Both clubs finished the regular season atop their respective conference standings with the same number of points, but LAFC won the Supporters' Shield with the wins tiebreaker.

[2] Each team played 34 matches during the regular season, which runs from late February to early October, twice against each intra-conference opponent and eight times for inter-conference opposition in an unbalanced schedule.

[5] Both of the finalists, Los Angeles FC (LAFC) and the Philadelphia Union, were appearing in their first MLS Cup final and finished atop their conference standings in the regular season.

Fans criticized the move, citing Cherundolo's inexperience in MLS and his coaching record at Las Vegas, where he won six of thirty-two matches.

[24] LAFC took first place in the Western Conference during the streak and kept a narrow lead over Austin FC and LA Galaxy, including a run of eight matches in twenty-eight days through April and May.

[25][26] By the mid-point of the season in late June, LAFC had amassed an 11–3–3 record and were five points ahead of Austin in the Western Conference standings, and had a five-match unbeaten streak that ended with a loss to Vancouver.

[30] During the streak, the club widened their leads over the Union and Austin atop the league standings and were on course to match the 2021 points record set by the New England Revolution.

[31][32] In August, LAFC transferred former Designated Players Brian Rodríguez and Diego Rossi to foreign clubs to free up cap space to sign Spanish midfielder Cristian Tello and Gabonese striker Dénis Bouanga.

LAFC won the match 3–2 with a goal in stoppage time by Cristian Arango, who converted a rebounded shot by Bouanga that Jonathan Bond had saved.

Bouanga struck in the fifth minute of stoppage time but his goal was ruled out after Opoku was deemed to be in an offside position during the play, leaving LAFC with a 3–0 victory.

[54] The club earned the Supporters' Shield, their first trophy, during the shortened 2020 season and opened the playoffs against the eighth-seeded New England Revolution, who defeated the Union in an upset.

[57] The Union retained most of their players and steadily added more attacking players through the 2021 season and the subsequent offseason, signing midfielder Dániel Gazdag from Budapest Honvéd in Hungary, forward Julián Carranza on loan from Inter Miami CF, and Mikael Uhre from Brøndby IF in Denmark; Uhre's transfer set a club record with its $2.8 million fee.

[58][59] The Union opened the 2022 season with a draw against Minnesota United FC and five consecutive wins, mostly against Eastern Conference opponents, to take the lead in league standings.

[62] The Union remained first in the East and ended the streak with a 2–1 home win against New York City FC that was decided with a Cory Burke goal in stoppage time.

[66][67] The club clinched a playoff berth with their final win in August and remained in contention for the Supporters' Shield until a 4–0 loss to expansion team Charlotte FC in the penultimate week of the season.

[68] The Union won 4–0 in their regular season finale against Toronto FC at home and tied LAFC on points in the Supporters' Shield contest, but lost on the wins tiebreaker.

[75] Leon Flach scored the match's only goal in the 59th minute during a scramble in the penalty area as the Union advanced with a 1–0 win; Blake made six saves to earn his 16th shutout of the year.

[77][78] New York City FC took the lead in the 57th minute with a strike from Maximiliano Moralez following a six-player passing sequence that began with goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

[91][92] The Union partnered with supporters group Sons of Ben to organize four free watch parties at venues in the Philadelphia area, including their home stadium Subaru Park.

[84][87] The teams fielded most of their normal starting lineups with the exception of the Union's midfielder and captain Alejandro Bedoya, who was recovering from a hip injury but remained available as a substitute.

[107] Prior to kickoff, the LAFC supporters group 3252 unveiled a tifo depicting Dragon Ball manga character Gogeta, who shares the club's black-and-gold color scheme, and set off smoke flares.

[109] LAFC won a free kick near the penalty area that was awarded for a foul by José Andrés Martínez on Cristian Arango and used it to take the lead in the 28th minute; Jack McGlynn, who had jumped as part of the wall, deflected Kellyn Acosta's shot into the goal.

[110] LAFC won a free kick from a similar spot in the 39th minute which they almost scored from, but Andre Blake saved Diego Palacios's shot from close range.

[106][111] The Union responded with their own chance in the 43rd minute as Carranza started a counter-attack and fed the ball to Mikael Uhre, who dribbled it into the penalty area but lost it to Crépeau's block.

[104] After a corner kick for the Union was cleared out, Martínez took a shot from outside the penalty area that hit Dániel Gazdag, who collected the ball and scored in the 59th minute to tie the match at 1–1.

[113] Five minutes later, LAFC midfielder José Cifuentes was shown a yellow card for a collision with Blake during a corner kick, for which the goalkeeper had jumped to save.

[112] LAFC attempted to retake the lead in stoppage time with a set piece but Blake saved a header by defender Sebastien Ibeagha shortly before the end of the period.

Julián Carranza had a chance to score for the Union shortly before extra time's half-time, but was unable to head the cross from Kai Wagner into the goal.

[114][109] In the 110th minute, a long overhead ball from Mbaizo was misplayed by Murillo, whose backpass to his own goal was collected by Union substitute Cory Burke, who collided with Crépeau as he ran from the penalty area.

[123] LAFC celebrated their MLS Cup title with 5,000 fans at Banc of California Stadium's Christmas Tree Lane the following day in lieu of a traditional parade.