Minnesota United, along with Major League Soccer, today announced that goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair was named to the 2025 MLS Best XI, a recognition for the league’s top players at each position as determined by members of the media, MLS players, and MLS club technical staffs.

St. Clair, who was also voted as the 2025 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, joins Tajon Buchanan (2021) as the only Canadian players to be named to the MLS Best XI in the past decade. St. Clair was the lone goalkeeper in MLS this season to produce a save percentage of at least 75% and a goals allowed per game average of 1.00 or fewer (min. 20 games). St. Clair’s save percentage (77.93%) was the best among qualifying goalkeepers and he also ranked in the top five in clean sheets (10) and total saves (113). This is his first MLS Best XI selection and he is the third player in Loons history to be named to the Best XI, alongside goalkeeper Vito Mannone and defender Ike Opara in 2019.

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)

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).

The most decorated player selected is LAFC forward Denis Bouanga who has earned his third consecutive selection as a forward. The last player to make the MLS Best XI as a forward in three-straight seasons was Josef Martínez from 2017-19. 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 (200