Lionel Messi beats Cucho Hernandez in battle for the 2024 honor

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The best player in the world was Major League Soccer’s best player in 2024.

Lionel Messi has been named the 2024 MLS MVP, the league announced Friday – another prestigious individual honor for the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and Argentina World Cup winner.

Messi accepted the MVP award from MLS commissioner Don Garber and more than 250 Inter Miami youth academy players – including his three sons Thiago, Mateo and Ciro – at Chase Stadium on Wednesday evening.

“I would have liked to receive this award in a different situation if I could play in the (MLS Cup) final on Saturday. “But that’s what football is all about, about overcoming yourself every day,” said Messi. “We had a big dream of becoming MLS champions this year. It didn’t happen. But next year we will come back stronger and try again. That’s what it’s all about.”

Messi helped Inter Miami set the MLS points record with the best regular season in league history by winning the Supporters’ Shield in his first full season with the team. However, they fell to Atlanta United in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs, which end on Saturday when the LA Galaxy host the New York Red Bulls in the final.

Messi played 19 of 34 MLS games this season and missed two months with a right ankle injury sustained in Argentina’s Copa America win over Colombia in July. However, Messi finished the season with 20 goals and 16 assists and led the MLS with 36 goal contributions in 2024. His 2.18 goal contributions per 90 minutes is also a league record.

Messi received 38.43% of the MVP votes, beating Columbus Crew’s Cucho Hernandez (33.7%), Portland Timbers’ Evander (9.24%), DC United’s Christian Benteke (7.1%) and his teammates from Inter Miami, Luis Suarez (2.17%). the league’s highest honor. MLS players, media and club executives voted for the award.

Messi also helped the MLS to a record season off the pitch.

More than 12.1 million fans attended MLS games, more than just the English Premier League (14.6 million) before Saturday’s final. The league also has the fastest-growing social media following of any American sports league on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. Messi also has the best-selling MLS jersey in the league and continues to be the No. 1 player in jersey sales worldwide for adidas.

“Unless you live in the world of football, you can hardly imagine the universal appeal and the enormous popularity and fame that Leo Messi enjoys. He’s Michael Jackson, meets Taylor Swift and he’s in our league,” Garber said on Thursday during the Club World Cup draw in Miami. “It exceeded my expectations. I love what it has done for MLS and I hope Leo stays healthy and stays in the league for a long time.”

If there was any doubt about Messi’s MVP candidacy, he secured the award with two of his best games in the final three games of the season.

In a 6-2 win over New England Revolution on October 19, Messi scored his first MLS hat trick in 11 minutes off the bench. The win helped Inter Miami set a regular season record of 74 points, surpassing New England’s 2021 mark of 73 points.

Messi scored two goals in Inter Miami’s 3-2 win over reigning MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew on October 2 to secure their 46th Supporters’ Shield title^Th Trophy for club and country in his career.

Messi also set MLS single-game records with five assists and six total goal contributions in a 6-2 win over the New York Red Bulls on May 4.

Messi began his season with 10 goals and nine assists in an eight-game stretch with multiple goal contributions, second in MLS history behind former Galaxy star Cobi Jones, who did so in his first nine games in 1998 managed.

Messi and Suárez, who also scored 20 goals in his first season in MLS, became the first pair of teammates in league history to score at least 20 goals in a season.

Hernandez scored 19 goals and 14 assists for the Crew, which finished second to Inter Miami in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Portland’s Evander scored 15 goals and had a league-high 19 assists, tied with last year’s MVP Lucho Acosta of Cincinnati. Benteke was the MLS Golden Boot winner with 23 goals for DC United.

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