MLS Best XI
The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgement of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer.
Winners
- Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award for that season.
Year | Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
1996 | Mark Dodd, Dallas | Leonel Álvarez, Dallas John Doyle, San Jose Robin Fraser, LA Galaxy | Mauricio Cienfuegos, LA Galaxy Roberto Donadoni, MetroStars Marco Etcheverry, D.C. United Preki, Kansas City Carlos Valderrama, Tampa Bay | Eduardo Hurtado, LA Galaxy Roy Lassiter, Tampa Bay |
1997 | Brad Friedel, Columbus | Jeff Agoos, D.C. United Thomas Dooley, Columbus Richard Gough, Kansas City Eddie Pope, D.C. United | Mark Chung, Kansas City Marco Etcheverry, D.C. United Preki, Kansas City Carlos Valderrama, Tampa Bay | Ronald Cerritos, San Jose Jaime Moreno, D.C. United |
1998 | Zach Thornton, Chicago | Thomas Dooley, Columbus Robin Fraser, LA Galaxy Luboš Kubík, Chicago Eddie Pope, D.C. United | Chris Armas, Chicago Mauricio Cienfuegos, LA Galaxy Marco Etcheverry, D.C. United Piotr Nowak, Chicago | Stern John, Columbus Cobi Jones, LA Galaxy |
1999 | Kevin Hartman, LA Galaxy | Jeff Agoos, D.C. United Luboš Kubík, Chicago Robin Fraser, LA Galaxy | Chris Armas, Chicago Mauricio Cienfuegos, LA Galaxy Marco Etcheverry, D.C. United Eddie Lewis, San Jose Steve Ralston, Tampa Bay | Jason Kreis, Dallas Jaime Moreno, D.C. United |
2000 | Tony Meola, Kansas City | Robin Fraser, LA Galaxy Greg Vanney, LA Galaxy Peter Vermes, Kansas City | Chris Armas, Chicago Piotr Nowak, Chicago Steve Ralston, Tampa Bay Hristo Stoichkov, Chicago Carlos Valderrama, Tampa Bay | Mamadou Diallo, Tampa Bay Clint Mathis, MetroStars |
2001 | Tim Howard, MetroStars | Jeff Agoos, San Jose Carlos Llamosa, Miami Pablo Mastroeni, Miami Greg Vanney, LA Galaxy | Chris Armas, Chicago Piotr Nowak, Chicago Preki, Miami | Alex Pineda Chacón, Miami Diego Serna, Miami John Spencer, Colorado |
2002 | Tim Howard, MetroStars | Wade Barrett, San Jose Carlos Bocanegra, Chicago Alexi Lalas, LA Galaxy | Mark Chung, Colorado Ronnie Ekelund, San Jose Óscar Pareja, Dallas Steve Ralston, New England | Jeff Cunningham, Columbus Carlos Ruiz, LA Galaxy Taylor Twellman, New England |
2003 | Pat Onstad, San Jose | Carlos Bocanegra, Chicago Ryan Nelsen, D.C. United Eddie Pope, MetroStars | Chris Armas, Chicago DaMarcus Beasley, Chicago Mark Chung, Colorado Landon Donovan, San Jose Preki, Kansas City | Ante Razov, Chicago John Spencer, Colorado |
2004 | Joe Cannon, Colorado | Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City Robin Fraser, Columbus Ryan Nelsen, D.C. United Eddie Pope, MetroStars | Eddie Gaven, MetroStars Amado Guevara, MetroStars Ronnie O'Brien, Dallas Kerry Zavagnin, Kansas City | Brian Ching, San Jose Jaime Moreno, D.C. United |
2005 | Pat Onstad, San Jose | Chris Albright, LA Galaxy Danny Califf, San Jose Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City | Clint Dempsey, New England Dwayne De Rosario, San Jose Christian Gómez, D.C. United Shalrie Joseph, New England Ronnie O'Brien, Dallas | Jaime Moreno, D.C. United Taylor Twellman, New England |
2006 | Troy Perkins, D.C. United | Bobby Boswell, D.C. United Jose Burciaga Jr., Kansas City Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City | Ricardo Clark, Houston Clint Dempsey, New England Dwayne De Rosario, Houston Christian Gómez, D.C. United Justin Mapp, Chicago | Jeff Cunningham, Salt Lake Jaime Moreno, D.C. United |
2007 | Brad Guzan, Chivas USA | Jonathan Bornstein, Chivas USA Michael Parkhurst, New England Eddie Robinson, Houston | Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Columbus Dwayne De Rosario, Houston Christian Gómez, D.C. United Shalrie Joseph, New England Ben Olsen, D.C. United | Juan Pablo Angel, Red Bulls Luciano Emilio, D.C. United |
2008 | Jon Busch, Chicago | Jimmy Conrad, Kansas City Chad Marshall, Columbus Bakary Soumaré, Chicago | Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Chicago Shalrie Joseph, New England Sacha Kljestan, Chivas USA Robbie Rogers, Columbus Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Columbus | Kenny Cooper, Dallas Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy |
