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Saturday | November 14, 2026 | Dhaka

Lionel Messi a finalist for third straight MLS MVP award

 Agency
 Published: 12:01 AM, 14 November 2026  Updated: 10:53 PM, 13 November 2026

Major League Soccer (MLS) revealed its finalists on Thursday for eight individual season-ending awards, including five finalists for the Landon Donovan (Most Valuable Player (MVP) award that include the favorite in Lionel Messi and 17-year-old sensation Cavan Sullivan.

Messi’s stellar play for Inter Miami him the league’s MVP trophy in each of the past two seasons, with Sullivan making his mark during a breakout season for the Philadelphia Union.

Messi had a league-best 26 goals during the regular season, with 17 assists that ranked second. The other three players vying for MVP honors are Evander of FC Cincinnati, Guilherme of the Houston Dynamo and Hany Mukhtar of Nashville SC.

Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year candidates include B.J. Callaghan of Nashville, which won the Supporters’ Shield by going 23-3-8 for 77 points. Yoann Damet of St. Louis City and Jesper Sorensen of the Vancouver Whitecaps are also up for the award.

The Defender of the Year Award category is dominated by Nashville players with teammates Andy Najar, Jeisson Palacios and Maxwell Woledzi all vying for the honour.
Nashville’s Brian Schwake is up for the Goalkeeper of the Year Award with Roman Burki of St. City and Matt Turner of the New England Revolution.

Comeback Player of the Year is down to Ryan Gauld of the Whitecaps, Nick Hagglund of Cincinnati and Eduard Lowen of the San Jose Earthquakes.

Newcomer of the Year candidates are Guilherme, Antoine Griezmann of Orlando City and Andre Luiz of Sporting Kansas City.

Sullivan is a finalist for Young Player of the Year after scoring nine goals with 14 assists in 29 games (21 starts) for the Union, while Julian Hall and Adri Mehmeti of the New York Red Bulls also are finalists.