Vladimir Guerrero Jr. continued his torrid postseason on Sunday night as the Blue Jays fought off the Mariners to force a winner-take-all Game 7 against the Mariners. Guerrero's sixth-inning home run was his sixth of the playoffs and he carries a .462/.532/1.000 slash line into Monday night's action.

He had seemingly done it all for the Blue Jays in October when he stepped into the batters' box in the eighth inning so he had to get extremely creative to create something new. A broken-bat single on which his bat made contact with the ball three times certainly qualifies.

Here's the slow-motion replay of the oddity, which proves that when things are going well at the dish, everything seems to work.

For as rare as such an occurrence is, there is some late-October precedent. The Giants' Hunter Pence parlayed the trick into some wicked spin and a two-run single during Game 7 of the NLCS back in 2012.

What will Guerrero do for his next trick as he steps on to the biggest stage of his young career? That depends on how willing the Mariners are to pitch to him.

Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering had plenty of support from his teammates and manager after his brutal error led to a crushing defeat at the hands of the Dodgers. Catcher J.T. Realmuto was the first to get to Kerkering as he stood on the field with his head down and hands on his knees in front of the celebrating Dodgers. Realmuto was quickly joined by right fielder Nick Castellanos, and then, as Kerkering headed for the dugout, he was met by Phillies manager Rob Thomson, who consoled the young reliever after the crushing moment.

But Kerkering also received support from what may have seemed like an unlikely source: the winning manager. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke to reporters on Thursday and empathized with Kerkering, who had clearly been emotional before he took questions from the media.

"It's brutal," Roberts said after the game. "Obviously they played great defense tonight. It's one of those things that—It's a PFP, a pitcher's fielding practice and he's done it a thousand times. Just right there I'm sure he was so focused on just getting the hitter and just sort of forgot the outs and the situation. Kerkering is a stud and you definitely feel for a player.

"I'm obviously happy that we won but it's just, yeah—He's had a heck of a year and he's a heck of a pitcher."

Sports can be cruel and unforgiving at times, and while it shouldn't be the case, it's sometimes forgotten that these are human beings, who can be prone to mistakes, playing a game.

Kudos to Roberts for not forgetting the human element.

يلتقي منتخب العراق مع نظيره الجزائر، مساء اليوم الثلاثاء، في مباراة قوية ومرتقبة تقام بين المنتخبين، ضمن منافسات بطولة كأس العرب 2025.

ويتواجه منتخبا الجزائر والعراق، في إطار الجولة الثالثة والأخيرة من عمر مواجهات دور المجموعات لبطولة كأس العرب المقامة في قطر خلال الفترة الحالية.

وحسم منتخب العراق تأهله إلى دور ربع النهائي من بطولة كأس العرب، عقب فوزه في مباراتي الجولتين الأولى والثانية، ويتصدر ترتيب المجموعة الرابعة برصيد 6 نقاط قبل لقاء الجزائر.

طالع.. بالمواعيد | مواجهات دور الـ 8 من كأس العرب 2025

بينما منتخب الجزائر، يبحث عن التأهل إلى دور ربع النهائي في منافسة شرسة مع منتخب السودان على البطاقة الثانية من المجموعة الرابعة.

ويحتل منتخب الجزائر، المركز الثاني برصيد 4 نقاط من فوز وتعادل، بينما السودان يأتي في المركز الثالث برصيد نقطة من تعادل وخسارة. موعد مباراة العراق والجزائر اليوم في كأس العرب 2025

تقام مباراة الجزائر والعراق، اليوم الثلاثاء 9 ديسمبر 2025، في تمام الساعة 7 مساءً بتوقيت مصر، 8 بتوقيت السعودية والعراق، 6 بتوقيت الجزائر. القنوات الناقلة لمباراة العراق والجزائر اليوم في كأس العرب 2025

– قناة بي إن سبورت المفتوحة.

– قناة الكأس 1.

– قناة دبي الرياضية.

– قناة الجزائرية.

– قناة أبو ظبي الرياضية 1.

– قناة إم بي سي مصر 2.

