Lionel Messi was voted “Most Valuable Player” of the MLS final after his club Inter Miami’s triumph. Now he has also been named the best player of the season—again.
Another title for Lionel Messi: Just a few days after his triumph with Inter Miami in the dream final against Thomas Müller and the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Argentine world champion has been named MVP of Major League Soccer (MLS) for the second time in a row. As the US professional league announced on Tuesday, the 38-year-old received a total of 70.43 percent of the votes cast by journalists, players, and clubs.
Messi is the second player to win the award twice, but no one before him has ever done so in consecutive seasons. Predrag “Preki” Radosavljevic was named MVP in 1997 and 2003. Born in Belgrade, he became a US citizen in 1996 and played 28 international matches for the United States.
On Saturday, Messi led Miami to a 3-1 victory over Müller’s Whitecaps with two assists, securing the club’s first MLS title in its history. The 38-year-old had previously won the 2023 Leagues Cup and the 2024 Supporters’ Shield as the best team in the regular season, “but this was the real goal,” he told ESPN.
Scorer record narrowly missed
With 29 goals in the regular season, Messi was once again the top scorer and also contributed 19 assists in his 28 games – in 2024, he scored 20 goals and provided 16 assists (19 games). With a total of 48 goal contributions, he was just one scoring point behind Carlos Vela’s record (2019).
Second behind the undisputed winner was Denmark’s Anders Dreyer (San Diego FC) with 11.15 percent. The 27-year-old was also voted the league’s best newcomer. Müller and other finalists from Miami and Vancouver did not make it into the top 5.