The Los Angeles Dodgers won the 2025 World Series, defeating the Toronto Blue Jays four games to three. The completed 2025 MLB playoff bracket began with twelve teams on September 30 and ended with the Dodgers' extra-inning Game 7 victory on November 1.
The final 2025 playoff bracket and qualified teams
This is a finished-results guide, so every winner below represents a completed series. Read the bracket from the Wild Card matchups toward the two league champions, then the World Series. Scores such as 3–1 or 4–3 in a series table mean games won; individual game scores appear separately where useful.
The four bye teams were Toronto, Seattle, Milwaukee and Philadelphia. They qualified directly for the Division Series. The other eight clubs began in the Wild Card round, including the Dodgers, who were the National League's third division-winning seed rather than a Wild Card qualifier.
American League seeds
| Seed | Team | Qualification | Opening round |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toronto Blue Jays | AL East champion | Division Series |
| 2 | Seattle Mariners | AL West champion | Division Series |
| 3 | Cleveland Guardians | AL Central champion | Wild Card Series |
| 4 | New York Yankees | First Wild Card | Wild Card Series |
| 5 | Boston Red Sox | Second Wild Card | Wild Card Series |
| 6 | Detroit Tigers | Third Wild Card | Wild Card Series |
Cleveland hosted Detroit, while New York hosted Boston. The winner of Cleveland–Detroit advanced to face Seattle; the winner of New York–Boston advanced to face Toronto. Those assignments were fixed before the opening series, so Detroit's advance did not move it across to the top seed's branch.
National League seeds
| Seed | Team | Qualification | Opening round |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milwaukee Brewers | NL Central champion | Division Series |
| 2 | Philadelphia Phillies | NL East champion | Division Series |
| 3 | Los Angeles Dodgers | NL West champion | Wild Card Series |
| 4 | Chicago Cubs | First Wild Card | Wild Card Series |
| 5 | San Diego Padres | Second Wild Card | Wild Card Series |
| 6 | Cincinnati Reds | Third Wild Card | Wild Card Series |
Los Angeles hosted Cincinnati, and Chicago hosted San Diego. The Dodgers–Reds winner was placed against Philadelphia, while the Cubs–Padres winner was placed against Milwaukee. The third division champion's opening assignment is one of the details that makes a twelve-team bracket different from the previous ten-team tournament.
The seed tables describe the final 2025 field. A September article labeled “if the season ended today” can show different clubs or positions because qualification had not finished. Likewise, generic postseason pages may now display 2026. Keep the year and the word final in view when comparing an archived bracket with a current page.
Our playoff format guide explains the underlying seed rules. The tables here apply those rules to the actual 2025 qualifiers, allowing you to trace each club's completed route without mixing it with another season's results.
Wild Card Series results: four teams advanced
The 2025 Wild Card Series were played from September 30 through October 2. Detroit, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles advanced. Three of the four series required a deciding Game 3; the Dodgers were the only opening-round team to finish with a two-game sweep.
| League | Matchup | Series winner | Result | Next opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | Guardians (3) vs. Tigers (6) | Detroit Tigers | 2–1 | Seattle Mariners |
| AL | Yankees (4) vs. Red Sox (5) | New York Yankees | 2–1 | Toronto Blue Jays |
| NL | Dodgers (3) vs. Reds (6) | Los Angeles Dodgers | 2–0 | Philadelphia Phillies |
| NL | Cubs (4) vs. Padres (5) | Chicago Cubs | 2–1 | Milwaukee Brewers |
Detroit won the opener in Cleveland 2–1, lost the second game 6–1 and clinched with a 6–3 Game 3 win. That sequence is important when reading an early update: Cleveland's Game 2 victory tied the series, but did not change the eventual winner. Detroit completed the two victories needed to advance.
Boston also won its opener, beating New York 3–1. The Yankees answered with a 4–3 victory and then won the deciding game 4–0. A bracket captured after the first night would therefore show a Boston series lead, while the final bracket correctly advances New York. The opening-game winner and the series winner were different teams.
The Cubs and Padres split their first two games, with Chicago winning 3–1 before San Diego won 3–0. Chicago took Game 3 by another 3–1 score. The Cubs stayed on the Brewers' branch of the bracket, setting up a Division Series between two NL Central clubs.
Los Angeles beat Cincinnati 10–5 and 8–4, ending that matchup after two games. The Dodgers did not need an October 2 decider. Their next assignment was Philadelphia, because the 3/6 winner was fixed against seed two. Finishing the Wild Card Series early did not allow Los Angeles to choose a different opponent.