ويمكنكم مطالعة مواعيد ونتائج جميع المباريات لحظة بلحظة عبر مركز المباريات من هنا.

Pat Cummins says his return to bowling has gone better than expected, with Australia’s captain still eyeing a return for the second Ashes Test

AAP05-Nov-2025

Pat Cummins remains on track to return for the second Ashes Test in Brisbane, but has conceded playing through the rest of the series unchanged could be difficult.Cummins has progressed to bowling off a three-quarter run up as he plots a meticulous return from a back injury that has sidelined the Test captain since July.The 32-year-old was able to get through close to eight overs in the nets on Wednesday, and expects to be bowling at full pace by the start of the first Test.Related

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Cummins has not felt any significant pain since his managed return to bowling, with no signs of any recurrence of the stress injury in his lower back.Officials have been coy on whether Cummins would return for the second Test in Brisbane starting four weeks from now, but the skipper remains a genuine chance.”That’s the aim and we’re building our plan to the second Test,” Cummins said at the Seven Network’s cricket launch on Thursday.  “It’s probably not until you get a bit closer that you can really know where you’re at.”The good thing is that I’m pulling up well and the body is great.”We’re trying to keep that second Test as a live option. I’ll have a really good bowl in Perth, and by then I’ll know where I’m at.”What won’t be so easy, Cummins concedes, is playing every remaining Test this summer once he does return. There is an eight-day gap built in between the second and third Tests, but only four-day gaps between the third, fourth and fifth Tests.Australian officials have already identified that as a pressure point of the summer for bowlers, particularly if Tests go the distance and the hosts spend long periods in the field.”I’m pretty keen to play as much as I can,” Cummins said. “But realistically, if we have a big game and bowl 40 or 50 overs and then there’s a game that starts a few days later, it might be a bridge too far.”I’m trying to get right, and if I get right then hopefully I’ll try to play most of it as I can.”Ashes race: Pat Cummins goes through a running session•Getty Images

Cummins said he did not feel he would need a warm-up match in either the Sheffield Shield, a tour game with the Cricket Australia XI or Prime Minister’s XI against England or England Lions, or a grade cricket fixture to have his body right for Test cricket.Instead, Australia’s pace leader will fly to Perth with the rest of the team next week and spend the Test with the coaching staff.”Before the 2023 ODI World Cup I flew over to South Africa and watched the last couple of ODIs there,” Cummins said. “It was actually a really different view from the coach’s box. It’s a different perspective.”So hopefully I gather some information from being in that position through the Test that later on in the series I can use.”Or maybe Steve Smith needs something and I have seen something differently from up there.”But being close to the game and the conversations, I think I will need that going into the second or third Test.”Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will lead the pace attack in Cummins’ absence, with Scott Boland to keep his spot after taking a hat-trick in Australia’s most recent Test in the West Indies.Australia are hoping allrounder Cameron Green can bowl up to 20 overs in his next Sheffield Shield match, with Beau Webster a chance to stay on as a second allrounder.

Lyon being left out of Australia’s XI for just the second time at home in his career signals a significant shift in the selectors thinking

Andrew McGlashan04-Dec-20251:12

‘Speed isn’t the be all and end all’ – Starc bemused by Lyon omission

When Nathan Lyon was left out in Jamaica earlier this year for the day-night Test against West Indies, Tony Dodemaide, the selector on tour, termed it “exceptional circumstances” and a “one-off”. Three Tests later it has happened again with Lyon left “absolutely filthy” at being benched at the Gabba with Australia fielding an all-pace attack for the day-night encounter.Lyon missing out for this Test was a notion trailed since the opening match finished; a combination of his lack of overs in that game against England’s freewheeling batters, and the fact he only bowled one over in last season’s day-night against India in Adelaide. Still, as the Test neared, it felt as though his overall day-night record – 43 wickets at 25.62 – and concerns that the ball can go soft at this ground would work in his favour.Lyon found out about 30 minutes after arriving at the ground, following a final huddle by the pitch involving Steven Smith, Andrew McDonald and George Bailey.”Absolutely filthy,” he said on Channel 7 of his reaction when told by chair of selectors Bailey. “But yeah, can’t do anything about it. So, yeah, hope I can play my role in making sure I get the guys ready and do whatever I can to make sure that we get the right result here.””To be honest I haven’t really sat down with Ronnie [Andrew McDonald] or George yet. I’m letting things settle down in my own head and trying to make sure that I’m, as I said, doing whatever I can to make sure the guys out in the middle representing Australia do the right thing and get the right result for us.”Related

