The 2025 MLS regular season is in the books going down as one of the most competitive in the league’s 30 years.
After topping the table with a record-setting 74 points last season, Inter Miami floundered to start 2025, before finding their feet and finishing third in the Eastern Conference with 66 points. San Diego FC smashed the record for the best expansion team ever. Those storylines headlined a season, which also saw Rodrigo De Paul, Son Heung-min and Thomas Müller join midway through.
It’s fair to say the 2025 campaign was memorable, but how will the 2025 MLS awards play out?
Sports Illustrated associate editor Max Mallow and MLS writer Ben Steiner had ballots for the annual awards—here’s how they voted.
Landon Donovan MLS MVP
Mallow: Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)
What can I say about Lionel Messi that hasn’t been already said?
Eyeing down a second consecutive MLS MVP, Messi put together a 48-goal contribution season (29 goals, 19 assists) coming up just one shy of matching Carlos Vela’s historic 2019 season. Inter Miami might’ve come up short in the Leagues Cup, Concacaf Champions Cup and defending its Supporters’ Shield, but Messi still was a dominant force for the highest-scoring Herons team of all time.
Messi won the Golden Boot and was tied for the most assists in the league. Not to mention, he played more games this year (28) than he did last year (19) when he first won the award.
If it happens, Messi will become the first player in MLS history to win the prestigious honor twice in a row. For me, he deserves to write his name once again into soccer’s history books.
Steiner: Anders Dreyer (San Diego FC)
For much of the season, Anders Dreyer led MLS in total goal contributions. Messi’s run at the end of the campaign is well-documented, yet Dreyer’s success came without an ample surrounding cast of superstars. Not to mention the challenge of overcoming the unknowns that arise in any expansion campaign.
The Danish winger finished with 19 goals and 16 assists, and was consistent throughout the season, while also scoring seven game-winning goals. As much as his goal contributions stood out, he also set the MLS record for most away from home, with 27 of his 35 goal contributions coming away from Snapdragon Stadium.
Unlike Messi, Dreyer also found his goal contributions without tremendous generation-defining talent around him, all while taking on the defensive responsibilities that fall on the modern winger.
Messi was a close second, but I had to go with the Dane in this one—San Diego wouldn’t have been the team it was without him.
MLS Coach of the Year
Mallow: Mikey Varas (San Diego FC)
Leading an MLS expansion team isn’t easy, and Mikey Varas did it as his first professional head coaching role. With a relatively unknown group of players, he led San Diego to the top of the Western Conference on 63 points, and got the best out of Anders Dreyer and Hirving “Chucky” Lozano—all without a proven striker.
Not only was San Diego one of the league’s best attacking teams, but also only conceded 41 goals—good for fourth in the Western Conference.
Bradley Carnell also deserves recognition after guiding the Philadelphia Union to the Supporters’ Shield. As does Jesper Sørensen, Steiner’s vote-getter. Overall, one of the toughest categories to judge.
Steiner: Jesper Sørensen (Vancouver Whitecaps)
The Vancouver Whitecaps had never been a true MLS Cup contender, let alone a team that could compete in the Concacaf Champions Cup. In Jesper Sørensen’s first season, he led them to second in the Western Conference, and the Champions Cup final—and helped sell Thomas Müller on joining the team.
If it weren’t for some unfortunate injuries to key players such as Tristan Blackmon, Ranko Veselinović and Brian White, as well as a midseason sale of midfielder Pedro Vite, the Whitecaps could have challenged further for the Supporters’ Shield.
To stay in contention despite those sales only elevates Sørensen’s status.
MLS Newcomer of the Year
Mallow and Steiner: Anders Dreyer (San Diego FC)
For a slight second, the thought of Son Heung-min and his nine goals and three assists in 806 minutes, or Thomas Müller and his seven goals and three assists in 741 minutes crossed our minds, but Dreyer’s ability across a full campaign was outstanding.
MLS Goalkeeper of the Year
Mallow: Yohei Takaoka (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
Vancouver finished the season with the most clean sheets in MLS and Yohei Takaoka played every single match through the 34-game schedule. He finished the year with 13 clean sheets, 88 saves and a 69.8% save percentage, while adapting to several injuries to key starting defenders.
Steiner: Dayne St. Clair (Minnesota United FC)
Canadian international Dayne St. Clair was a key reason Minnesota United were able to play a counter-pressing style that brought them so much success. He stood out as a pure shot-stopper, and developed his distribution abilities. He finished the season with 10 clean sheets and the highest save percentage of anyone in the league at 78.9%.
MLS Defender of the Year
Mallow and Steiner: Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
It’s a shame Tristan Blackmon’s season was cut short due to a knee injury in the second leg of the Canadian Championship semifinal. If it weren’t for that, he’d have been a near lock for the Defender of the Year award.
Through most of his 25 regular season games, he formed an elite center back duo with Ranko Veselinović. With his success, he earned a USMNT call-up from Mauricio Pochettino during the September international window.
MLS Young Player of the Year
Mallow and Steiner: Alex Freeman (Orlando City SC)
2025 has been the year of Alex Freeman with both Orlando City and the U.S. men’s national team. The agile right back became a consistent force for Orlando this season, scoring six goals and three assists across just 2,450 minutes.
His involvement at Orlando has helped him carve out a role in the USMNT, and he looks to be nearing a spot on next year’s squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
MLS Comeback Player of the Year
Mallow: Richie Laryea (Toronto FC)
Richie Laryea missed 16 games at the club and international level this season with a hamstring injury. Praised by both Robin Fraser and Jesse Marsch, Laryea enjoyed a run of consistency from June onward. Toronto might have had a disappointing season, but Laryea’s form is a silver lining.
Steiner: Pablo Ruiz (Real Salt Lake)
Pablo Ruiz missed the last three months of the 2023 season with a torn meniscus, and only played three games in 2024 due to an ACL rupture. This season, he bounced back to play 25 games, while becoming a key deep-lying playmaker as Real Salt Lake pushed its way to the MLS Cup playoffs.
Max Mallow’s MLS Team of the Season
Mallow’s MLS Best XI (4-3-3): Takaoka (GK); Freeman, Blackmon, Alba, Wagner; Berhalter, Busquets, Evander; Messi, Bouanga, Dreyer
Ben Steiner’s MLS Team of the Season
Steiner’s MLS Best XI (3-4-3): St. Clair; Freeman, Blackmon, Wagner; Berhalter, Evander, Messi, Gil; Dreyer, Surridge, Bouanga
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as How Sports Illustrated Voted in the 2025 MLS Awards.