FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) 鈥� Best player. Best team. Inter Miami鈥檚 Lionel Messi is the unquestioned force in Major League Soccer right now, on a run like nobody else the league has ever seen.
The 38-year-old Argentine star 鈥� 鈥� has become the first back-to-back MVP in MLS history, getting announced Tuesday as this year鈥檚 winner of the league鈥檚 top individual honor.
Messi 鈥� thanking his teammates and saying he couldn’t have won the award without them 鈥� accepted the trophy at the opening ceremony of his Messi Cup youth tournament, which kicked off Tuesday. That’s why the award announcement was delayed until after the season; Messi wanted kids to be part of it.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a unicorn, man 鈥� not just for what he does on the field,鈥� MLS Commissioner Don Garber said Tuesday after the on-field ceremony in misty conditions. “He’s just a special man.鈥�
The back-to-back MVPs represent another first for Messi in what seems like a never-ending list of his career accomplishments and was widely expected, almost assumed after he had a along with 19 assists during the regular season.
He also becomes just the second two-time MVP the league has ever seen, joining Preki, the winner of the award in 1997 and 2003. The other winners are all one-time MVP recipients.
鈥淗e was fantastic the whole season, with the numbers and also with the commitment,鈥� Inter Miami coach and longtime Messi teammate Javier Mascherano said after Saturday’s MLS final.
Messi played in barely half of Inter Miami鈥檚 regular-season games in 2024, and that sparked some doubt as to whether he deserved to win the MVP award.
last year. This year, there was no debate.
Messi got 70.4% of the total vote 鈥� the biggest winning total since Toronto’s Sebastian Giovinco in 2015. San Diego鈥檚 Anders Dreyer was second with 11.2%, followed by LAFC鈥檚 Denis Bouanga (7.3%), Cincinnati鈥檚 Evander (4.8%) and Nashville鈥檚 Sam Surridge (2.4%).
鈥淭here鈥檚 something about the way he鈥檚 wired,” Garber said of Messi while attending an Inter Miami match earlier in this season鈥檚 playoffs. 鈥淗e鈥檚 thinking about the game like nobody else ever has. His intensity and desire to win is what makes him the greatest of all time. There are a lot of really competitive players, but he has this special sauce, this dynamic that has him so focused on doing what he needs to do to win games.鈥�
This award joins dozens of other individual honors in Messi鈥檚 career, including eight Ballon d鈥橭r titles, eight Pichichi trophies as La Liga鈥檚 top scorer, six La Liga best player nods, three Best FIFA Men鈥檚 Player awards, three UEFA Men鈥檚 Player of the Year wins, two FIFA World Cup Golden Balls and no fewer than 15 selections as Argentina鈥檚 best player in a given year. He鈥檚 also been part of winning 47 trophies for club and country 鈥� including the 2022 World Cup 鈥� making him the most decorated player the men鈥檚 game has ever seen.
鈥淭he reality,鈥� Mascherano said as the regular season was ending, 鈥渋s that Leo clears all doubts.鈥�
Messi becomes the sixth player in MLS history to win MVP and a championship in the same season. Of the previous five, only Atlanta United鈥檚 Josef Martinez in 2018 won MVP, a title and the Golden Boot as the league鈥檚 scoring champion all in the same year, another hat trick of sorts that Messi achieved in 2025.
Indeed, there has been no one like him 鈥� in MLS for certain, and quite possibly anywhere.
Forget winning back-to-back MVPs. There have been only four players in MLS history 鈥� Carlos Valderrama in 1996 and 1997, Marco Etcheverry in 1998 and 1999, David Villa in 2016 and 2017, and Martinez in 2018 and 2019 鈥� to win the award one year and then even be a finalist for MVP in the following season.
And Messi isn鈥檛 planning on leaving Miami anytime soon. meaning he鈥檒l be there when Inter Miami 鈥� a franchise that has seen its value explode since his arrival 2陆 years ago 鈥� near Miami International Airport next season.
鈥淟eo is a winner. It鈥檚 simple as that,鈥� Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham said. 鈥淎nd I know that sounds like an easy and an obvious thing to say because of what he鈥檚 won. There’s no player that has probably won what he has won and done it the way he鈥檚 done it. There鈥檚 more to what makes him the greatest than just what he does on the field. I think everyone in Miami, everyone around the MLS, has seen what he鈥檚 done for this league and this city and this country. But he continues to raise that level, and that鈥檚 what great players do.鈥�
The phenomenon of having a back-to-back MVP has occurred in each of the other major U.S. pro sports leagues in the past plenty of times, with the most recent instance of each happening fairly recently.
In Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers鈥� Shohei Ohtani and the New York Yankees鈥� Aaron Judge have won the National League and American League MVP awards, respectively, in each of the last two seasons; Ohtani won the AL MVP award with the Los Angeles Angels in 2023 as well.
A鈥檍a Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces has won the WNBA鈥檚 MVP award in each of the last two years. Denver鈥檚 Nikola Jokic was the most recent NBA player to win MVP back-to-back, doing so in 2021 and 2022. Aaron Rodgers 鈥� then of Green Bay 鈥� won two straight NFL MVP awards in 2020 and 2021, and Washington鈥檚 Alex Ovechkin won the NHL鈥檚 Hart Trophy in 2008 and 2009 for the most recent occurrence of someone claiming that award in consecutive years.
But never in MLS 鈥� until now.
鈥淕reat players always believe that they can win more and raise the level,鈥� Beckham said. “And that鈥檚 what Leo鈥檚 doing.鈥�
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