Lionel Messi’s stellar 2024 season earned him the Landon Donovan MLS MVP award - his first regular season honor in the league. Now, he’s aiming to become just the second player to win it twice, the first being Preki, and the first to do so in back-to-back seasons.
But several strong challengers are in the mix.
Evander and Diego Rossi had brilliant starts to the campaign, but a few slow weeks have seen others leapfrog them in the race for candidacy.
Nashville SC forward Sam Surridge, San Diego FC breakout star Anders Dreyer, and LAFC's Denis Bouanga are all coming off brilliant stretches of form in May and early June and are emerging as some of Messi's biggest threats en route to the trophy. One individual, Philadelphia's Tai Baribo, has been there the entire way, though. The Israel international has been one of the league's top performers from Matchday 1 through 18 this season when featuring for the Union, and as things stand, might be the lone individual in front of the Inter Miami star just over halfway through the season.
How does each one rank, though, and who else is still in contention? GOAL presents the latest edition of MLS MVP Rankings.
