Chris Richards, Lily Yohannes, and more headline GOAL’s 2025 USMNT and USWNT Awards, breaking down the players, moments and transfers that defined American soccer’s year.
On paper, 2025 looked like a lull for American soccer. For the U.S. men’s national team, it was the year before the year, with eyes fixed firmly on the 2026 World Cup. For the U.S. women’s national team, it marked a transition from 2024 Olympic glory toward the 2027 World Cup cycle.
In practice, it was anything but quiet. Big moments, big goals and big results defined a rollercoaster year that laid critical groundwork for what comes next.
That foundation is what made 2025 matter. Down-the-stretch performances gave both the USMNT and USWNT reason for optimism, with Mauricio Pochettino and Emma Hayes setting the tone – and a host of players delivering when it counted.
To close the door on 2025, GOAL looks back at the year that was for the USMNT and USWNT by giving out some awards, headlining the best in American soccer…
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USMNT Player of the Year – Chris Richards
There are plenty of candidates for this award, perhaps more than in recent years. However, if you're searching for the right combination of successes with both club and country, there really is one player that stands out: Richards.
This 2025 calendar year has been something of a breakout one for Richards, even if he was already established prior to it. With Crystal Palace, he won two trophies, headlined by an FA Cup triumph that was his club's first-ever piece of major silverware. With the USMNT, he was a mainstay throughout the year, stepping into a leadership role that should carry on right through the World Cup.
There's no doubt now that Richards is right up there with the most important players in the USMNT group.
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USWNT Player of the Year – Catarina Macario
Again, no shortage of candidates, but there was something special about Macario's run throughout 2025.
After seeing several years derailed by injuries, Macario was desperately needed by the USWNT this year. With the famous Triple Espresso largely sidelined, Emma Hayes was looking for a real leader in the attack, and she found one in Macario. The Chelsea star finished with eight goals in 10 games, four more than any USWNT player, but it wasn't just the goals; it was the impact she made on a young USWNT group that was largely experimental throughout the year.
Now, with the USWNT approaching full strength, Macario has more than proven she deserves to be a part of it, and perhaps even a focal point on the road to 2027.
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USMNT Breakthrough Star – Alex Freeman
This was a big year for many young players clawing for a USMNT spot. The thing is, though, that few could have imagined Freeman being a part of it just 12 months ago.
The Orlando City star earned his first MLS start in March. By summer, he was a USMNT Gold Cup starter and, by the end of the fall slate, he looked about as close as a player can to being a World Cup contender. It was a rapid rise for the fullback, who blossomed defensively after showing so many positive signs on the attacking end in the first half of the year.
Now, Freeman looks set to be a key player for the U.S. for years to come, and, still just 21, his potential seems somewhat limitless.
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USWNT Breakthrough Star – Lily Yohannes
Yohannes’ rise felt inevitable. What surprised many was how quickly everything clicked.
Just 18 years old, Yohannes has already shown that she can go toe-to-toe with any midfielder on the planet. She already has incredible vision and game sense, and her ability to actually pass the ball can't be matched by anyone in the USWNT pool. There are aspects of her game that need some development, for sure, but there are already several legitimately world-class aspects to what Yohannes can bring to a team.
There's so much reason for optimism with Yohannes, who already seems to be a starter for the U.S. despite being a teen. That's insane given the wealth of talent in the U.S. pool, but Yohannes might be the most purely talented of any of them.
