Messi became the first player in MLS history to win back-to-back MVP awards and only the second to claim two MVP honors overall, matching the achievement of Preki in 1997 and 2003.
The 38-year-old forward, who guided Argentina to the 2022 World Cup triumph, struck 29 goals in the regular season — the fourth-highest total recorded in an MLS campaign, and contributed 19 assists to secure the MLS Golden Boot.
Messi, who agreed to a three-year contract extension with Miami in October, also became just the second player to lead the league in both goals and assists during the regular season, a feat last achieved by Toronto’s Sebastian Giovinco in 2015.
He added six goals and nine assists in this year’s MLS playoffs, which concluded last weekend with Inter Miami defeating Vancouver 3-1 to win its first MLS Cup title. Messi delivered two crucial assists in the final to earn MLS Cup MVP honors.
The award adds to a glittering list of achievements for the South American icon, whose accolades include a record eight Ballon d’Or titles, three FIFA Men’s Best Player awards and two FIFA World Cup Golden Balls.
Messi dominated the MVP vote, earning 70.43% of total ballots compared with 11.15% for runner-up Anders Dreyer of San Diego FC. He secured 83.05% of media votes, 73.08% of club votes and 55.17% of player votes.
He also became the first MLS player to register 10 multi-goal matches in a single season, surpassing the previous record of eight shared by Stern John in 1998, Mamadou Diallo in 2000 and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2019.
In 2024, Messi won the MLS MVP award with 20 goals and 16 assists across 19 matches.
Messi joined Inter Miami in July 2023 and helped the club lift the Leagues Cup that same year before guiding the team to the 2024 MLS Supporters’ Shield with a league-best 74 points in the regular season.
