The 27-year-old Danish international tied the MLS record for the most goal contributions (38) by a first-year player and was named a 2025 MLS All-Star in his debut MLS season
NEW YORK (Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025) – Major League Soccer today announced the 2025 MLS Best XI, which includes SDFC forward Anders Dreyer. The 2025 MLS Best XI recognizes the league’s top players at each position as determined by members of the media, MLS players, and MLS club technical staffs.
The 2025 MLS Best XI features five players from the U.S. and Canada, which is the most in a single season since 2015, when there were also five. Six different individuals are first-time honorees, and nine different MLS clubs are represented.
2025 MLS Best XI
- Goalkeeper: Dayne St. Clair (Minnesota United FC)
- Defenders: Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Alex Freeman (Orlando City SC), Jakob Glesnes (Philadelphia Union), Kai Wagner (Philadelphia Union)
- Midfielders: Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Evander (FC Cincinnati), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC)
- Forwards: Anders Dreyer (San Diego FC), Denis Bouanga (LAFC), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami CF)
This season’s Best XI includes 10 2025 MLS All-Star selections and five individual award winners in the MLS Golden Boot presented by Audi winner Lionel Messi, MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Dayne St. Clair, MLS Defender of the Year Tristan Blackmon, MLS Young Player of the Year Alex Freeman, and MLS Newcomer of the Year Anders Dreyer.
Two different clubs added their first MLS Best XI selection this year – Orlando City SC (Alex Freeman) and San Diego FC (Anders Dreyer). With Dreyer’s selection, San Diego is the third expansion team since the start of the decade to have a player named to the MLS Best XI in their debut season, joining St. Louis CITY SC in 2023 (Roman Bürki) and Nashville SC in 2020 (Walker Zimmerman).
Seven different countries are represented by this year’s selections, with the United States leading with four different players. Minnesota’s Dayne St. Clair marked the first Canadian selection since Tajon Buchanan in 2021 while San Diego’s Anders Dreyer is the third Danish player to earn the honor, along with Jimmy Nielsen (2012) and Ronnie Ekelund (2002).
2025 MLS Best XI
Anders Dreyer | Forward | San Diego FC | Nationality: Denmark | 1st Selection
Anders Dreyer joined SDFC on Jan. 22, 2025, as the second Designated Player in SDFC history ahead of the Club’s 2025 Inaugural MLS Regular Season. On his MLS and SDFC debut, Dreyer instantly put the league on notice scoring a brace in his MLS debut during SDFC’s 2-0 inaugural match win against the LA Galaxy on Feb. 23 at Dignity Health Sports Park.
In his debut season, Dreyer tied the MLS record for the most goal contributions (38) by a first-year player, leading SDFC to the single-season points record by an expansion club (63). The Danish forward was named MLS Newcomer of the Year after contributions to 59.4% of San Diego’s 64 goals in 2025. Dreyer is the third player from an expansion team since the start of the decade to be named to the MLS Best XI in their debut season, joining St. Louis CITY SC in 2023 (Roman Bürki) and Nashville SC in 2020 (Walker Zimmerman).
In addition to being named MLS Newcomer of the Year, Dreyer was also named to the 2025 MLS All-Star team and earned Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra honors twice (Matchday 1 and 31). Dreyer was also named Player of the Month on two occasions (June, August), joining Josef Martínez (2017) as the only players in league history to earn multiple Player of the Month honors for an expansion club in their debut season.