• Starc stands out as the lone ranger with rest of the awesome foursome missing

• Mitchell Starc on left-arm wickets record: Wasim still the GOAT

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“The communication is always there, I just hadn’t had it in me to sit down with the coach and George at the moment,” he added. “So that will happen. I’m not the first player to miss a Test match and I won’t be the last. But, yeah, obviously pretty gutted because I know the role that I can play within Australian cricket and especially a venue like this.”Bailey termed it a “one Test decision”, although it’s now happened twice in quick succession. “Nath will disagree with the decision, and that’s perfectly okay,” Bailey said. “I think he disagreed with the decision in Jamaica, and that’s perfectly okay. I have no qualms about players feeling like they can impact the game and the fact of the matter is he could have. So we could have picked a different squad…that could have been Beau Webster, that could have been Nathan Lyon, but that’s the path we go. Allow the disappointment and then build up a preparation for Adelaide.”Very much it’s a one Test decision, Nath will play in Adelaide,” he added. “It’s just how you think you’re going to structure up the resources and how it’s going to be used, when it gets dark here, when you think you’re going to be using seam bowlers, how many overs get bowled in a day, when you think new ball will be available and that sort of stuff.”It was just the second home Test Lyon has missed since his debut – a run of 69 matches before today – with the other being against India at the WACA in 2012 when Australia fielded an all-pace attack.It meant that Michael Neser played his third Test, all them having been day-night games. He previously played two in Adelaide: against England in the 2021-22 Ashes and West Indies a season later.”This is Michael Neser’s home ground and he knows the conditions really, really well,” Ricky Ponting said on Channel Seven. “But for someone like Nathan Lyon who is such a seasoned professional with a good record at the Gabba, I think it’s a massive call for the Aussies to make.”Pat Cummins, Steven Smith, George Bailey and Andrew McDonald discuss their selection options•Chris Hyde/Getty ImagesWhat does this all mean for Lyon? In the aftermath of not playing at Sabina Park he said he ultimately understood the decision but was still disappointed, believing he can be successful in all conditions.”I believe I can play a role in any conditions, and I still honestly believe that,” he said after that series. “I want to play every game for Australia, and I’ve just got that belief that I can play a role in any conditions, as every cricketer should have that belief.”In Jamaica, conditions with the pink Dukes ball were on the extreme end; the match ended before the first interval on the third day with West Indies skittled for 27. Whether it plays out a similar way in Brisbane, time will tell.Overall, there has been a diminishing role for spinners in Australia as the surfaces offer increasing assistance to the quicks. Lyon’s tally of 122.4 overs against India last season was the lowest amount he had sent down in a home summer.”I know how important spin bowling is, but there is a degree of me that’s concerned about spin bowling around the world, not just Australia, with the wickets we’re playing on,” Lyon said earlier this year.”If you look at spin bowling and your younger spin bowlers around the country, they’re not getting the overs or the opportunities to bowl on day-three, day-four wickets, or spinning wickets, or even green seamers because the fast bowlers are dominating.”Lyon will be back for the next Test in Adelaide, a day game, followed by the contests at the MCG and SCG. But it is now unarguable, that when Australia play day-night Tests, even at home, Lyon can no longer be assured of a place in the XI. And that is quite a shift.

Arsenal “could make a move” for a “world-class” forward, who Mikel Arteta is known to be a big fan of.

Gunners eyeing new forward after "painful" Aston Villa defeat

Arteta’s side suffered one of their first real setbacks of the season on Saturday, with Aston Villa emerging as 2-1 winners after Emiliano Buendia’s late winner, and the manager was left frustrated by the manner of the defeat.

