{{Short description|Annual award for Major League Soccer players}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2017}} {{Use American English|date=January 2017}} {{Infobox award | name = Landon Donovan MVP Award | image = Lionel Messi NE Revolution Inter Miami 7.9.25-178.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Lionel Messi is the current award holder | date = {{start date and age|1996}} | country = | presenter = MLS | year = | holder = {{flagicon|ARG}} Lionel Messi<br>(2nd award) | most_awards = {{flagicon|USA}} Preki<br>{{flagicon|ARG}} Lionel Messi<br>(2 awards each) | most_nominations = | website = | previous = | main = | next = }} The '''Landon Donovan MVP Award''' is an annual award for Major League Soccer players. It is voted on by media, MLS players, and club management and is given to the player deemed the most valuable player in the league each season.
From 1996 to 2007, the award was known as the Honda MLS Most Valuable Player, for commercial purposes. From 2007 to 2014, the award was titled the Volkswagen MLS Most Valuable Player.
Players for D.C. United have won the award a record four times, while Kansas City and Los Angeles Galaxy players have won a second best three times. Carlos Valderrama won the award for the inaugural 1996 season. Kansas City's Preki is the first player to ever win twice, in 1997 and 2003, while Lionel Messi is the only player to ever win twice consecutively, in 2024 and 2025.
On January 15, 2015, MLS renamed its MVP award in honor of Landon Donovan, who won the award in 2009 and retired as the all-time leader in goals and assists in the league's history.<ref>{{cite web |last= |first= |url=https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/major-league-soccer-names-most-valuable-player-award-after-landon-donovan|title=Major League Soccer names Most Valuable Player award after Landon Donovan |work=MLSsoccer.com |date=January 16, 2015 |access-date=December 22, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=McCarthy |first1=Kyle |title=Major League Soccer renames MVP award to honor Landon Donovan |url=http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/inside-mls/mls-names-mvp-award-after-retired-united-states-star-landon-donovan-011515 |website=Fox Sports |access-date=January 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083712/http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/inside-mls/mls-names-mvp-award-after-retired-united-states-star-landon-donovan-011515 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |date=January 15, 2015}}</ref>
==Winners== [[File:Carlos Valderrama 1998.jpg|thumb|Carlos Valderrama won the inaugural award for the Tampa Bay Mutiny in 1996]] [[File:TonyMeola 20060410.jpg|thumb|Tony Meola is the only goalkeeper to win the MVP award.]] [[File:De rosario-balchan.jpg|thumb|right|In 2011, Dwayne De Rosario became the first Canadian player to win MVP.]] [[File:Mex-Kor_(21)_(cropped).jpg|thumb|Carlos Vela scored a record 34 goals during his 2019 MVP season.]] {{updated|2025 MLS season.<ref name="MLSMVP">{{cite web |date=9 December 2025 |title=Inter Miami's Lionel Messi repeats as Landon Donovan MLS MVP |url=https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/inter-miami-s-lionel-messi-repeats-as-landon-donovan-mls-mvp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251210113409/https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/inter-miami-s-lionel-messi-repeats-as-landon-donovan-mls-mvp |archive-date=10 December 2025 |access-date=10 December 2025 |publisher=Major League Soccer}}</ref>}} {|class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" summary="Season (sortable), Player (sortable), Club (sortable), Other Finalists (sortable)" !Season !Player !Club !Other Finalists |- |align=center|1996 |{{Flagicon|COL}} Carlos Valderrama |Tampa Bay Mutiny |Roy Lassiter, Preki |- |align=center|1997 |{{Flagicon|USA}} Preki |Kansas City Wizards |Marco Etcheverry, Carlos Valderrama |- |align=center|1998 |{{Flagicon|BOL}} Marco Etcheverry |D.C. United |Cobi Jones, Peter Nowak |- |align=center|1999 |{{Flagicon|USA}} Jason Kreis |Dallas Burn |Marco Etcheverry, Jaime