U.S. Soccer announced the five nominees for 2025 male player of the year including breakout stars like Malik Tillman and Alex Freeman.
The U.S. men’s national team found its footing toward the end of the year under Mauricio Pochettino after a disappointing start. A tactical change in formation has paid dividends in more ways than one. Not only are the Stars and Stripes undefeated in their last five international friendlies—headlined by a 5–1 rout of Uruguay to close out November—but there have been a number of players to emerge as real contributors ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
A wave of absences from the Concacaf Gold Cup opened the door for competition and five players rose to the occasion.
Subsequently, those five are also nominated for male player of the year.
USMNT Player of the Year 2025 Nominees
Headlining the list of nominees is Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards. The center back was at the heart of defense throughout the Concacaf Gold Cup scoring in the group stage and final. Though the USMNT came up short in the end, Richards is poised to be a leader at the back next summer.
Next is creative midfielder Malik Tillman. The German-American made the move to Bayer Leverkusen over the summer as he pushed for more minutes under Pochettino.
When names like Christian Pulisic, Tim Weah, Folarin Balogun and others were absent over the summer, it was Tillman who stepped up in attack. The No. 10 logged five goal contributions during the tournament and looks set to feature in the World Cup even with the tactical realignment.
Rounding out the nominees are a trio of Major League Soccer talents: Matt Freese, Max Arfsten and Alex Freeman. Three players Pochettino even took credit before the November camp for developing to a level akin to their European-based teammates.
Freese has seemingly established himself as the starting USMNT goalkeeper making 13 starts since taking over for Matt Turner. As long as the New York City FC man keeps up his strong form to start 2026, he should be between the posts when the World Cup begins.
Arfsten featured prominently in the wake of Antonee Robinson’s injury troubles. The Columbus Crew defender struggled at times in a back four, but the switch to a 3-4-3 highlighted his attacking qualities.
Finally, there’s Alex Freeman. The MLS Young Player of the Year emerged during the Gold Cup as a real contender for the starting right back role next summer. He capped off his year with a brace against Uruguay, even earning the trust of his manager to play as a right-sided center back behind Sergiño Dest.
Notable Snubs
Two players were notably absent from the nominees: Balogun and Diego Luna.
Balogun cemented himself as the starting striker for the World Cup after dealing with shoulder and ankle injuries earlier in the year. Balogun closed out 2025 with three goals in five international friendlies, though his limited minutes from January through October likely hurt his chances of being nominated.
Luna is a more shocking omission given his rise to near cult-hero under Pochettino. Luna earned his first call-up in January appearing against Venezuela and Costa Rica. The Real Salt Lake player broke his nose against the latter, but insisted on staying in the game. Shortly after, he provided an assist and he took off from there.
Luna made 15 straight appearances from the Concacaf Nations League third-place match all the way through the end of November. Being absent from the list won’t affect his chances of playing in 2026, though it is a bit of a shock given how much he contributed.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as USMNT Player of the Year: Full List of 2025 Nominees.
