Inter Miami's Lionel Messi is in the running for the 2026 Major League Soccer Most Valuable Player award. This gives the Inter Miami captain a chance to make history by winning it for the third time in a row.
MLS shared the list of finalists for its 2026 Year-End Awards on its website on Thursday.
Messi, who took home the MVP in 2024 and 2025, is up against Evander from FC Cincinnati, Guilherme from Houston Dynamo, Hany Mukhtar from Nashville SC, and Cavan Sullivan from Philadelphia Union.
Messi got nominated after another great season. He scored 26 goals in 31 matches, winning the 2026 MLS Golden Boot. He also became the first player in MLS to win the Golden Boot in back-to-back seasons, finishing the regular season with 17 assists, the highest in his team.
The league celebrated his achievement on X, saying, "Another season, another Golden Boot pres. by Audi for Messi."
Messi also won the MLS Goal of the Matchday award seven times this season. He made it into the MLS Team of the Matchday 13 times as well.
The finalists for the 2026 MLS Year-End Awards come from 15 clubs. Winners will be revealed during the Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs.
The selection of the finalists was based on votes from MLS club technical staff, first-team players, and selected media members. Each group's vote counted for 33.3 percent of the total results.
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