Finalists Announced for 2023 MLS Year-End Awards

NEW YORK – Major League Soccer has announced the finalists for its 2023 Year-End Awards.

Honoring the regular season’s top performers, the Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player award is down to midfielders Luciano ‘Lucho’ Acosta (FC Cincinnati) and Thiago Almada (Atlanta United), and forward Dénis Bouanga (Los Angeles Football Club) as the three finalists.

Each category was trimmed to three based on the highest average votes from current first-team players, clubs (coaches, technical directors/general managers), and select media members representing local and national outlets who consistently covered the 2023 MLS regular season.

Among all the finalists are individuals representing 13 MLS clubs. The winners are set to be announced throughout the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs. Atlanta United, FC Cincinnati, and St. Louis CITY SC are the most represented clubs with finalists in four award categories each.

A full list of the 2023 MLS Year-End Awards finalists can be found below:

Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player

• Luciano ‘Lucho’ Acosta – FC Cincinnati
• Thiago Almada – Atlanta United
• Dénis Bouanga – Los Angeles Football Club

Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year

• Bradley Carnell – St. Louis CITY SC
• Wilfried Nancy – Columbus Crew
• Pat Noonan – FC Cincinnati

MLS Goalkeeper of the Year

• Roman Bürki – St. Louis CITY SC
• Roman Celentano – FC Cincinnati
• Pedro Gallese – Orlando City SC

MLS Defender of the Year

• Yeimar Gómez Andrade – Seattle Sounders FC
• Matt Miazga – FC Cincinnati
• Tim Parker – St. Louis CITY SC

MLS Young Player of the Year

• Thiago Almada – Atlanta United
• Duncan McGuire – Orlando City SC
• Aidan Morris – Columbus Crew

MLS Newcomer of the Year

• Giorgos Giakoumakis – Atlanta United
• Eduard Löwen – St. Louis CITY SC
• Lionel Messi – Inter Miami CF

MLS Comeback Player of the Year

• João Paulo – Seattle Sounders FC
• Alan Pulido – Sporting Kansas City
• Miles Robinson – Atlanta United

Community Impact Award

• Alejandro Bedoya – Philadelphia Union
• Darlington Nagbe – Columbus Crew
• Taylor Washington – Nashville SC

MLS Referee of the Year

• Jon Freemon
• Victor Rivas
• Ted Unkel

MLS Assistant Referee of the Year

• Michael Barwegan
• Cam Blanchard
• Ian McKay

MLS Referee and Assistant Referee of the Year award recipients will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 14, and the MLS Best XI presented by Continental Tire will be revealed at a later date.

The AT&T MLS Goal of the Year and MLS Save of the Year will be decided by online voting at MLSsoccer.com with winners announced on Thursday, Nov. 9. Voting will take place over a seven-day span from Monday, Oct. 30 (12 p.m. ET) through Monday, Nov. 6 (5 p.m. ET).