The Spaniard said: “Last kick of the game we have the chance with the cross from Declan for Noni and Viktor. We don’t score. Goal kick long, second ball, clear the ball, individual action. The ball comes inside the box and you end up losing it. It is painful.”

On the brighter side, the Gunners remain two points clear of nearest rivals Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, and a number of Arteta’s summer signings have hit the ground running at the Emirates Stadium.

Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke have received praise for their performances, with Eberechi Eze also catching the eye, most notably scoring a hat-trick in the emphatic 4-1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur last month.

Despite signing Eze and Madueke, however, Arsenal remain interested in signing another new forward, and journalist Pete O’Rourke has revealed they “could make a move” for AFC Bournemouth star Antoine Semenyo.

Speaking to Football Insider, O’Rourke confirmed that a number of top Premier League clubs are in the race for Semenyo’s signature, namely Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

The Ghanaian’s £65m release clause will become active in the January transfer window, but the interested clubs may also choose to wait until the summer, at which point he will be available for just £50m.

Arsenal make strong move to sign "special" £111k-p/w Paris Saint-Germain star

The Gunners are looking to sign a new forward, who has been in impressive form this season.

ByDominic Lund 5 days ago "World-class" Semenyo may be ready for Emirates move

Lauded as “world-class” by Bournemouth teammate Justin Kluivert, the 25-year-old got off to a very impressive start to the campaign, and ranks third in terms of total goal contributions in the Premier League.

Player

Club

Goal contributions

Erling Haaland

Manchester City

18

Igor Thiago

Brentford

11

Antoine Semenyo

AFC Bournemouth

9

Arteta is known to be a big fan of the London-born forward, who is also impressive in the air, averaging 2.14 aerials won per 90 over the past year, which places him in the 97th percentile, compared to other attacking midfielders and wingers.

The former Newport County man has been impressing in the Premier League for quite some time, scoring a remarkable solo goal against Burnley during the 2023-24 campaign.

Clearly, Semenyo could now be ready to make the step-up to a top club, but having signed the likes of Madueke, Eze and Viktor Gyokeres in the summer, there are question marks over whether Arsenal need to bring in another new attacker next month.

Newcastle United have Bayer Leverkusen to overcome this week in the Champions League, but there’s a far more tantalising fixture sticking out across the busy December period.

The Premier League’s first Tyne-Wear showdown since 2016 arrives on the calendar next weekend, with Sunderland’s electric start out of the blocks in the top-flight this season no doubt ramping up the nerves on the end of the Magpies.

Eddie Howe will also be fearful of a loss when you consider Newcastle have lost their last four meetings in this tense rivalry, with Leverkusen in midweek the perfect opportunity to collect a confidence-boosting victory, before facing off against Regis Le Bris’ tricky Black Cats.

In particular, Howe will hope he sees a lot more from the likes of Yoane Wissa and Anthony Elanga at the BayArena, with both high-profile summer recruits failing to settle so far on Tyneside.

The numbers behind Wissa & Elanga at Newcastle

£250m in total was forked out on summer signings at St James’ Park, with £110m of that excessive spending landing both Wissa and Elanga.

There was a method behind Newcastle’s madness here, with the former Brentford man and the Swedish winger amassing a stunning 41 goal contributions between them last season in the Premier League.

Unfortunately for the £55m striker, though, he has only lined up for a paltry 16 minutes in Toon black and white so far, with his first appearance for the club coming last time out against Burnley, 96 days on from him signing on the dotted line.

He is far from a lost cause, however, with a hope he can add to his 45 Premier League goals shortly with sustained time in the first team, as he potentially prepares to start versus Leverkusen. If he doesn’t get up and running soon, with his hefty £140k-per-week salary also added to the equation, he will definitely be dismissed as a rash waste of money.

Elanga doesn’t have a troubling injury record to fall back on when it comes to his critics, with just two assists and no goals next to his name from 22 appearances on Tyneside, making his £55m price tag already feel extremely extortionate.

Still, there will also be a hope in the air that the £100k-per-week forward is simply a work in progress, having previously shone with Nottingham Forest, away from negative labels coming his way that he is a “massive overpay” in the words of Raj Chohan.

