It’s safe to say that Argentina’s Lionel Messi has won simply everything in his career. Now he’s the 2024 MLS MVP to boot. The Inter Miami star has already copped the coveted FIFA World Cup (in 2022) and the Copa América (in 2021 and 2024), both with his homeland, as well as countless cups with global heavyweights Barcelona and PSG. Not to mention the millions of social media fans he’s scored, along with lots of cold hard dollars, Euros, pesos, and other unidentified currencies.
We’ll Miss You Messi!
Messi’s just won the MLS MVP award, despite playing in only about half (19 of 34 to be precise) of Inter Miami’s games. Granted, he had some good excuses, like being called away for international duty as the captain of mighty Argentina, and nursing a few bumps and bruises that kept him on ice. Nonetheless, he either created or scored a whopping league-high 36 goals—ripping the net cords 20 times himself, while assisting on 16 others. This gave him the highest-scoring clip over 90 minutes in the relatively short history of MLS.
Funnily enough, it was a rare case of Lionel entering a soccer field without rightly knowing what was going on, as Tim Reynolds joked on The Canadian Press and MSN. The bearded one looked bemused after first seeing 250 Inter Miami Academy kids lined up to spell MVP, and then his own kids holding a large shiny trophy. “Truly, it is an honor for me to receive this award from all of you,” Messi politely informed the academy athletes.
The MLS MVP Results
MLS came through with the MLS MVP results on Friday, December 6. Messi nudged past Colombian and Columbus Crew Forward Cucho Hernández for the prize. The MLS MVP hardware for the top dog is decided by a poll of players, technical staff from some clubs, and specific members of the media. The club voters preferred Hernández over Messi by a slender margin, while Messi was the choice of 41% of the players and 43% of the media.
“Unless you’re living in the world of global football, it’s hard to imagine the overall appeal and the massive popularity and stardom that Leo Messi has,” gushed MLS Commissioner Don Garber. The commish was on hand at Inter Miami’s stadium for the surprising MVP award that happened on Wednesday night.
“I mean, he is Michael Jackson meeting Taylor Swift—and he’s playing in our league,” the Commissioner continued. Excuse me, Mr. Garber, but maybe next time you can think of some suitable soccer stars to include in your comparisons.
Portland Timbers Forward Evander ended up third with 9.2% of votes, while D.C. United Striker Christian Benteke, the league’s top scorer, finished fourth with 7.1%. Luis Suárez, no stranger to controversy himself, but also Messi’s Inter Miami mate and longtime pal, finished fifth with 2.2%, according to Henry Bushnell and Sean Leahy for Yahoo! Sports.
This Year’s MLS MVP Controversy
What would an MVP race be without its critics? Naysayers pointed out that Inter Miami’s results were about as good with Messi as without. But there’s no doubt that the Argentinian ace Messi, most often mentioned on the all-time world football G.O.A.T. list just behind the incomparable Brazilian Pelé and fellow Argie Maradona, was responsible for taking Miami from the cellar to the top of the league in a hurry.
Don’t forget: Lionel Messi had a record-breaking half-season in 2024 with Inter Miami. In that brief period, he achieved what other mere mortals barely do in a full one.
