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).
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.
There was a case to be made against Messi getting the MVP award in 2024 in an injury-hit season in which he played in just 55% of Miami’s games – the lowest share of a team’s games played by an MVP winner in the history of North American professional sports. However, there were no such questions in 2025. Messi put together the best attacking season in MLS history, serving as the focal point of Miami’s star-studded lineup. The MVP awards regular season performance, but it’s worth noting that Messi and Miami competed on five fronts in 2025, setting an MLS record for games played in a calendar year with 58.
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. This was all a continuation of his dominance down the home stretch of the regular season, scoring 10 goals with nine assists in Miami’s last eight games.
The other finalists for the MVP award announced by MLS were LAFC’s Denis Bouanga, Dan Diego FC’s Anders Dreyer, FC Cincinnati midfielder Evander, and Nashville SC striker Sam Surridge. In another season, any of those candidates might have had a solid case to win the award. But amid Messi’s dominance, the choice was clear.
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Messi won the award with 70% of the total vote, which was split between media members, MLS players, and MLS club staff. Messi captured 83% of the media vote, 55% of the player vote, and 73% of the club vote. Dreyer finished second in total percentage of votes with 11%.
