MLS announces 2023 Year-End Award Categories & Nominees

MLS has announced all the available awards for the end of season celebrations, as well as the nominated players.

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennanj4brennanUpdate: Oct 5th, 2023 15:33 EDT

MLS has announced all the available awards for the end of season celebrations, as well as the nominated players.

Geoff BurkeUSA TODAY Sports

Major League Soccer has announced the awards for the Year-End awards for the 2023 season, as well as all nominated players, managers and referees.

The governing body of soccer in America have also made public that voting will begin on October 10 and finish on October 23, which is two days after Decision Day (end of MLS regular season).

How does voting work for MLS Year-End awards?

As put by MLS, “the winner in each category will be determined following a vote by journalists, club technical staffs, and MLS players, with each group accounting for 33.3% of the total vote. Club technical staffs and players may not vote for their own team’s nominees.”

As well as this, it has been announced that fans will have the opportunity to have their say on the top moments of the 2023 season with both the AT&T 5G Goal of the Year and MLS Save of the Year awards.

Just two spots remaining in the Eastern Conference with two Matchdays to play.Seven teams still fighting for their postseason chances. 💪 pic.twitter.com/iC2d4UvjSO

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 5, 2023

What are the award categories for the 2023 Year-End MLS awards?

The categories that have been announced are as follows:

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MLS 2023 Year-End awards:

Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable PlayerSigi Schmid MLS Coach of the YearMLS Best XI presented by Continental TireAllstate MLS Goalkeeper of the YearMLS Defender of the YearMLS Comeback Player of the YearMLS Newcomer of the YearMLS Young Player of the YearAudi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award presented by MLS WORKSMLS Referee of the YearMLS Assistant Referee of the Year

Which players have been nominated for the 2023 Year-End MLS awards?

Landon Donovan MLS MVP

Nominees:

Acosta, Luciano (CIN)Almada, Thiago (ATL)Artur (HOU)Benteke, Christian (DC)Blake, Andre (PHI)Bouanga, Dénis (LAFC)Bürki, Roman (STL)Busquets, Sergio (MIA)Carranza, Julián (PHI)Choinière, Mathieu (MTL)Espinoza, Cristian (SJ)Ferreira, Jesús (DAL)Frei, Stefan (SEA)Gauld, Ryan (VAN)Giakoumakis, Giorgos (ATL)Gil, Carles (NE)Hernández, Cucho (CLB)Herrera, Héctor (HOU)Messi, Lionel (MIA)Morris, Jordan (SEA)Mukhtar, Hany (NSH)Parks, Keaton (NYC)Puig, Riqui (LA)Pulido, Alan (SKC)Reynoso, Emanuel (MIN)Rodríguez, Santiago (NYC)Sirois, Jonathan (MTL)Swiderski, Karol (CLT)Thommy, Erik (SKC)Torres, Facundo (ORL)

Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the Year

Nominees:

Barraza, Luis (NYC)Blake, Andre (PHI)Bond, Jonathan (LA)Bürki, Roman (STL)Callender, Drake (MIA)Celentano, Roman (CIN)Clark, Steve (HOU)Coronel, Carlos (RBNY)Daniel (SJ)Frei, Stefan (SEA)Gallese, Pedro (ORL)Guzan, Brad (ATL)Johnson, Sean (TOR)Kahlina, Kristijan (CLT)MacMath, Zac (RSL)McCarthy, John (LAFC)Melia, Tim (SKC)Paes, Maarten (DAL)Schulte, Patrick (CLB)Sirois, Jonathan (MTL)St. Clair, Dayne (MIN)Takaoka, Yohei (VAN)Willis, Joe (NSH)

MLS Defender of the Year

Nominees:

