Lionel Messi was named Major League Soccer’s Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season on Tuesday, after guiding Inter Miami to the league title and finishing as MLS’s leading scorer in a campaign defined by his consistency and influence.
Messi, 38, became the first player to win back to back MVP awards in the competition and only the second to collect two overall, following Preki’s honours in 1997 and 2003. He scored 29 regular season goals, the fourth highest total in MLS history, and contributed 19 assists to secure the Golden Boot.
“I am happy to receive this award and be the first in the history of this league to win it in two consecutive years,” Messi said. “I am very thankful.”
While acknowledging the individual recognition, he added that the achievement belonged to the team. “It is always nice to receive individual awards but I want to share it with my teammates.”
Messi also became only the second player, after Sebastian Giovinco in 2015, to lead the league in both goals and assists across the regular season. His influence continued deep into the playoffs, where he scored six goals and set up nine more as Miami went on to beat Vancouver 3-1 in the MLS Cup final. Messi provided two assists in that match and was named MLS Cup MVP.
The Argentinian forward signed a three year contract extension with Inter Miami in October and has now added another major milestone to a career that already includes eight Ballon d’Or titles, three FIFA Men’s Best Player awards and two World Cup Golden Balls.
He was the runaway winner of this year’s MVP vote, taking 70.43 per cent of the total, comfortably ahead of San Diego FC’s Anders Dreyer, who received 11.15 per cent. Messi earned 83.05 per cent of media votes, 73.08 per cent of club votes and 55.17 per cent of player votes.
The forward also set a new MLS single season benchmark with 10 multi goal matches, surpassing the previous record of eight held by Stern John, Mamadou Diallo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Messi first won the award in 2024 after registering 20 goals and 16 assists in 19 matches. Since joining Inter Miami in July 2023, he has helped the club lift the Leagues Cup that same year and secure the 2024 Supporters’ Shield with a league best 74 points.
