Lionel Messi was named winner of the Landon Donovan MVP Award for the 2024 MLS season Friday, beating out the Columbus Crew’s Cucho Hernández, the Portland Timbers’ Evander, Christian Benteke from D.C. United and his Inter Miami teammate Luis Suárez.
Messi, 37, won thanks to his 20 goals and 16 appearances in just 19 matches.
He joins Carlos Vela in 2019 (LAFC, 34 goals, 15 assists) and Sebastian Giovinco in 2015 (Toronto FC, 22 goals, 16 assists) as the only players in league history with at least 20 goals and 15 assists in a single season.
The MVP award is determined by a poll that includes players, club technical staff and selected members of the media. Messi received 38.43% of the votes averaged compared to second-place finisher Benteke (33.70%).
This was his first full season with the club, having joined in July 2023.
MLS commissioner Don Garber made the announcement Friday alongside Inter Miami Academy students and Messi’s three sons in a video.
“Truly, it is an honor for me to receive this award from all of you,” Messi said to the Academy players. “It’s a source of pride to watch you all train. I’m very happy to be here every day. I’m very happy to be in this city, in this Club that is growing. It’s a pleasure to see you grow day by day. I invite you to keep fighting and striving for your dreams.”
The Miami captain won the award despite playing in only 55% of competitive matches of the 34-game regular season. He missed 62 days between June 1 and Sept. 14 with an ankle injury sustained during Argentina’s win over Colombia in the Copa América final.
During this time, the Herons played well, winning eight of nine games without him.
The award considers a player’s contributions and impact on the pitch at a minimum of 1,000 minutes played in the regular season, which is the league requirement for an MVP nomination.
Per FotMob, Messi averaged more than one goal every 90 minutes, which led the league. In 1,485 minutes, Messi averaged 2.18 goal contributions per match, which is a league record, according to MLS.
The MLS MVP trophy is yet another entry on the absurdly long list of career honors for Messi. He’s an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, eight-time FIFA player of the year winner, a seven-time LaLiga MVP, past UEFA player of the year, past Champions League player of the season, World Cup golden ball winner, Club World Cup golden ball winner, and the list goes on from there.
“Unless you’re living in the world of global football, it’s hard to imagine the overall appeal and the massive popularity and stardom that Leo Messi has,” Garber said. “I mean, he is Michael Jackson meeting Taylor Swift — and he’s playing in our league.”
His numbers and impact on the pitch helped Inter Miami win the Supporters’ Shield and set the single-season points record this season with 74 points. Despite its strong regular season — earning the No. 1 seed for the postseason — Inter Miami lost to Atlanta United in the first round of the playoffs, ending their 2024 campaign in a disappointing way.
In November, Gerardo “Tata” Martino, who had taken the coaching role in June of 2023, resigned for personal reasons. Miami named Javier Mascherano — a former Barcelona and Argentina teammate and friend of Messi — to replace Martino.
The MLS Cup final is on Saturday in Carson, California, where the LA Galaxy host the New York Red Bulls. The Galaxy look to win a record sixth Cup, while the Red Bulls seek their first.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