These results removed Cleveland, Boston, Cincinnati and San Diego from the tournament. Winning a division did not protect Cleveland from opening-round elimination, and the Dodgers' division title did not give them a bye. Their seed positions determined the starting assignments; the played games determined advancement.
For a quick reconstruction, enter those four winners in the Division Series slots, then add the four bye clubs. That produces the eight actual teams in the next round. It is a more reliable route than copying a preseason or mid-September projection that had not yet settled the final qualification order.
Division Series results: the final four took shape
The Division Series ran from October 4 through October 11. All four matchups were best of five, so each advancing club needed three wins. Two series reached Game 5, while the other two ended in Game 4. There were no sweeps in this round.
| League | Series winner | Opponent | Final series score |
|---|---|---|---|
| AL | Toronto Blue Jays | New York Yankees | 3–1 |
| AL | Seattle Mariners | Detroit Tigers | 3–2 |
| NL | Milwaukee Brewers | Chicago Cubs | 3–2 |
| NL | Los Angeles Dodgers | Philadelphia Phillies | 3–1 |
These four results explain the next pair of boxes on the bracket: Toronto against Seattle in the ALCS, and Milwaukee against Los Angeles in the NLCS. The bracket followed its established branches. Teams did not receive a new opponent based on which clubs survived or which one had the stronger regular-season record.
Toronto and Seattle won the American League series
Toronto opened its series against New York with 10–1 and 13–7 wins. The Yankees answered with a 9–6 victory in Game 3, before the Blue Jays closed the matchup with a 5–2 win in Game 4. On an archive bracket, the number beside Toronto is therefore three, while the number beside New York is one. Neither number represents runs scored in the deciding game.
Seattle and Detroit needed the entire five-game series. Detroit won the opener 3–2 in 11 innings. Seattle took the next two games, 3–2 and 8–4, before Detroit forced a decider with a 9–3 victory. Seattle then won Game 5, 3–2, in 15 innings. That last result is easy to confuse with Game 2 because both finished with Seattle winning 3–2; the game number and extra-inning notation distinguish them.
For fans retracing the Mariners' postseason, the path begins with their Division Series bye, rather than a missing Wild Card result. Their three wins against Detroit put them into the ALCS against Toronto. The Tigers' two series wins kept the matchup alive, but did not move Detroit into another round.
Milwaukee and Los Angeles advanced in the National League
Milwaukee beat Chicago 9–3 and 7–3 to begin the series. The Cubs responded with 4–3 and 6–0 victories, bringing the matchup back to a fifth game. Milwaukee won that decider 3–1. A two-game lead had become a winner-take-all finish, so a bracket saved after Game 2 would tell a very different story from the completed archive.
Los Angeles won its first two games against Philadelphia, 5–3 and 4–3. Philadelphia stayed alive with an 8–2 win in Game 3. The Dodgers finished the series with a 2–1 victory in 11 innings in Game 4. Los Angeles therefore advanced with three wins from four games, while Milwaukee needed five games to earn its three victories.
The official 2025 postseason archive provides the round-by-round results. When comparing that archive with a score page, check both the opponent and the round: a team can win a Division Series and still lose later, and its final postseason record includes those later games as well.
League Championship Series results: Blue Jays and Dodgers won pennants
Toronto won the American League pennant by beating Seattle four games to three. Los Angeles won the National League pennant by sweeping Milwaukee four games to none. Both winners advanced to the World Series, but they reached that destination through very different series.
| Game | ALCS: Seattle vs. Toronto | NLCS: Los Angeles vs. Milwaukee |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mariners 3, Blue Jays 1 | Dodgers 2, Brewers 1 |
| 2 | Mariners 10, Blue Jays 3 | Dodgers 5, Brewers 1 |
| 3 | Blue Jays 13, Mariners 4 | Dodgers 3, Brewers 1 |
| 4 | Blue Jays 8, Mariners 2 | Dodgers 5, Brewers 1 |
| 5 | Mariners 6, Blue Jays 2 | Not played: series complete |
| 6 | Blue Jays 6, Mariners 2 | Not played: series complete |
| 7 | Blue Jays 4, Mariners 3 | Not played: series complete |
The ALCS ran from October 12 to October 20. Seattle won the first two games in Toronto, then the Blue Jays won Games 3 and 4 in Seattle. A Mariners victory in Game 5 put Toronto one loss away from elimination. Toronto won the last two games at home to reverse that position and finish the series. Read the score sequence in order and the comeback becomes clear: the Blue Jays never led the series until it was over.
