LONDON - Lionel Messi has been named Major League Soccer’s Most Valuable Player for the second successive season, reported PA Media/dpa.
The 38-year-old, who helped Inter Miami win the MLS Cup for the first time on Saturday with a victory over Vancouver Whitecaps, is the first player to scoop the Landon Donovan award for two years running.
Messi has also won the 2025 MLS Golden Boot after scoring 29 goals in 28 matches and providing 19 assists, which surpassed the 20 goals and 16 assists he registered in his 2024 MVP-winning campaign.
His 48 goal contributions during the regular season are the second highest in MLS history, one behind Carlos Vela’s 2019 record set with Los Angeles FC.
The Argentina captain, an eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, also became the first player in league history to record at least 36 goal contributions multiple times (2024 and 2025).
The Landon Donovan MLS MVP award was first presented in 1996 and is determined by a poll of players, club technical staff and media.
Messi is the second player to win the award twice after Predrag Radosavljevic (1997 and 2003). - BERNAMA-PA Media/dpa