Landon Donovan MVP Award

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Landon Donovan MVP Award
Lionel Messi NE Revolution Inter Miami 7.9.25-178.jpg
Lionel Messi is the current award holder
Date1996;29 years ago (1996)
Presented by MLS
Currently held by Flag of Argentina.svg Lionel Messi
(2nd award)
Most awards Flag of the United States.svg Preki
Flag of Argentina.svg Lionel Messi
(2 awards each)

The Landon Donovan MVP Award is an annual award for Major League Soccer players. It is voted on by media, MLS players, and club management and is given to the player deemed the most valuable player in the league each season.

Contents

From 1996 to 2007, the award was known as the Honda MLS Most Valuable Player, for commercial purposes. From 2007 to 2014, the award was titled the Volkswagen MLS Most Valuable Player.

Players for D.C. United have won the award a record four times, while Kansas City and Los Angeles Galaxy players have won a second best three times. Carlos Valderrama won the award for the inaugural 1996 season. Kansas City's Preki is the first player to ever win twice, in 1997 and 2003, while Lionel Messi is the only player to ever win twice consecutively, in 2024 and 2025.

On January 15, 2015, MLS renamed its MVP award in honor of Landon Donovan, who won the award in 2009 and retired as the all-time leader in goals and assists in the league's history. [1] [2]

Winners

Carlos Valderrama won the inaugural award for the Tampa Bay Mutiny in 1996 Carlos Valderrama 1998.jpg
Carlos Valderrama won the inaugural award for the Tampa Bay Mutiny in 1996
Tony Meola is the only goalkeeper to win the MVP award. TonyMeola 20060410.jpg
Tony Meola is the only goalkeeper to win the MVP award.
In 2011, Dwayne De Rosario became the first Canadian player to win MVP. De rosario-balchan.jpg
In 2011, Dwayne De Rosario became the first Canadian player to win MVP.
Carlos Vela scored a record 34 goals during his 2019 MVP season. Mex-Kor (21) (cropped).jpg
Carlos Vela scored a record 34 goals during his 2019 MVP season.
As of 2025 MLS season. [3]
SeasonPlayerClubOther Finalists
1996 Flag of Colombia.svg Carlos Valderrama Tampa Bay Mutiny Roy Lassiter, Preki
1997 Flag of the United States.svg Preki Kansas City Wizards Marco Etcheverry, Carlos Valderrama
1998 Flag of Bolivia.svg Marco Etcheverry D.C. United Cobi Jones, Peter Nowak
1999 Flag of the United States.svg Jason Kreis Dallas Burn Marco Etcheverry, Jaime Moreno
2000 Flag of the United States.svg Tony Meola Kansas City Wizards Mamadou Diallo, Clint Mathis
2001 Flag of Honduras (1949-2022).svg Álex Pineda Chacón Miami Fusion Jeff Agoos, Diego Serna
2002 Flag of Guatemala.svg Carlos Ruíz Los Angeles Galaxy Mark Chung, Taylor Twellman
2003 Flag of the United States.svg Preki (2) Kansas City Wizards Ante Razov, John Spencer
2004 Flag of Honduras (1949-2022).svg Amado Guevara MetroStars Joe Cannon, Jaime Moreno
2005 Flag of the United States.svg Taylor Twellman New England Revolution Dwayne De Rosario, Jaime Moreno
2006 Flag of Argentina.svg Christian Gómez D.C. United Jeff Cunningham, Dwayne De Rosario
2007 Flag of Brazil.svg Luciano Emílio D.C. United Juan Pablo Ángel, Cuauhtémoc Blanco
2008 Flag of Argentina.svg Guillermo Barros Schelotto Columbus Crew Landon Donovan, Cuauhtémoc Blanco
2009 Flag of the United States.svg Landon Donovan Los Angeles Galaxy Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Cunningham
2010 Flag of Colombia.svg David Ferreira FC Dallas Edson Buddle, Chris Wondolowski
2011 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Dwayne De Rosario D.C. United Brad Davis, Brek Shea
2012 Flag of the United States.svg Chris Wondolowski San Jose Earthquakes Thierry Henry, Graham Zusi
2013 Flag of the United States.svg Mike Magee Chicago Fire Robbie Keane, Marco Di Vaio
2014 Flag of Ireland.svg Robbie Keane Los Angeles Galaxy Lee Nguyen, Obafemi Martins
2015 Flag of Italy.svg Sebastian Giovinco Toronto FC Kei Kamara, Benny Feilhaber
2016 Flag of Spain.svg David Villa New York City FC Bradley Wright-Phillips, Sacha Kljestan
2017 Flag of Argentina.svg Diego Valeri Portland Timbers David Villa, Nemanja Nikolić
2018 Flag of Venezuela.svg Josef Martínez Atlanta United FC Miguel Almirón, Zlatan Ibrahimović
2019 Flag of Mexico.svg Carlos Vela Los Angeles FC Zlatan Ibrahimović, Josef Martínez
2020 Flag of Spain.svg Alejandro Pozuelo Toronto FC Andre Blake, Nicolás Lodeiro, Jordan Morris, Diego Rossi
2021 Flag of Spain.svg Carles Gil New England Revolution Hany Mukhtar, João Paulo, Dániel Sallói, Valentín Castellanos
2022 Flag of Germany.svg Hany Mukhtar Nashville SC Sebastián Driussi, Andre Blake
2023 Flag of Argentina.svg Luciano Acosta FC Cincinnati Thiago Almada, Denis Bouanga
2024 Flag of Argentina.svg Lionel Messi Inter Miami CF Cucho Hernández, Evander
2025 Flag of Argentina.svg Lionel Messi (2) Inter Miami CF Anders Dreyer, Denis Bouanga, Evander, Sam Surridge

Wins by team

ClubWins
D.C. United 4
Kansas City Wizards/Sporting KC 3
LA Galaxy 3
Dallas Burn/FC Dallas 2
Inter Miami CF 2
New England Revolution 2
Toronto FC 2
Atlanta United FC 1
Chicago Fire 1
FC Cincinnati 1
Columbus Crew 1
Los Angeles FC 1
Miami Fusion 1
Nashville SC 1
New York City FC 1
NY/NJ MetroStars/New York Red Bulls 1
Portland Timbers 1
San Jose Earthquakes 1
Tampa Bay Mutiny 1

Wins by nationality

NationalityWins
Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 8
Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 6
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 3
Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 2
Flag of Honduras (2022-present).svg  Honduras 2
Flag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia 1
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 1
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 1
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 1
Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 1
Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 1
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 1
Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 1

See also

References

  1. "Major League Soccer names Most Valuable Player award after Landon Donovan". MLSsoccer.com. January 16, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  2. McCarthy, Kyle (January 15, 2015). "Major League Soccer renames MVP award to honor Landon Donovan". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  3. "Inter Miami's Lionel Messi repeats as Landon Donovan MLS MVP". Major League Soccer. December 9, 2025. Archived from the original on December 10, 2025. Retrieved December 10, 2025.