NEW YORK (September 30, 2022) – Major League Soccer today revealed the names of the 2022 Year-End Awards nominees and launched the voting process for media members, players, and club technical staffs to select their top candidates for each performance-based honor, including the Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player Award.
The voting period kicked off Friday, Sept. 30 (11AM CT) and ends Monday, Oct. 10 (4PM CT), with finalists to be announced on Oct. 13. Individual award winners will be announced throughout the Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs in the lead-up to MLS Cup.
FC Dallas players and head coach Nico Estéevz are featured as 2022 MLS Year-End Awards ballot nominees for the following awards:
- Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player – Jesús Ferreira
- MLS Defender of the Year – Marco Farfan and José Antonio Martínez
- MLS Newcomer of the Year – Alan Velasco
- MLS Young Player of the Year – Jesús Ferreira and Alan Velasco
- Allstate MLS Goalkeeper of the Year – Maarten Paes
- Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year – Nico Estévez
- MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Year – Paxton Pomykal
The complete list of nominees for each award listed above can be found here.
Additionally, bios for MVP, Comeback Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Humanitarian of the Year are available here.
Voting will be conducted online through a password-protected ballot. For each award, ballot selections from clubs, players, and media members will represent an equal share of 33.3 percent of the total vote. Each club’s technical staff vote includes one vote from the club’s head coach and one from either a technical director or general manager. Clubs and players may not vote for their own team’s nominees. Votes cast for a club’s own nominees will not be counted. Excluding MLS Best XI presented by Continental Tire, each voter will be allowed to select up to two nominees per award.
The MLS Best XI presented by Continental Tire – a compilation of the 11 best players by position from the 2022 season – will be determined by each voter selecting 11 players, including one goalkeeper, at least three defenders, at least three midfielders, and at least two forwards in a common soccer formation (4-3-3, 3-4-3, 4-4-2, etc.). Players will be ranked from most to least votes, then selected by position to the Best XI.
A fan vote on MLSsoccer.com will determine the winners of the AT&T MLS Goal of the Year and MLS Save of the Year presented by Allstate from the 16 nominees for each respective award. The fan voting will open on Oct. 12 and close on Oct. 14.
The MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi will be awarded to the player with the most goals at the end of the regular season. With a close race for this statistically determined honor, the announcement of the 2022 MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi will be made after the final whistle on MLS Decision Day 2022, Sunday, Oct. 9.
Additional information regarding the nomination and voting process for the 2022 MLS Year-End Awards can be found here.