Staggeringly, despite £110m being dropped on the underwhelming duo in question, they’re not deemed as big a waste of money as this other high earner, who Howe must now swiftly axe ahead of key games to come in December.

Howe must now drop £120k-per-week Newcastle man

At least with Wissa and Elanga, Howe and Co would have known they were paying a premium price for talents who were consistent top performers in the Premier League.

In the case of Jacob Ramsey, though, £43m was forked out on a star who had a rollercoaster stay at Aston Villa, having only collected a mediocre eight goal contributions across his final two top-flight seasons in the West Midlands, leading to him falling out of Unai Emery’s first team plans.

Ramsey’s flashes of brilliance at his hometown club did see journalist Charles Watts once herald him as a “special” talent for the future, but eyebrows would have been rightly raised when the £43m move was finalised, with his £120k-per-week wage also making him an immediate higher earner than St James Park stalwarts such as Dan Burn, who pockets £70k-per-week, on the contrary.

In the here and now, too, it feels like an awfully long time ago since the 24-year-old was generating lots of hype at Villa Park, with a rare first-team start against Burnley last time out seeing Ramsey look rather timid.

Minutes played

90

Goals scored

0

Assists

0

Touches

73

Shots

1

Accurate passes

56/60 (93%)

Accurate crosses

0/1

Key passes

1

Successful dribbles

1/2

Penalties given away

1

Indeed, it doesn’t make for pretty reading on Ramsey’s end, with the 24-year-old’s general game going down as largely uneventful, until he gave away an unnecessary penalty via a handball, with only one shot, one key pass, and one accurate dribble registered.

With no goals or assists next to his name from 11 clashes, it isn’t the wildest shout to suggest he’s a bigger waste of money than both Wissa and Elanga, with Wissa needing more time to acclimatise, while Elanga at least has two assists to cling onto and showed what a dangerous talent he can be last season..

Moreover, with both Joe Willock and Lewis Miley also at Howe’s disposal in midfield in the reserve ranks, there doesn’t seem to be a long-standing space for the ex-Villa man in his starting XI, as the forgettable number 41 likely just turns into an expensive background figure that can’t be redeemed.

The new Anderson: Newcastle could see £13m bid accepted to sign "special" star

Newcastle United could win themselves a cut-price Elliot Anderson alternative with this £13m star.

ByKelan Sarson 4 days ago

Chameera held his nerve at the death to deny Salman the ability to hit the winning runs