Toronto's Game 7 win ended a long wait: it was the club's first World Series appearance since 1993. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. received the ALCS MVP trophy. Those milestones belong to the league championship round. They should not be confused with winning the World Series itself, which still required a separate four victories.
The NLCS ran from October 13 through October 17. Milwaukee scored one run in each game, while Los Angeles won all four. The Dodgers finished their sweep with a 5–1 victory in Game 4. Shohei Ohtani hit three home runs, struck out ten and earned NLCS MVP honors, as documented in MLB's Game 4 account.
An empty Game 5, 6 or 7 slot in the NLCS archive is expected: those games became unnecessary after Los Angeles earned its fourth win. A full seven-game ALCS beside a four-game NLCS does not mean the leagues used different formats. Both were best of seven; one matchup needed every available game and the other ended at the first opportunity.
For comparisons with older postseason brackets, the playoff format history guide explains why league championship rounds from some earlier seasons have different lengths. For 2025, the important endpoint is straightforward: Toronto and Los Angeles were the league champions, and their next meeting decided the overall champion.
2025 World Series results: Dodgers defeated Blue Jays in seven
The Los Angeles Dodgers won the 2025 World Series four games to three, defeating the Toronto Blue Jays. The series began on October 24 and ended on November 1. Toronto hosted Games 1, 2, 6 and 7 at Rogers Centre; Los Angeles hosted Games 3, 4 and 5 at Dodger Stadium.
Toronto led the series three games to two after Game 5. Los Angeles needed to win both remaining games in Toronto, and did so: first 3–1 in Game 6, then 5–4 in 11 innings in Game 7. The last box on the completed bracket therefore belongs to Los Angeles. Toronto's AL pennant remains part of its season, even though the Blue Jays finished one victory short of the overall title.
Every World Series game score
| Game | Date in 2025 | Venue | Final score | Series after game |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 24 | Rogers Centre | Blue Jays 11, Dodgers 4 | Toronto led 1–0 |
| 2 | October 25 | Rogers Centre | Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 1 | Tied 1–1 |
| 3 | October 27 | Dodger Stadium | Dodgers 6, Blue Jays 5; 18 innings | Los Angeles led 2–1 |
| 4 | October 28 | Dodger Stadium | Blue Jays 6, Dodgers 2 | Tied 2–2 |
| 5 | October 29 | Dodger Stadium | Blue Jays 6, Dodgers 1 | Toronto led 3–2 |
| 6 | October 31 | Rogers Centre | Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 1 | Tied 3–3 |
| 7 | November 1 | Rogers Centre | Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 4; 11 innings | Los Angeles won 4–3 |
Two games went beyond nine innings, including the deciding seventh game. The dates above identify the games themselves. A recap published on November 2 can still describe the November 1 finale; the publishing date does not create an eighth game or change the series schedule.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto earned World Series MVP honors and recorded three pitching wins in the series. That individual statistic is different from the Dodgers' four team victories. MLB's MVP presentation confirms the award, while its Game 7 scorecard preserves the 5–4 final and eleven-inning line score.
How to follow each finalist back through the bracket
Start at the champion's box and work backward one round at a time. Los Angeles beat Toronto 4–3 in the World Series, Milwaukee 4–0 in the NLCS, Philadelphia 3–1 in the NLDS and Cincinnati 2–0 in the Wild Card Series. The Dodgers played in every round because their No. 3 seed did not come with a first-round bye.
Adding those results gives Los Angeles thirteen postseason wins and four losses: two wins in the Wild Card round, three in the Division Series, four for the pennant and four for the title. That calculation is useful when checking a saved bracket against a team's total playoff record. It also shows why the World Series score alone does not describe the Dodgers' entire October and November.
Toronto's route was shorter at the beginning. Its No. 1 AL seed gave it a Wild Card bye. The Blue Jays beat the Yankees 3–1 in the ALDS and the Mariners 4–3 in the ALCS, then lost the World Series 3–4. Their combined postseason record was ten wins and eight losses. The empty first-round slot on Toronto's branch represents the bye, rather than an unrecorded series.
For a broader championship comparison, visit the World Series winners by year guide. To find the next games instead of revisiting this completed season, use MLB games today. This page remains an archive of the final 2025 bracket; current scores and upcoming matchups belong to the current schedule.
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