MLSsoccer.com's 24 Under 24 is back!
Players who are 23 years of age and younger as of October 22 – the final day of the 2017 MLS regular season – are eligible for this year’s ranking. It's a similar age limit to the one used around the world for the Olympic soccer tournament and the PFA Young Player of the Year award in England.
The player rankings will be unveiled beginning with Nos. 21-24 on Monday, Sept. 25, 16-20 on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 11-15 on Wednesday, Sept. 27 and the top ten will be revealed on a special edition of ExtraTime Live at 2 PM ET on Thursday, Sept. 28.
The 50-player shortlist below was decided upon by the MLSsoccer.com editorial staff.
Past No. 1 ranked players include US national team players Darlington Nagbe (2013) and DeAndre Yedlin (2014), and Canadian international Cyle Larin (2016).
Evaluation Criteria
All MLS players aged 23 or younger before October 22, 2017 were eligible for consideration. The final list of 24 players is determined by a panel made up of top soccer media members and the MLSsoccer.com editorial staff. The panel ranked the eligible players based on the following criteria:
- Technical: first touch, dribbling, shooting, heading
- Soccer IQ: positioning, reading game, situational understanding, tactical awareness
- Physical Attributes: balance, agility, speed, endurance, strength, vertical leap
- Personality: attitude, marketability, media savviness, charisma, intangibles
- Potential: improvability, ceiling, national team potential, potential transfer value
Voting Members
Steve Davis (FourFourTwo.com)
Kyndra de St. Aubin (Minnesota United broadcaster)
Thomas Floyd (Goal.com)
Cole Grossman (former player)
Kristan Heneage (freelance writer)
Alexi Lalas (FOX commentator)
Patrick LeDuc (RDS)
Matt Pentz (freelance writer)
Paul Tenorio (FourFourTwo.com)
Bobby Warshaw (former player/writer)
MLSsoccer.com
- Benjamin Baer (New Media Editor)
- Andrew Wiebe (Senior Editor)
- Matt Doyle (Senior Writer)
- Will Parchman (Contributor)
- Sam Stejskal (Contributor)
- Alicia Rodriguez (Contributing Editor)
- David Gass (ExtraTime Live/Radio host)
- Charles Boehm (Contributing Editor)
50-Player Shortlist
Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas)
Luciano Acosta (D.C. United)
Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls)
Miguel Almiron (Atlanta United)
Artur (Columbus Crew SC)
Yamil Asad (Atlanta United)
Latif Blessing (Sporting Kansas City)
Emmanuel Boateng (LA Galaxy)
Alex Bono (Toronto FC)
Andrew Carleton (Atlanta United)
Alphonso Davies (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)
Marky Delgado (Toronto FC)
Raheem Edwards (Toronto FC)
Alberth Elis (Houston Dynamo)
Jack Elliott (Philadelphia Union)
Diego Fagundez (New England Revolution)
Marco Farfan (Portland Timbers)
Kortne Ford (Colorado Rapids)
Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake)
Jesse Gonzalez (FC Dallas)
Julian Gressel (Atlanta United)
Carlos Gruezo (FC Dallas)
Marlon Hairston (Colorado Rapids)
Ian Harkes (D.C. United)
Jack Harrison (New York City FC)
Yangel Herrera (New York City FC)
Cristian Higuita (Orlando City SC)
Derrick Jones (Philadelphia Union)
Cyle Larin (Orlando City SC)
Brooks Lennon (Real Salt Lake)
Nick Lima (San Jose Earthquakes)
Kekuta Manneh (Columbus Crew SC)
Mauro Manotas (Houston Dynamo)
Ronald Matarrita (New York City FC)
Jimmy Medranda (Sporting Kansas City)
Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC)
Erik Palmer-Brown (Sporting Kansas City)
Paxton Pomykal (FC Dallas)
Alvas Powell (Portland Timbers)
Tommy Redding (Orlando City SC)
Carlos Rivas (Orlando City SC)
Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC)
Albert Rusnak (Real Salt Lake)
Jefferson Savarino (Real Salt Lake)
Zack Steffen (Columbus Crew SC)
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla (Montreal Impact)
Tommy Thompson (San Jose Earthquakes)
Hector Villalba (Atlanta United)
Brandon Vincent (Chicago Fire)
Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes)
- Paul Arriola of D.C. United was added to the voting process after the shortlist was decided upon.