2009 | Zach Thornton, Chivas USA | Geoff Cameron, Houston Wilman Conde, Chicago Chad Marshall, Columbus | Dwayne De Rosario, Toronto Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy Stuart Holden, Houston Shalrie Joseph, New England Freddie Ljungberg, Seattle | Conor Casey, Colorado Jeff Cunningham, Dallas |
2010 | Donovan Ricketts, LA Galaxy | Nat Borchers, Salt Lake Omar Gonzalez, LA Galaxy Jámison Olave, Salt Lake | Dwayne De Rosario, Toronto Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy David Ferreira, Dallas Sébastien Le Toux, Philadelphia Javier Morales, Salt Lake | Edson Buddle, LA Galaxy Chris Wondolowski, San Jose |
2011 | Kasey Keller, Seattle | Todd Dunivant, LA Galaxy Omar Gonzalez, LA Galaxy Jámison Olave, Salt Lake | David Beckham, LA Galaxy Brad Davis, Houston Dwayne De Rosario, D.C. United Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy Brek Shea, Dallas | Thierry Henry, Red Bulls Chris Wondolowski, San Jose |
2012 | Jimmy Nielsen, Sporting KC | Víctor Bernárdez, San Jose Matt Besler, Sporting KC Aurélien Collin, Sporting KC | Osvaldo Alonso, Seattle Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy Chris Pontius, D.C. United Graham Zusi, Sporting KC | Thierry Henry, Red Bulls Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy Chris Wondolowski, San Jose |
2013 | Donovan Ricketts, Portland | Matt Besler, Sporting KC José Gonçalves, New England Omar Gonzalez, LA Galaxy | Tim Cahill, Red Bulls Will Johnson, Portland Diego Valeri, Portland Graham Zusi, Sporting KC | Marco Di Vaio, Montreal Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy Mike Magee, Chicago |
2014 | Bill Hamid, D.C. United | Bobby Boswell, D.C. United Omar Gonzalez, LA Galaxy Chad Marshall, Seattle | Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy Thierry Henry, Red Bulls Lee Nguyen, New England Diego Valeri, Portland | Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy Obafemi Martins, Seattle Bradley Wright-Phillips, Red Bulls |
2015 | Luis Robles, Red Bulls | Laurent Ciman, Montreal Matt Hedges, Dallas Kendall Waston, Vancouver | Fabian Castillo, Dallas Benny Feilhaber, Sporting KC Ethan Finlay, Columbus Dax McCarty, Red Bulls | Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto Kei Kamara, Columbus Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy |
2016 | Andre Blake, Philadelphia | Matt Hedges, Dallas Axel Sjöberg, Colorado Jelle Van Damme, LA Galaxy | Mauro Díaz, Dallas Giovani dos Santos, LA Galaxy Sacha Kljestan, Red Bulls Ignacio Piatti, Montreal | Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto David Villa, New York City Bradley Wright-Phillips, Red Bulls |
2017 | Tim Melia, Sporting KC | Justin Morrow, Toronto Ike Opara, Sporting KC Kendall Waston, Vancouver | Miguel Almirón, Atlanta Sebastian Giovinco, Toronto Diego Valeri, Portland Víctor Vázquez, Toronto | Josef Martínez, Atlanta Nemanja Nikolić, Chicago David Villa, New York City |
2018 | Zack Steffen, Columbus | Kemar Lawrence, Red Bulls Aaron Long, Red Bulls Chad Marshall, Seattle | Luciano Acosta, D.C. United Miguel Almirón, Atlanta Ignacio Piatti, Montreal Carlos Vela, LAFC | Zlatan Ibrahimović, LA Galaxy Josef Martínez, Atlanta Wayne Rooney, D.C. United |
2019 | Vito Mannone, Minnesota | Ike Opara, Minnesota Miles Robinson, Atlanta Walker Zimmerman, LAFC | Eduard Atuesta, LAFC Carles Gil, New England Maximiliano Moralez, New York City Alejandro Pozuelo, Toronto | Zlatan Ibrahimović, LA Galaxy Josef Martínez, Atlanta Carlos Vela, LAFC |
Most Appearances by a Player
- Landon Donovan: 7
- Dwayne De Rosario: 6
- Robin Fraser, Jaime Moreno, Chris Armas: 5
- Eddie Pope, Preki, Marco Etcheverry, Jimmy Conrad, Omar Gonzalez, Shalrie Joseph, Robbie Keane, Chad Marshall: 4
Appearances by Team
Club | Appearances |
LA Galaxy | 37 |
D.C. United | 28 |
Chicago Fire | 23 |
Kansas City Wiz/Kansas City Wizards/Sporting KC | 22 |
NY/NJ MetroStars/New York Red Bulls | 20 |
San Jose Clash/Earthquakes | 16 |
Dallas Burn/FC Dallas | 14 |
Columbus Crew | 14 |
New England Revolution | 13 |
Toronto FC | 8 |
Colorado Rapids | 7 |
Houston Dynamo | 7 |
Tampa Bay Mutiny | 7 |
Atlanta United | 6 |
Miami Fusion | 6 |
Seattle Sounders | 6 |
Portland Timbers | 5 |
Real Salt Lake | 5 |
Chivas USA | 4 |
Los Angeles FC | 4 |
Montreal Impact | 4 |
New York City FC | 3 |
Minnesota United | 2 |
Philadelphia Union | 2 |
Vancouver Whitecaps | 2 |