Danyal RasoolUpdated on 27-Nov-2025Dushmantha Chameera held his nerve in a clutch final over to ensure Sri Lanka did not throw away a win they had spent the rest of the evening working for. He conceded three runs in the final over, building on a magnificent opening spell to deny Pakistan victory by six runs in a 184-run chase.The stakes were higher for Sri Lanka than they were for Pakistan, with a victory required for a place in the final, or it would be Zimbabwe playing that game on Saturday. And Sri Lanka played with a hunger they have rediscovered since they finally won a game on Pakistan soil on Tuesday. Kusal Mendis and Kamil Mishara’s 36-ball 66-run stand got them off to a flier, with Mishara ending up with 76 off 48 balls, and cameos lower down the order got them to 184.Right from the outset, Chameera hampered Pakistan with three top-order wickets in his first two overs. The chase looked as good as dead after the loss of the first four, with 43 runs on the board, but captain Salman Ali Agha’s unbeaten half-century kept Pakistan fighting on until the bitter end.A 56-run stand between Salman and Usman Khan brought Pakistan back into contention, and Mohammad Nawaz brought Pakistan right to the brink. The hosts were favourites when a six over cover reduced the equation to 10 in the final over, but Chameera got a wicket, nailed his Yorkers and squeezed Pakistan out.Mendis, Mishara nail the early oversEarlier in the evening, Pakistan strangled Sri Lanka in the first three overs. It started with a beautiful delivery Salman Mirza kissing Pathum Nissanka’s off bail. But when Faheem Ashraf was thrown the ball for the fourth over, Kusal Mendis picked his moment. Three boundaries saw helped him plunder 16, and Mohammad Wasim disappeared for 15 more when he replaced Ashraf for the powerplay’s final over.Even the spreading of the field struggled to contain Mendis and Mishara. When Nawaz came to bowl in the eighth over, Mendis cut him for four before Kamil Mishara slapped him for six. A late flurry put Sri Lanka on course to a match-defending total.Salman stakes a T20I caseSalman has played every single Pakistan game this year, but has never convinced as a T20 batter. Today, finding himself in the sort of situation where what was required of him closely matched his best attributes, the Pakistan captain got stuck in. He began sedately, as he tends to do, but then worked himself into touch and took the game deep. Through the middle overs, his ability to play spin was on full display as the boundaries came regularly enough and the runs kept ticking over.When Sri Lanka turned to pace, Salman kept the pressure up, picking up 10 off Dasun Shanaka, smashing Eshan Malinga for six to keep Pakistan on track. Increasingly, by the end, Sri Lanka’s ability to starve Salman of the strike would prove crucial to holding Pakistan at bay; the final three overs, Salman was at the non-striker’s end for all but five balls, with his unbeaten heroics going in vain.Chameera guts PakistanPakistan felt they had built up a steady opening stand with Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan setting up a platform in the powerplay in the first three overs. It was from that point onwards that Sri Lanka had cut loose in their innings, and the home openers were positioning themselves to do the same.But then, along came fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera. His extra pace beat Farhan for timing and forced him into dinking one straight to cover. The big wicket came two balls later, when a touch of inconsistent bounce had the ball strike Babar Azam below the knee roll, sending him back for a second duck in four innings. Another two balls later, a length delivery grew big on Fakhar Zaman, who skied it straight to midwicket. Pakistan had suddenly lost four wickets in ten balls, and following the end of the over, Chameera’s figures read 2-0-3-3.After conceding 14 in his third over when Pakistan were on the charge, Sri Lanka’s hopes of victory were slipping away. Pakistan needed ten to win with Agha still set. Chameera rolled his fingers over two length balls to start off and allowed just three in the first three balls, but it was the killer yorkers that followed which sealed the deal. Three deliveries that landed on the batters’ toes got rid of Ashraf, and did not leak a single run to spark celebrations in the Sri Lankan camp.

Just a matter of weeks ago it looked like Chelsea were in the title race but things have rather unravelled for Enzo Maresca and Co in recent weeks.

The Blues did pick up a point against Arsenal with ten men but results since then have been bleak, losing 3-1 to Leeds United and drawing 0-0 with Bournemouth.

Cole Palmer’s return to fitness has been timely, but according to the manager, he’s still not up to full speed just yet.

The latest Chelsea injury news

Palmer returned from the bench against Bournemouth at the weekend but in a fresh blow to Maresca and Co they have decided that the attacking midfielder will not travel with the squad for the Champions League trip to Atalanta.

That said, no fresh injury has been sustained. The manager has confirmed the forward is simply being rested as part of his recovery.

Palmer had missed a period courtesy of a groin injury and then had to spend an extra week out after breaking a toe at home.

That said, he is now slowly working himself back. Maresca said: “Cole is in part of his process in this moment. He’s not available, he can’t play two games in a row in three days. So we planned that, and it’s just a way to protect him.”

As far as Liam Delap is concerned, the news isn’t ideal there. The striker injured his shoulder against the Cherries and will now miss a period of time.

Commenting on the striker’s situation, the Chelsea boss stated: “Liam, fortunately, there is not any fracture, so that is good news. In terms of how long he will be out, we are not sure at this stage to be honest.”

What Delap's injury means for Chelsea

Well, it certainly means that Joao Pedro is likely to play a lot of minutes over the festive period and there could well be a rare slice of minutes for Marc Guiu who has barely kicked a ball this season after being recalled from his early-season loan spell with Sunderland.

That said, it’s unlikely we’ll see a recall for a certain Raheem Sterling who remains out in the cold alongside centre-back Axel Disasi.

A January exit looms for both players and it would be a surprise if we saw either in a Chelsea shirt again.

