The 2025 MLS season kicks off on Saturday, though Lionel Messi got the party started on Wednesday when he scored the winner for Inter Miami over Sporting Kansas City in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Messi remains MLS's undisputed headliner. But the GOAT is far from the only bold-faced international name. Riqui Puig and Marco Reus helped lead the LA Galaxy to their record sixth MLS Cup last fall. French World Cup winner Olivier Giroud joined crosstown rival LAFC mid-season.
But the backbone of the domestic league is still the American player, and that's especially true ahead of the last full season — MLS's 30th — before the 2026 World Cup on home soil.
Premier League veteran Tim Ream returned to MLS last summer and is still a USMNT lock at 37; the Charlotte center back captained Mauricio Pochettino's side in the final four games of 2024.
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Young Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, the starte for the U.S. Olympic team last summer, has also established himself as a regular with the senior squad. Both should be on the Argentine coach's squad for next month's Concacaf Nations League finals.
Plenty of other MLSers will also vie for a roster spot ahead of that event and the Gold Cup in June and July. Here are 12 Americans who can boost their stock with the USMNT based on how they perform over the 10-month MLS campaign.
Among the biggest winners at the USMNT's January camp, Ageymang scored in the friendly wins against Costa Rica and Venezuela. The University of Rhode Island product had 10 goals for Charlotte last season, his second in MLS. Ageymang should play more this season now that Polish international Karol Swiderski has returned to Europe. And the 24-year-old should learn plenty under the wing of longtime Premier League standout Wilfried Zaha, who joined the Crown this winter.
Pochettino started Campbell in the Americans' first match of 2025, and the U.S. coach name-checked the former Atlanta United center back when asked after camp ended who'd impressed him the most. Breaking into the full-strength U.S. squad still won't be easy for the 23-year-old, who has a number of direct competitors ahead of him in MLS and overseas. Injures and loss of form happen, though. If they do, a strong start to the 2025 season will keep Campbell in contention.
The youngest member of the 2024 Olympic team, Cremaschi eared his second and third senior caps in January. Yet he's still an unfinished prospect; the former Argentina under-20 national team invitee, who is also age-eligible for the 2028 Los Angeles Games, has yet to win a starting spot under new Herons coach Javier Mascherano. Pochettino clearly likes Cremaschi, though. And the exposure he gets playing alongside Messi can't hurt.
Pochettino gave USMNT players struggling for minutes in Europe his blessing to return to MLS. De la Torre took him up on it. After falling out of favor with Spanish club Celta Vigo, the La Liga side loaned the two-way, box-to-box type to expansion San Diego, his hometown, where the 26-year-old will surely start every game. We'll see if that helps get the 2022 World Cup team member his first look under the new coach.
With ex-Bayern Munich and Liverpool playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri now back in his native Switzerland, Gutierrez enters his first full season running the show in Chicago. The Fire academy graduate will be counted on to be a key contributor under former U.S. boss Gregg Berhalter, who is trying to return the once-proud club to the MLS Cup playoffs for the first time since 2017.
Jones was quietly excellent in January, when the 27-year-old former New England Revolution left back earned his ninth and tenth senior caps. Jones, who mans one of the shallowest positions in the U.S. player pool, could take a big step forward in his first full season under hugely respected Crew coach Wilfried Nancy.
"Moon Boy" is looking to top his breakthrough 2024 season for RSL, when he had a career-high eight MLS goals in 31 appearances. Luna also plays with an edge, a quality that was on full display when he set up the USMNT's winning goal against Costa Rica last month shortly after breaking his nose.
The Philadelphia Union product drew interest from second tier English clubs this winter but ultimately moved within the league. Expect the 21-year-old lefty to be a key contributor in Texas under former USMNT World Cup participant Ben Olsen.
FCC's new captain following the departure of 2023 MLS MVP Lucho Acosta (to FC Dallas), the 27-year-old central defender started three of Pochettino's first six games with the USMNT, including both January games. Robinson is also desperate to make the 2026 World Cup cut after an untimely Achilles injury cost him a trip to Qatar.
Another big winner in January, Steffen was spectacular in the 3-0 victory over the Ticos. The throwback performance was a reminder why he spent five years with Manchester City before returning to MLS last season. Still just 29, commanding displays for the Rapids over the next month — in both MLS and in the Champions Cup — could give Steffen the opportunity to cement the backup U.S. keeper spot behind longtime No. 1 Matt Turner.
Like De La Torre, Vazquez left a foreign league, in his case Mexico's Liga MX, this winter to come home. The 26-year-old striker is a proven commodity in MLS; his 18 league goals for Cincinnati in 2022 co-led all American scorers that year.
A starter in three of the four US games at the 2022 World Cup, Zimmerman, 31, has been plagued by injuries over the last two years. Now that he's finally healthy, the Nashville captain is back in the USMNT mix at center back.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports who has covered the United States men's and women's national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him at @ByDougMcIntyre.
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