

Since head coach Pablo Mastroeni took over in 2021, RSL have reached the postseason in every campaign (six straight).

The Claret-and-Cobalt haven't advanced past Round One since that 2021 season, and fell in the Wild Card match last season against the Portland Timbers.

Mastroeni and RSL will now aim to exorcise those Wild Card demons against a different Cascadia club, and ultimately pursue the club's second MLS Cup title (first since 2009).

A big reason for Seattle's long-term success? The steady veteran presence at the core of longtime head coach Brian Schmetzer's squad.

Cristian Roldan remains a lynchpin in midfield alongside playmaker Albert Rusnák, who leads the team in assists (16). Alex Roldan and Nouhou have kept Seattle among the best defensive outfits in the league. And striker Dejan Joveljić, acquired in a blockbuster trade with Sporting Kansas City this summer, is an MLS Cup 2024 champion with the LA Galaxy.

That's not to mention attackers Jesús Ferreira and Paul Arriola or goalkeeper Andrew Thomas, who's taken over from veteran Stefan Frei this season. We'd also include forward Jordan Morris, though he's been ruled out injured.

Each of these experienced cogs makes as much of an impact in the locker room as they do on the pitch.

If the MLS Rookie of the Year Award still existed, Sergi Solans might be the runaway favorite.

Selected as the No. 30 overall pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft, the Spaniard has hit the ground running in his debut MLS season, notching a team-best 15 non-penalty goals. That mark was good enough for the second-most goals scored by a SuperDraft selection in their first season out of college.

Combine that with his ability to distribute and work against the ball when pressing, and it's no wonder why RSL locked Solans down to a long-term contract extension in August.

Add in Morgan Guilavogui and Saba Lobjanidze, and RSL have found solutions in the final third amid losing Diego Luna (injury) and Zavier Gozo (transfer) midseason.

As accustomed as we've become to seeing Seattle and RSL in the postseason, neither sat above the playoff line heading into Decision Day.

Both needed a win and dropped points from those around them to punch their playoff ticket. Both got it done.

Meeting the LA Galaxy on the final matchday, RSL delivered a clutch 2-1 win behind goals from Solans and Zach Booth. Seattle, meanwhile, got their own 2-1 victory over LAFC to book their postseason place via goals from Rusnák and Sebastian Gomez.

Other results fell in both clubs' favor, and now they enter the Wild Card with confidence that they could go on a run.