Goalkeeper of the Year adds to his 2024 honors and becomes first Croatian in league history to earn recognition
CHARLOTTE, NC (Tuesday, December 3, 2024) – Major League Soccer today announced that Charlotte FC goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina was named the 2024 MLS Best XI presented by Continental Tire, 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 2024 MLS Best XI presented by Continental Tire features seven first-time honorees and includes players from eight different countries and nine different MLS clubs, with the Columbus Crew and Inter Miami CF leading the pack with two representatives each.
2024 MLS Best XI presented by Continental Tire
- Goalkeeper: Kristijan Kahlina (Charlotte FC)
- Defenders: Jordi Alba (Inter Miami CF), Yeimar Gómez Andrade (Seattle Sounders FC), Steven Moreira (Columbus Crew)
- Midfielders: Luciano ‘Lucho’ Acosta (FC Cincinnati), Evander (Portland Timbers), Riqui Puig (LA Galaxy)
- Forwards: Christian Benteke (D.C. United), Denis Bouanga (LAFC), Cucho Hernández (Columbus Crew), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami CF)
This season’s Best XI includes 10 2024 MLS All-Stars and three individual award winners in the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi winner Christian Benteke, MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Kristijan Kahlina, and MLS Defender of the Year Steven Moreira.
The 11 players selected for this honor represent nine different clubs, with Riqui Puig becoming the LA Galaxy’s league-leading 38th Best XI selection, followed by D.C. United (29), Chicago Fire FC (23), Sporting Kansas City (22), and the New York Red Bulls (20).
Eight different countries are represented by this year’s selections, with Argentina, Colombia, and Spain having two representatives each and Cape Verde and Croatia being represented for the first time by Moreira and Kahlina, respectively. Argentina’s 21 honorees are the second-most all-time for this award behind the United States (149), followed by Colombia (18), Canada (10), and Boliva and Spain (both nine).
2024 MLS Best XI presented by Continental Tire
Kristijan Kahlina | Goalkeeper | Charlotte FC | Nationality: Croatia | 1st Selection
Kristijan Kahlina finished his third MLS regular season with a career-high 12 shutouts, and the Croatian goalkeeper was instrumental to Charlotte FC conceding the second-fewest foals (37) of any MLS team this season. This is his first Best XI selection, and Kahlina is the first Charlotte FC player to earn Best XI honors in club history.
Jordi Alba | Defender | Inter Miami CF | Nationality: Spain | 1st Selection
In his first season with Inter Miami CF, Jordi Alba led all MLS defenders in assists with 14 en route to lifting the Supporters’ Shield and helping set an MLS regular-season points record (74). Alba now ranks third all-time in regular-season assists for the club, behind only Robert Taylor (15) and Lionel Messi (18), and is the club’s first-ever Best XI defender.
Yeimar Gómez Andrade | Defender | Seattle Sounders FC | Nationality: Colombia | 2nd Selection
This is Yeimar Gómez Andrade’s second MLS Best XI presented by Continental Tire selection, joining Chad Marshall (2014 and 2018) and Raúl RuidÃaz (2020 and 2021) as the only Seattle Sounders FC players to earn the honor twice while with the club. The Sounders conceded a league-fewest 35 goals and kept 11 of their 13 league-leading shutouts when Yeimar started.
Steven Moreira | Defender | Columbus Crew | Nationality: Cape Verde | 1st Selection
Steven Moreira earned his first-ever Best XI honor in his fourth season with the Columbus Crew in addition to being named the 2024 MLS Defender of the Year. The Crew conceded a club-record fewest goals during a 34-game regular season (40) in 2024, and, with Moreira in the starting lineup, kept seven of the club’s 12 shutouts and conceded just 1.03 goals per game.
Luciano Acosta | Midfielder | FC Cincinnati | Nationality: Argentina | 4th Selection
This is Luciano Acosta’s third-consecutive Best XI selection and fourth overall, surpassing Diego Valeri and Christian Gómez for the most Best XI honors by an Argentine. The FC Cincinnati midfielder produced a career-high 33 goal contributions, with his 19 assists tied for the most in MLS this season. Acosta ranks ninth among the league’s all-time assist leaders with 97 assists.
Evander | Midfielder | Portland Timbers | Nationality: Brazil | 1st Selection
Evander finished the 2024 season tied with Acosta for the most assists (19) in regular-season play and was only behind Lionel Messi (36) for the most goal contributions of all MLS players with 34. Evander is the third Portland Timbers player to earn the honor alongside Diego Valeri (2013, 2014, 2017) and Diego Chará (2020) and became just the third Brazilian to be named to the Best XI, joining Luciano Emilio (2007) and João Paulo (2021).
Riqui Puig | Midfielder | LA Galaxy | Nationality: Spain | 1st Selection
The LA Galaxy’s Riqui Puig completes the midfield trio as the first Galaxy player to feature in the Best XI since Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2019 after producing a team-leading and career-high 15 assists in 2024. Puig ranks seventh all-time among Galaxy players in assists (28) and has produced the fourth-most assists among active MLS players since making his debut on August 19, 2022.
Christian Benteke | Forward | D.C. United | Nationality: Belgium | 1st Selection
After lifting the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi with a league-leading 23 goals, Christian Benteke became the first D.C. United player to earn Best XI honors since Luciano Acosta and Wayne Rooney in 2018. He accounted for 44.23 percent of the club’s goals in 2024 – the highest mark in MLS this season – and tied Raúl DÃaz Arce for the club’s single-season goals record (23).
Denis Bouanga | Forward | LAFC | Nationality: Gabon | 2nd Selection
Denis Bouanga became just the fourth player in league history to record back-to-back 20-goal seasons in 2023 and 2024. He became the first player in LAFC’s history to score at least 15 goals in consecutive seasons and joined Carlos Vela (49 in 2019) as the only two players to produce at least 30 goal contributions in a single season for the club.
Cucho Hernández | Forward | Columbus Crew | Nationality: Colombia | 2nd Selection
Cucho Hernández became the first Columbus Crew player to earn back-to-back Best XI selections since Chad Marshall (2008 and 2009) and is just the fourth player to earn the honor twice with the club. He broke Stern John’s 25-year club record for goal contributions (31) with 33 in 2024 and became the first player to produce 60 goal contributions over a three-season span in club history.
Lionel Messi | Forward | Inter Miami CF | Nationality: Argentina | 1st Selection
An eight-time Ballon d’Or winner, this is Lionel Messi’s first-ever Best XI selection following a season where he led the league with 36 goal contributions, which ranks fifth all time in MLS history, and his 2.18 goal contributions per 90 in 2024 set a league record. Messi is the club’s first-ever Best XI forward and now leads Miami’s regular-season record books in goals (21) and assists (18).
Kristijan Kahlina MLS Goalkeeper of The Year
Croatian shot-stopper becomes first CLTFC player to earn an individual year-end award. Take a deep dive into Kristijan Kahlina's record-setting season for The Crown.
