1978 North American Soccer League playoffs

The 1978 North American Soccer League playoffs began on August 8 and ended on August 27 with Soccer Bowl '78 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. 16 out of 24 teams qualified after a 30-match regular season, eight from each conference.

Playoff format
The top two teams in each division would quality for the playoffs. The other spots would go to the next best two teams in the conference, regardless of division. The top three seeds went to the division winners, seeds 4-6 went to the second place teams and the last two seeds were known as 'wild-cards', a nod to the NFL's playoff format. The winners of each successive round would be reseeded within the conference by point total. The first round and the Soccer Bowl were single games, while the conference semifinals and championships were two-game series. As in the 1977 playoffs, if both teams were tied at one win apiece at the conclusion of Game 2, there would be a 30-minute sudden-death mini-game and a shootout if necessary.

American Conference

 * 1) Detroit Express – Central Division champions, 176 points
 * 2) New England Tea Men – Eastern Division champions, 165 points
 * 3) San Diego Sockers – Western Division champions, 164 points
 * 4) Tampa Bay Rowdies – 165 points
 * 5) Chicago Sting – 123 points
 * 6) California Surf – 115 points
 * 7) Fort Lauderdale Strikers – 143 points
 * 8) Philadelphia Fury – 111 points

National Conference

 * 1) Cosmos – Eastern Division champions, 212 points
 * 2) Vancouver Whitecaps – Western Division champions, 199 points
 * 3) Minnesota Kicks – Central Division champions, 156 points
 * 4) Portland Timbers – 167 points
 * 5) Washington Diplomats – 145 points
 * 6) Tulsa Roughnecks – 132 points
 * 7) Toronto Metros-Croatia – 144 points
 * 8) Seattle Sounders – 138 points

(1) Detroit Express vs. (7) Ft. Lauderdale Strikers
Fort Lauderdale wins series 2–1

(3) San Diego Sockers vs. (4) Tampa Bay Rowdies
Tampa Bay wins series 2–1

(1) Cosmos vs. (3) Minnesota Kicks
New York wins series 2–1

(2) Vancouver Whitecaps vs. (4) Portland Timbers
Portland wins series 2–0

(4) Tampa Bay Rowdies vs. (7) Ft. Lauderdale Strikers
Tampa Bay wins series 2–1

(1) Cosmos vs. (4) Portland Timbers
New York wins series 2–0

Soccer Bowl '78
1978 NASL Champions: Cosmos

Playoff Statistics
''Mini-games are not counted as games played when compiling individual statistics. They are included in the minutes played category.''

Scoring
GP = Games Played, G = Goals (worth 2 points), A = Assists (worth 1 point), Pts = Points

Goalkeeping
Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; SO = Shutouts