Moreno |- |align=center|2000 |{{Flagicon|USA}} Tony Meola |Kansas City Wizards |Mamadou Diallo, Clint Mathis |- |align=center|2001 |{{Flagicon|HON|1949}} Álex Pineda Chacón |Miami Fusion |Jeff Agoos, Diego Serna |- |align=center|2002 |{{Flagicon|GUA}} Carlos Ruíz |Los Angeles Galaxy |Mark Chung, Taylor Twellman |- |align=center|2003 |{{Flagicon|USA}} Preki (2) |Kansas City Wizards |Ante Razov, John Spencer |- |align=center|2004 |{{Flagicon|HON|1949}} Amado Guevara |MetroStars |Joe Cannon, Jaime Moreno |- |align=center|2005 |{{Flagicon|USA}} Taylor Twellman |New England Revolution |Dwayne De Rosario, Jaime Moreno |- |align=center|2006 |{{Flagicon|ARG}} Christian Gómez |D.C. United |Jeff Cunningham, Dwayne De Rosario |- |align=center|2007 |{{Flagicon|BRA}} Luciano Emílio |D.C. United |Juan Pablo Ángel, Cuauhtémoc Blanco |- |align=center|2008 |{{Flagicon|ARG}} Guillermo Barros Schelotto |Columbus Crew |Landon Donovan, Cuauhtémoc Blanco |- |align=center|2009 |{{Flagicon|USA}} Landon Donovan |Los Angeles Galaxy |Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Cunningham |- |align=center|2010 |{{Flagicon|COL}} David Ferreira |FC Dallas |Edson Buddle, Chris Wondolowski |- |align=center|2011 |{{Flagicon|CAN}} Dwayne De Rosario |D.C. United |Brad Davis, Brek Shea |- |align=center|2012 |{{Flagicon|USA}} Chris Wondolowski |San Jose Earthquakes |Thierry Henry, Graham Zusi |- |align=center|2013 |{{Flagicon|USA}} Mike Magee |Chicago Fire |Robbie Keane, Marco Di Vaio |- |align=center|2014 |{{Flagicon|IRE}} Robbie Keane |Los Angeles Galaxy |Lee Nguyen, Obafemi Martins |- |align=center|2015 |{{flagicon|ITA}} Sebastian Giovinco |Toronto FC |Kei Kamara, Benny Feilhaber |- |align=center|2016 |{{flagicon|ESP}} David Villa |New York City FC |Bradley Wright-Phillips, Sacha Kljestan |- |align=center|2017 |{{flagicon|ARG}} Diego Valeri |Portland Timbers |David Villa, Nemanja Nikolić |- |align=center|2018 |{{flagicon|VEN}} Josef Martínez |Atlanta United FC |Miguel Almirón, Zlatan Ibrahimović |- |align=center|2019 |{{flagicon|MEX}} Carlos Vela |Los Angeles FC |Zlatan Ibrahimović, Josef Martínez |- |align=center|2020 |{{flagicon|ESP}} Alejandro Pozuelo |Toronto FC |Andre Blake, Nicolás Lodeiro, Jordan Morris, Diego Rossi |- |align=center|2021 |{{flagicon|ESP}} Carles Gil |New England Revolution |Hany Mukhtar, João Paulo, Dániel Sallói, Valentín Castellanos |- |align=center|2022 |{{flagicon|GER}} Hany Mukhtar |Nashville SC |Sebastián Driussi, Andre Blake |- |align=center|2023 |{{flagicon|ARG}} Luciano Acosta |FC Cincinnati |Thiago Almada, Denis Bouanga |- | align=center | 2024 | {{flagicon|ARG}} Lionel Messi | Inter Miami CF | Cucho Hernández, Evander |- | align="center" |2025 |{{flagicon|ARG}} Lionel Messi (2) |Inter Miami CF |Anders Dreyer, Denis Bouanga, Evander, Sam Surridge |}
== Wins by team == {| class="wikitable sortable" !Club !Wins |- |D.C. United |4 |- |Kansas City Wizards/Sporting KC |3 |- |LA Galaxy |3 |- |Dallas Burn/FC Dallas |2 |- |Inter Miami CF |2 |- |New England Revolution |2 |- |Toronto FC |2 |- |Atlanta United FC |1 |- |Chicago Fire |1 |- |FC Cincinnati |1 |- |Columbus Crew |1 |- |Los Angeles FC |1 |- |Miami Fusion |1 |- |Nashville SC |1 |- |New York City FC |1 |- |NY/NJ MetroStars/New York Red Bulls |1 |- |Portland Timbers |1 |- |San Jose Earthquakes |1 |- |Tampa Bay Mutiny |1 |}
== Wins by nationality == {| class="wikitable sortable" !Nationality !Wins |- |{{USA}} | align="center" |8 |- |{{ARG}} | align="center" |6 |- |{{ESP}} | align="center" |3 |- |{{COL}} | align="center" |2 |- |{{HND}} | align="center" |2 |- |{{BOL}} | align="center" |1 |- |{{BRA}} | align="center" |1 |- |{{CAN}} | align="center" |1 |- |{{GER}} | align="center" |1 |- |{{GUA}} | align="center" |1 |- |{{IRE}} | align="center" |1 |- |{{ITA}} | align="center" |1 |- |{{MEX}} | align="center" |1 |- |{{VEN}} | align="center" |1 |}
== See also == *Best MLS Player ESPY Award
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Major League Soccer MVP Award}} {{MLS awards}}
MVP Category:1996 establishments in the United States Category:Awards established in 1996 Category:Annual events in the United States Major League Soccer