"After a season in which he led Inter Miami to the club's first MLS Cup, Lionel Messi has been named the Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player for the 2025 season. League commissioner Don Garber made the announcement on Tuesday, capping a season in which Messi scored 29 goals with 19 assists in 28 appearances, one short of Carlos Vela's record for goal contributions in a single season (though Vela's was done in 31 games)."
"Though Vela still owns the regular season goal contributions record, Messi smashed Vela's record for goal contributions across the regular season and playoffs, with 61 compared to Vela's 52. He was especially effective in the playoffs, in which he scored six goals with seven assists in Miami's six-game run to the MLS Cup, in which he was named MVP after a two-assist performance."
"Messi joins Kansas City Wizards legend Preki as the only players to win the MVP award twice, with Messi being the first to win two such awards consecutively. At 38, Messi is not the oldest MVP in MLS history that distinction also goes to Preki, who was the oldest MVP in the history of North American professional sports when he won the award at age 40 in 2003."
Lionel Messi led Inter Miami to the club's first MLS Cup while scoring 29 goals and adding 19 assists in 28 appearances in 2025. Messi won the Landon Donovan MLS MVP for 2025 and became the first player to win consecutive MVP awards, joining Preki as the only two-time winners. Miami competed on five fronts and set an MLS record with 58 games in a calendar year. Messi amassed 61 combined regular-season and playoff goal contributions, exceeded Vela's combined mark of 52, and produced six goals and seven assists during the six-game playoff run, earning MLS Cup MVP.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]