Minnesota United avoided a dreaded "Group of Death" on Thursday when the "MLS Is Back" tournament finalized the six groups of teams that will open play next month in Orlando.
The Loons were the second-to-last team chosen in their Western Conference's blind draw, which produced a noticeable number of regional rivalries within the six groups.
They joined Real Salt Lake, the top seed of their group, Colorado and growing regional rival Sporting Kansas City in Group D. The teams will play each other once in group play that will count toward the 2020 regular-season standings. The top two teams and possibly a third will advance to the "knockout" round of 16 teams in a 54-game tournament over 26 game days.
Unlike Portland, which was chosen after them, the Loons didn't become the last ball randomly chosen for the West's final group that already included 2019 Supporters' Shield winners LAFC, crosstown rival L.A. Galaxy and Houston.
Every World Cup draw produces its own Group of Death — considered the tournament's strongest — and the Western Conference's Group F is considered this MLS Is Back tournament's toughest.
That is if LAFC's Carlos Vela — MLS's Golden Boot winner last year — and Galaxy star Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez play.
Those two players' wives are pregnant. Vela likely won't play as a result, while Hernandez has said he will.
The tournament will keep the final teams in Orlando isolated in a Walt Disney World Resort for as many as 46 days.
MLS Is Back: Groups and key dates
MLS officials previously named host city Orlando City as its top-seeded team in Group A. The Thursday morning draw put expansion team Inter Miami in the same group so the two Florida teams can play the tournament's first game on July 8.
The random draw then paired New York City FC and Philadelphia in Group A, Seattle and Vancouver in Group B, Canada's Toronto and Montreal in Group C, Real Salt Lake and geographical rival Colorado and historical rival Sporting K.C. in Group D, Ohio's Cincinnati and Columbus in Group E and the two Los Angeles teams in Group F.
Toronto, Atlanta United, Seattle and LAFC received top seeds along with Orlando because they were MLS Cup playoff semifinalists last season. Real Salt Lake was chosen as well because it finished with the West's next-highest points total with 53 — the same as Minnesota United, which had one fewer win to lose a tiebreaker.
The designations were intended to help balance the tournament before Thursday's blind draw, which placed teams into their groupings in no particular order.
On Wednesday, the league announced the tournament's fine details and its top seeds.
"We've seen some seedings done this morning," Loons coach Adrian Heath said then. "Let's say one or two of them were a bit surprising."
MLS Is Back will crown a champion Aug. 11. The winner will earn a chunk of $1.1 million in prize money and a place in the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League.