Maresca said in his press conference: “In terms of Raheem, once again it’s the same thing I said about Axel, they are Chelsea players. Now also we are in December, January is coming, so anything can happen, obviously.”

Sterling signed at Stamford Bridge in a deal worth £47.5m back in the summer of 2022 but has not lived up to expectations, scoring just 19 goals in 81 outings. A season-long loan spell with Arsenal in 2024/25 failed to get his career back on track either.

As for Disasi, he had a loan spell with Aston Villa in the back end of last campaign but has not been seen in Chelsea blue this season. He once cost the club a whopping £38.5m but there is seemingly no way back for him.

Chelsea flop has fast become their biggest liability since Bakayoko

Chelsea and Maresca need to move on from the walking disaster as soon as possible.

1 ByJack Salveson Holmes 3 days ago

The Argentine deserved his second straight MVP award, but might face more competition for the honor next year – and Miami, too, could feel the heat

Lionel Messi has been named MLS Most Valuable Player. 

Need we say more? Is there anything to intellectualize here? The best player on the planet – yes, still – has been named the best player in his domestic league. 

What else did you expect? Who else could it probably be? Lionel Messi will be the best player in Major League Soccer until he doesn't want to play in Major League Soccer anymore. If this sport were about talent and talent alone, Messi would be the best footballer in the world into his 50s. It is pretty much impossible to understate exactly how good he is. 

It's also pointless to make any argument for anyone else to be the MVP. Last season – yes, Messi won it then, too – you could make a semi-compelling case. Cucho Hernandez was excellent. Luis Suarez might have split the vote. Messi's win this year was comprehensive and entirely deserved. Anders Dreyer finished in second after a wonderful season for San Diego. But there are levels here. 

Yet, somehow, amid all of this, there is tension. Messi is the clear choice for MVP – and he’ll likely enter next season as the favorite again – but the field around him is getting stronger. LAFC’s Son Heung-Min looms as a real threat, and the Vancouver Whitecaps' Thomas Muller should mount a challenge of his own. The sense of inevitability around Messi may soon give way to genuine competition, which will only strengthen MLS.

For Miami, though, the award raises the stakes. They have won MLS Cup, carried mostly by Messi's brilliance in the final. The club is opening a new stadium in Miami Freedom Park and will likely find a way to carry a star-studded roster next season, but it still hasn’t truly built a balanced team around Messi. Their playoff run was an excellent exercise in getting hot at the right time, but there are still questions to be asked about how prepared this team is to survive long-term. And if this is to be more than a one-off for a consistent MVP, Miami need to get smart in the transfer market. 

AFPThe best season in MLS history?

Let's run through the facts here. Most had Messi as their MVP before the season. And that assumption has stayed alive and well. Messi started the season strong and never truly let up. In 28 games, he scored 29 and added 19 assists. This was all done while flying around the world on Argentina duty, and following a surprisingly hefty preseason tour of Central America. 

He led MLS in the following stats: goals, assists, goal contributions, shots, shots on target and big chances created. He was poked fun of for being a "brace man" – often scoring twice but failing to complete a hat-trick – yet that also gave him the lead in multi-goal games. And he bagged three on the final day of the regular season, just to kill that narrative. 

Not a single one of his goals came from inside the 6 yard box. And even when he wasn't directly involved, 10 of Miami's shots per game came in which moves Messi touched the ball. 

This was, in effect, the most dominant attacking season the league has ever seen (with due respect to Carlos Vela – who had one more goal contribution but played three more games). It is worth pointing out, too, that most of those numbers came with the Argentine being man-marked, or often double-teamed. Of course, there's the flip side. Only one attacking player ran fewer or put in fewer sprints. He had more goal contributions than defensive actions. But who cares? This is pure, stripped-down football. Get it to Messi, and get out of the way. 

AdvertisementAFPThe individual performances

And then, there were the big games. Messi had the audacity to score one regular season hat-trick in 2025. But it was a vital one. The final game of the regular season had nothing riding on it. There was, at that point, no jeopardy in the standings. The Supporters' Shield was out of reach. The Herons were playing for little more than momentum and pride.

