While some of Major League Soccer’s most high-profile players said goodbye to the league after the 2019 season, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney and Bastian Schweinsteiger, MLS still boasts some impressive firepower as it heads into its 25th season.
An influx of Latin American players, including a trio of Mexican stars, has helped restock the MLS talent pool. With more money to spend in the form of Targeted Allocation Money, MLS teams have more resources to land a better caliber talent, and that is showing in the building of some of the league’s strongest rosters.
The MLS 100 is SBI’s rundown of the Top 100 players in the league heading into the 2020 season. It is a list based not just on stats like goals and assists, but based in a variety of factors, including MLS productivity, potential, and for MLS newcomers, quality shown prior to arriving in MLS. It should also be noted that players with long-term injuries, like Paul Arriola and Michael Bradley, were excluded, as was FC Dallas signing Franco Jara, who won’t arrive in MLS until the summer.
The Top 100 does feature several MLS newcomers, with a total of 17 players on the list who will be looking to play their first MLS match this weekend.
All 26 teams are represented in the MLS 100, with Los Angeles FC leading the way with a whopping nine selections. The Seattle Sounders ans New York City FC check in with seven selections each, while FC Dallas boasts six selections. Atlanta United, Philadelphia Union, LA Galaxy, Toronto FC and Minnesota United each feature five picks in the top 100.
Now, without further ado, here are the Top 100 players in MLS heading into the 2020 season.
1. CARLOS VELA
2. JOSEF MARTINEZ
3. NICOLAS LODEIRO
4. ALEJANDRO POZUELO
5. MAXI MORALEZ
6. PITY MARTINEZ
7. JONATHAN DOS SANTOS
8. JAVIER HERNANDEZ
9. EDUARD ATUESTA
10. CRISTIAN PAVON
11. RODOLFO PIZARRO
12. DIEGO ROSSI
13. CARLES GIL
14. DARLINGTON NAGBE
15. RAUL RUIDIAZ
16. EZEQUIEL BARCO
17. AARON LONG
18. JORDAN MORRIS
19. DIEGO VALERI
20. JOZY ALTIDORE
21. SEBASTIAN BLANCO
22. MILES ROBINSON
23. ALBERTH ELIS
24. ALAN PULIDO
25. DIEGO CHARA
26. IKE OPARA
27. GUSTAVO BOU
28. SEBASTIAN LLETGET
29. ANDRE BLAKE
30. NANI
31. KAKU
32. ALBERT RUSNAK
33. LUCAS ZELARAYAN
34. HEBER
35. JOAO PAULO
36. EDISON FLORES
37. JAMIRO MONTEIRO
38. LUCAS CAVALLINI
39. MAURO MANOTAS
40. CRISTIAN ROLDAN
41. WALKER ZIMMERMAN
42. GYASI ZARDES
43. FELIPE GUTIERREZ
44. BILL HAMID
45. DARWIN QUINTERO
46. ALEXANDRU MITRITA
47. JULIAN GRESSEL
48. CRISTIAN ESPINOZA
49. KACPER PRZYBYLKO
50. MARK-ANTHONY KAYE
51. YIMMI CHARA
52. EDDIE SEGURA
53. PABLO PIATTI
54. HANY MUKHTAR
55. JULIAN CARRANZA
56. JAN GREGUS
57. SEAN JOHNSON
58. DAMIR KREILACH
59. ALEJANDRO BEDOYA
60. ALEXANDER RING
61. VAKO
62. STEFAN FREI
63. JURGEN LOCADIA
64. JONATHAN OSORIO
65. ANTON TINNERHOLM
66. MATT HEDGES
67. GUSTAV SVENSSON
68. KAI WAGNER
69. DANIEL ROYER
70. BRIAN RODRIGUEZ
71. ROMAIN METANIRE
72. SAPHIR TAIDER
73. PEDRO SANTOS
74. REGGIE CANNON
75. KEI KAMARA
76. BRAD GUZAN
77. JESUS FERREIRA
78. GASTON GIMENEZ
79. SIEM DE JONG
80. JACKSON YUEILL
81. VALENTIN CATELLANOS
82. ADAMA DIOMANDE
83. OSVALDO ALONSO
84. STEVE BIRNBAUM
85. NICO FIGAL
86. LATIF BLESSING
87. WIL TRAPP
88. ADAM BUKSA
89. JOHNNY RUSSELL
90. ALEKSANDAR KATAI
91. ALI ADNAN
92. MATT TURNER
93. PAXTON POMYKAL
94. MARKY DELGADO
95. MICHAEL BARRIOS
96. TRISTAN BLACKMON
97. LUIS AMARILLA
98. KENDALL WASTON
99. RYAN HOLLINGSHEAD
100. NICK LIMA
Emerson Hyndman is definitely one of the 100 best players in MLS.
his omission is ridiculous
He had 1 goal and 3 assists in 17 appearances last season so not ridiculous. I’m not sure how you rank some these guys that have 2 matches total in mls. He’s playing more centrally than last yea so maybe that will make him more productive. He’s got 2g already this year but played Nashville and Cincinnati two times likely to be at the bottom of the east.
All I hear when I see this list is Jermaine Jones saying: “There are some players that play national team now, that are not national team players. This is why we struggle.”. Where do our National team regulars fall?
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TOP 10 in MLS
ZERO – 0
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TOP 20 in MLS – 4
14. DARLINGTON NAGBE
17. AARON LONG 🇺🇸
18. JORDAN MORRIS 🇺🇸
20. JOZY ALTIDORE 🇺🇸
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TOP 30 in MLS – 3
22. MILES ROBINSON
26. IKE OPARA
28. SEBASTIAN LLETGET 🇺🇸
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TOP 40 in MLS – 1
40. CRISTIAN ROLDAN 🇺🇸
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TOP 50 in MLS – 3
41. WALKER ZIMMERMAN 🇺🇸
42. GYASI ZARDES 🇺🇸
44. BILL HAMID
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Very interesting…..
Despite LAFC having 9 players in the top 100, none of them are national team players and only #96 is even US eligible. Perhaps Bizzy, you might agree more with Bob Bradley than you think you do.
I don’t want to speak for Bizzy but I think his dislike is manly towards Michael not Bob.
Who started against Canada in Nov. that is not on this list that plays in MLS? Jones comment is only pertinent if there were Americans on the list that aren’t playing for the NT. Opara is the only one I saw that seems open to playing that isn’t being called. The others I noticed in Top 100 were Birnbuam and Hedges but their behind Zim and Long, M Rob and the Euro CBs. Frei but there is Steffen ahead and Hamid and s Johnson, Guzan is ranked one GK spot behind but has tons more experience so not a huge slight.
I went quick but does the Fire even have 1?
Changing up the top three based on some number following their name.
1) Niko Lodeiro 2
2) J Martinez 1
3) Vela 0
Interesting that BWP did not make the list. If you include BWP and Palacios, LAFC has 11 players who would make this list. Then, of a starting 11 for LAFC, only the keeper and a center back would not be on this list, 2 of the 11 would be subs.