Whitecaps’ Brian White deserves MLS MVP consideration

In all chance, Lionel Messi will acquire an unprecedented third consecutive MVP award on the finish of the 2026 Major League Soccer season. 

The Argentinian legend and World Cup winner is the highest scorer in MLS this season and in addition leads the league with 33 aim contributions (20 objectives and 13 assists).

Last week, he scored his one hundredth aim in all competitions for Inter Miami because it beat Mexican membership Cruz Azul for the Campeones Cup. The Herons may very properly repeat as MLS Cup champions, which might additional increase Messi’s MVP candidacy. 

But spare a thought for Brian White who, very quietly, is having an MVP-calibre season for the Vancouver Whitecaps.  

White opened the scoring and had a hand in creating one other aim because the Whitecaps posted a 3-0 highway win over Real Salt Lake on Saturday. White confirmed nice consciousness and impeccable timing in peeling away from his defensive marker deep inside Real Salt Lake’s penalty space to get on the tip of Oliver Larraz’s diagonal ball and deflect it dwelling.  

“When you talk about the [player salary] for output, Brian White has to be up there with the best in Major League Soccer,” mentioned commentator Brian Dunseth, who was within the broadcast sales space for Apple TV throughout Saturday’s match. 

“Since coming over from New York, [he now has] 96 goals scored in all competitions for Vancouver. Call him a pure goal scorer. Call him a pure poacher. I don’t think he cares. I don’t think it matters, because time and time again Brian White is on the money for creating goal scoring opportunities.” 

Indeed, White gives nice worth for his comparatively modest wages (he’s incomes $1.065 million this season) and his goal-scoring document is a giant motive why the Whitecaps boast the second-best attacking document in MLS in 2026 – 56 objectives, behind solely Miami (63) – and why they’re thought of one of many favourites to win the MLS Cup after dropping to Miami in final yr’s remaining. 

The aim in Utah marked the third straight match through which the 30-year-old New Jersey native discovered the again of the online, serving to the Whitecaps hold a agency grip on prime spot within the Western Conference by placing them 5 factors away from the Houston Dynamo – Vancouver sits second within the general MLS desk behind Nashville. 

The aim in Salt Lake additionally White’s team-leading sixteenth of the season, which ranks him third within the league’s Golden Boot race (tied with Nashville’s Sam Surridge), simply two behind FC Dallas’ Petar Musa, and 4 behind Messi. 

The mild-mannered American striker has been a mannequin of consistency since being traded to Vancouver from the New York Red Bulls in 2021. White scored 15 objectives within the 2023 and 2024 campaigns and adopted that up with a 16-goal exhibiting final yr. He has eight extra video games in 2026 to set a brand new profession excessive for objectives in a single season.  

White is simply 4 objectives away from changing into the primary Whitecaps participant within the MLS period to hit the 100-goal mark. 

Yet, for all of his scoring consistency, White doesn’t get the accolades he deserves. He’s been to just one MLS All Star Game (in 2025) and by no means has cracked the annual MLS Best 11 roster. 

Part of the issue is that White doesn’t rating a number of highlight-reel objectives like Messi. His objectives are typically the product of him being in the precise place on the proper time. And taking part in in Vancouver doesn’t assist his trigger both – the Whitecaps are largely ignored as a result of they’re a Canadian crew taking part in on the West Coast. 

But White really is without doubt one of the greatest strikers in MLS and is making a really sturdy case to win this yr’s MVP honour. 

Elsewhere in MLS this weekend…  

• Toronto FC’s playoff hopes took a success with a 3-1 highway loss to St. Louis City SC.  Saturday’s defeat means Toronto has now gone 10 consecutive video games with no clear sheet – the final of its three shutouts this season got here on July 22. During that very same 10-game stretch, TFC has conceded a whopping 20 objectives.   

With the three groups instantly above them dropping factors, TFC wasted a chance to place themselves inside touching distance of the playoff line within the Eastern Conference. Instead, TFC stays in twelfth, 4 factors and three spots beneath FC Cincinnati, who occupy the ninth and remaining playoff spot.

• It’s just about throughout for CF Montreal. Although not formally eradicated from competition, Montreal has little hope of creating the playoffs following a 2-0 dwelling defeat to the Columbus Crew. Once once more, new star signing Alexis Sánchez was a non-factor as he has failed to attain in seven video games since becoming a member of Montreal.

The loss was Montreal’s fifth in a row (winless in six) and stored the crew glued to the underside of the Eastern Conference desk. Montreal sits six spots and 12 factors beneath the playoff line within the East with eight video games remaining within the season. 

• A rabbit invaded the pitch at Toyota Park within the 76th minute on Saturday, bringing a halt to the Texas Derby between FC Dallas and Austin FC. His lung-busting run throughout the total size of the sphere was the spotlight of a colorless 0-0 draw between the 2 golf equipment.

• Nashville SC cemented its standing as the perfect crew in MLS with a convincing 3-0 dwelling win over the Chicago Fire. In doing so, Nashville grew to become the primary membership within the league to formally clinch a playoff berth. The crew from Music City sits atop the general league desk with an eight-point hole over Vancouver and appears an excellent guess to win its first Supporters’ Shield as the highest crew within the common season.

• Lionel Messi retains piling up information in MLS. The World Cup winner scored his league-leading twentieth aim of the season in Inter Miami’s 2-2 dwelling draw vs. San Diego FC. Messi is barely the second participant in MLS historical past to attain 20 or extra objectives in three consecutive seasons, becoming a member of LAFC’s Denis Bouanga (2023-25).

• There’s no stopping Cavan Sullivan. The 16-year-old midfielder has six objectives in his final six video games, together with his newest strike coming within the Philadelphia Union’s come-from-behind 4-3 win over Sporting Kansas City. The American teenager additionally had an help, giving him a powerful 19 aim contributions (seven objectives, 12 assists) in MLS this season.