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.
