Major League Soccer names finalists for 2026 MLS Year-End Awards; Vancouver Whitecaps FC among clubs with two nominees

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Major League Soccer has announced the finalists for the 2026 MLS Year-End Awards, an awards slate that honours top performers from the league’s 2026 regular season across multiple categories. MLS says the winners will be announced throughout the Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs, following the release of the finalists on Nov. 12, 2026.

MLS’s finalists represent 15 clubs. The league says Supporters’ Shield champions Nashville SC lead MLS with six finalists, while seven other clubs—FC Cincinnati, Inter Miami CF, St. Louis CITY SC, Philadelphia Union, Red Bull New York, New England Revolution and Vancouver Whitecaps FC—each have two nominees.

The league’s announcement lists categories and defines eligibility criteria, but the provided material does not include the individual player and coach names for each award. As a result, the specific finalists for each category cannot be verified from the supplied SOURCE and will require additional source material to complete the reporting accurately.

Among the awards, MLS names finalists for Most Valuable Player (regular season). It also lists the Coach of the Year category, given to the top head coach during the 2026 MLS regular season.

MLS defines “Newcomer” as a player with previous professional experience who made his MLS debut in 2026. The awards also include Best Young Player, with MLS stating eligible players must be born on or after Jan. 1, 2004, and finalists in that category are based on the league’s regular-season performance.

Defensive awards in the 2026 Year-End Awards include Best Defender and Best Goalkeeper, both framed as regular-season honours. In addition, MLS includes a “Comeback Player” category that recognizes an MLS player who has overcome a severe injury and/or adversity, missed a significant portion of the 2025 season as a result, and then showed improved performance during the 2026 regular season to achieve success.

MLS also lists a community-focused honour, Community Player of the Year, for a player described by the league as demonstrating outstanding dedication to charitable efforts and serving the community during the 2026 season.

The MLS AT&T Goal of the Year and MLS Save of the Year are determined through online voting at MLSsoccer.com, according to MLS. The league states voting opened on Monday, Nov. 9 and will close on Monday, Nov. 16.

MLS says the Goal of the Year winner will be announced on Wednesday, Nov. 18, and the Save of the Year winner will be announced on Thursday, Nov. 19. These deadlines and announcement dates are set separately from the awards winners that MLS says will be revealed throughout the Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs.

In addition to the regular-season awards finalists, MLS says it will announce the MLS Referee and Assistant Referee of the Year recipients on Friday, Nov. 13. The MLS Best XI is scheduled to be revealed at a later date, according to the league’s announcement.

For Vancouver Whitecaps FC supporters, the key verified takeaway from the supplied SOURCE is that the club has two nominees among the 2026 Year-End Awards finalists. However, because the individual names for Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s nominees are not included in the provided text, the specific awards and players involved cannot be confirmed without additional information from MLS’s full finalists list.