ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

United States soccer league system

Okay, kiddo. So you know how you play soccer with your friends and sometimes there are other teams that you play against? Well, there are also big soccer teams in the United States that play against each other, but they are organized in a system called a league system.

Think of it like a ladder. There are different levels, or rungs, on the ladder and each level has a different group of teams that play against each other. The top level is called Major League Soccer (MLS) and it has the best teams in the country. The teams that do the best in MLS get to play in the playoffs, which is like a big tournament to see who is the best team overall.

Below MLS, there are other levels of leagues like the United Soccer League (USL) Championship, USL League One, and USL League Two. These leagues have different groups of teams and they work their way up the ladder by winning games and championships. The teams that do the best in these leagues can move up to a higher level league.

So the United States soccer league system is like a ladder with different levels of leagues. Teams play against each other in these leagues and work their way up to the top. The best teams from the top league get to play in the playoffs to see who is the best team in the whole country.