Major League Soccer today announced the 2025 MLS Best XI, which recognizes the league’s top players at each position as determined by members of the media, MLS players, and MLS club technical staffs.
The 2025 MLS Best XI features five players from the U.S. and Canada, which is the most in a single season since 2015, when there were also five. Six different individuals are first-time honorees, and nine different MLS clubs are represented, with the Philadelphia Union and Vancouver Whitecaps FC leading the pack with two representatives each.
2025 MLS Best XI
- Goalkeeper: Dayne St. Clair (Minnesota United FC)
- Defenders: Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Alex Freeman (Orlando City SC), Jakob Glesnes (Philadelphia Union), Kai Wagner (Philadelphia Union)
- Midfielders: Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Evander (FC Cincinnati), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC)
- Forwards: Denis Bouanga (LAFC), Anders Dreyer (San Diego FC), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami CF)
Glesnes earned his second-ever Best XI selection this season after leading Philadelphia to the best defense in MLS (35 goals allowed) and a Supporters’ Shield triumph. The Norwegian defender logged 2,626 minutes and ranked second on the team with 30 clearances. Glesnes and teammate Kai Wagner are the Union’s 10th and 11th Best XI selections in club history as Philadelphia became the 11th team to reach double-digit selections.
Wagner led Philadelphia in minutes played (2,769), assists (11), and key passes (90) as the club lifted their second Supporters’ Shield in club history. Wagner’s 11 assists were the second most by a defender in MLS this season and bringing his total to 63 in his seven-year MLS career. The German defender is the only full back since the start of 2010 to earn multiple MLS Best XI honors after previously being named to the team in 2022.
This season’s Best XI includes 10 2025 MLS All-Star selections and five individual award winners in the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi winner Lionel Messi, MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Dayne St. Clair, MLS Defender of the Year Tristan Blackmon, MLS Young Player of the Year Alex Freeman, and MLS Newcomer of the Year Anders Dreyer.
Two different clubs added their first MLS Best XI selection this year – Orlando City SC (Alex Freeman) and San Diego FC (Anders Dreyer). At 21 years and 88 days old, Freeman is the youngest player to be named to the MLS Best XI since Philadelphia’s Brenden Aaronson earned the honor in 2020 (20 years, 29 days). With Dreyer’s selection, San Diego is the third expansion team since the start of the decade to have a player named to the MLS Best XI in their debut season, joining St. Louis CITY SC in 2023 (Roman Bürki) and Nashville SC in 2020 (Walker Zimmerman).
Additionally, the Philadelphia Union had both Jakob Glesnes and Kai Wagner selected for the second time, after previously having done so in 2022. It marks just the second time in MLS history a pair of teammates at the same position have been selected in multiple years together to the Best XI, joining the Chicago Fire’s Chris Armas and Piotr Nowak (midfielders in 1998, 2000, and 2001).
Seven different countries are represented by this year’s selections, with the United States leading with four different players. Minnesota’s Dayne St. Clair marked the first Canadian selection since Tajon Buchanan in 2021 while San Diego’s Anders Dreyer is the third Danish player to earn the honor, along with Jimmy Nielsen (2012) and Ronnie Ekelund (2002).