Miami were battered by Nashvile for 30 minutes. Sam Surridge and Hany Mukhtar probed and harassed. Somehow, inexplicably, the game remained level. And then Messi woke up. He scored the first from the top of the box after 35 minutes, bagged the second from the penalty spot after the break, and iced the game in the 81st. Miami won 5-2. Messi secured the Golden Boot. That game also set up a first round playoff matchup with Nashville. And the Tennessee-based side never quite recovered from the psychological damage. Sure, they sent Miami to three games in the first round, but the Herons were mightily assured (it helped, too, that Messi scored five goals and added an assist across the three games). He notched four-goal contributions in the Eastern semis. He assisted two of Miami's goals in the final. By the time the playoffs had ended, Messi had tallied 15 goal contributions. 

But there were other big showings, too. He ran the show against Porto in the Club World Cup, with a wonderful free kick securing first MLS win over a European side. That game, more than all, was perhaps the most significant – one that gave the league an extra slice of legitimacy on the club game's biggest stage. 

By the end of it all, his manager was sold: Messi had to win this thing. 

"Clearly, I think if anyone had any doubts about what his regular season was like, the reality is that he's cleared any doubts. They'll surely give him the MVP award for everything he's shown," Javier Mascherano said. 

GettyThe highs are dazzling, the lows unmistakable.

Eagle-eyed viewers might have noticed that Miami technically had a worse season than in 2024 – and they would be right. Last year, Miami set an MLS single-season points record and comfortably claimed the Supporters’ Shield. This year, they collected nine fewer points and conceded six more goals.

Whether this is, overall, a worse team is up for debate. In truth, not much has materially changed. Names have come and gone, but the net effect is a remarkably similar squad in terms of talent. Rodrigo De Paul was an obvious upgrade in midfield. Yet Luis Suárez’s decline was stark and, at times, difficult to watch. The issues at center back also remain, with Maxi Falcón still unreliable next to the developing Noah Allen. Tadeo Allende and Telasco Segovia have provided flashes, but prioritizing them over Benjamin Cremaschi – before his loan to Parma – is open to scrutiny. And Sergio Busquets, who looked considerably older this season, has now retired following MLS Cup.

Taken together, even if Messi’s numbers improved, the team around him did not. MLS Cup wins are incredibly difficult to come by, but it’s not outrageous to suggest that Vancouver may actually have outplayed Miami in the final.

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The issue is simple: there is only so much Messi left. The Argentine may have signed a multi-year deal to stay in MLS, but time and resources are limited. Miami must operate under a tricky salary cap, and that means they need to be shrewd. The widely held belief has long been that if Miami built a more MLS-savvy team around Messi – players who understand the league – then long-term, sustainable success would follow.

Instead, the club has been riskier and, at times, without clear direction. Allende and Segovia were signed from abroad. De Paul is elite, but another European product. Even Javier Mascherano had never overseen a minute of MLS before taking charge. Stars can be foreign in this league, but history has shown that the connective tissue around them must be MLS-experienced. It’s not unlike how Argentina constructed their national team: willing runners, hard-nosed competitors, a structure that makes Messi shine.

Last year, the LA Galaxy learned this lesson the hard way. Their title-winning squad was built heavily on expensive imports. Salary-cap restrictions forced them to sell or release key players, and they fell to 14th in the Western Conference the season after lifting the trophy.

The irony, of course, is that Messi is partly responsible. No one has said it outright, but it’s hardly a secret that Miami were built to provide a Barcelona reunion. Sergio Busquets admitted as much when he joined: he was “happy” to be playing with former teammates. Jordi Alba was even more direct:

“We’re here to help [Messi], all the team, the staff. There is a great atmosphere. He’s feeling well, he’s feeling loved. That’s very important. He has won everything, yeah, and more. But he’s still willing to compete, to win.”

It’s also fair to question whether Miami’s front office alone would have elected to sign Rodrigo De Paul, or loan Benjamin Cremaschi to Parma. MLS commissioner Don Garber has confirmed that roster rules are being reviewed, but no changes are imminent.

Which means Miami have to get smart – quickly.