Alba, Jordi (MIA)Blackmon, Tristan (VAN)Boxall, Michael (MIN)Bravo, Claudio (POR)Carlos, Antônio (ORL)Corbo, Gabriele (MTL)Elliott, Jack (PHI)Escobar, Franco (HOU)Franklin, Kobe (TOR)Glad, Justen (RSL)Glesnes, Jakob (PHI)Gómez Andrade, Yeimar (SEA)Gray, Tayvon (NYC)Jansson, Robin (ORL)Jones, DeJuan (NE)Lennon, Brooks (ATL)Malanda, Adilson (CLT)Martins, Thiago (NYC)Maxsø, Andreas (COL)Mensah, Jonathan (SJ)Miazga, Matt (CIN)Miller, Kamal (MIA)Moore, Shaq (NSH)Moreira, Steven (CLB)Mosquera, Yerson (CIN)Ndenbe, Logan (SKC)Nouhou (SEA)Palacios, Diego (LAFC)Parker, Tim (STL)Reyes, Andrés (RBNY)Robinson, Miles (ATL)Rodrigues (SJ)Romney, Dave (NE)Rosero, Dany (SKC)Sviatchenko, Erik (HOU)Tafari, Nkosi (DAL)Tapias, Micky (MIN)Veselinović, Ranko (VAN)Waterman, Joel (MTL)Williams, Derrick (DC)Zimmerman, Walker (NSH)Zuparic, Dario (POR)

MLS Newcomer of the Year

MLS define newcomer as “a player who had previous professional experience and made his MLS debut in 2023″.

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Nominees:

Agyemang, Patrick (CLT)Bakrar, Mounsef (NYC)Bassi, Amine (HOU)Bogusz, Mateusz (LAFC)Boyd, Tyler (LA)Busquets, Sergio (MIA)Calegari, Lucas (LA)Coello, Alonso (TOR)Daniel (SJ)Eneli, Emeka (RSL)Evander (POR)Giakoumakis, Giorgos (ATL)Illenic, Mitja (NYC)Kamungo, Bernard (DAL)Klich, Mateusz (DC)Löwen, Eduard (STL)Messi, Lionel (MIA)Mosquera, Yerson (CIN)Privett, Andrew (CLT)Radoja, Nemanja (SKC)Rosero, Dany (SKC)Santos, Rafael (ORL)Surridge, Sam (NSH)Sviatchenko, Erik (HOU)Takaoka, Yohei (VAN)Thórhallsson, Dagur Dan (ORL)Vera, Brayan (RSL)

MLS Young Player of the Year

The criteria for this award, according to MLS, is “the best young player in MLS during the 2023 regular season. For this award, any “young player” in MLS who is age 22 or younger during the calendar year is eligible for the award. For 2023, any player born on or after Jan. 1, 2001, is eligible. Any player born on or before Dec. 31, 2000, is ineligible”.

Nominees:

Almada, Thiago (ATL)Atencio, Josh (SEA)Bajraktarevic, Esmir (NE)Bogusz, Mateusz (LAFC)Brady, Chris (CHI)Buck, Noel (NE)Cowell, Cade (SJ)Cremaschi, Benjamin (MIA)Davis, Jake (SKC)Farías, Facundo (MIA)Franklin, Kobe (TOR)Gómez, Andrés (RSL)Haak, Justin (NYC)Harriel, Nathan (PHI)Jackson, Aziel (STL)Jasson, Andres (NYC)Kerr, Deandre (TOR)Ku-DiPietro, Ted (DC)Luna, Diego (RSL)Malanda, Adilson (CLT)McGlynn, Jack (PHI)McGuire, Duncan (ORL)Morris, Aidan (CLB)Mosquera, Juan (PORMosquera, Yerson (CIN)Neal, Jalen (LA)Quiñónes, Nelson (HOU)Schulte, Patrick (CLB)Sirois, Jonathan (MTL)Tolkin, John (RBNY)Tsakiris, Niko (SJ)Vargas, Obed (SEA)Velasco, Alan (DAL)Vilsaint, Jules-Anthony (MTL)Vite, Pedro (VAN)Wiley, Caleb (ATL)Wolff, Owen (ATX)Yapi, Darren (COL)

MLS Comeback Player of the Year