{"id":904316,"date":"2026-05-08T06:14:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T11:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/08\/mvp-power-rankings-hugo-cuypers-challenges-sam-surridge-for-top-spot-mlssoccer-com\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T06:14:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T11:14:35","slug":"mvp-power-rankings-hugo-cuypers-challenges-sam-surridge-for-top-spot-mlssoccer-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/08\/mvp-power-rankings-hugo-cuypers-challenges-sam-surridge-for-top-spot-mlssoccer-com\/","title":{"rendered":"MVP Power Rankings: Hugo Cuypers challenges Sam Surridge for top spot | MLSSoccer.com"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>We&#8217;re just about one-third through the 2026 regular season, which is the perfect time for another Landon Donovan MLS MVP Power Rankings update.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>There hasn&#8217;t been a standout or clear MVP frontrunner, though a handful of players have been shining.<\/p>\n<p>I expect this list to change a lot before the 2026\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/fifa-world-cup\/\">FIFA World Cup<\/a> pause, and clear candidates will begin to separate themselves after the tournament.<\/p>\n<p><h3><strong>Honorable mentions<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>First, let&#8217;s mention some notables who just missed the cut.<\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Someone from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/san-jose-earthquakes\/\">San Jose Earthquakes<\/a> deserves to be here after their wonderful start to the season. If they keep this up and stay in the Supporters&#8217; Shield race, I expect it to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/timo-werner\/\">Timo Werner<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/niko-tsakiris\/\">Niko Tsakiris<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/hugo-lloris\/\">Hugo Lloris<\/a> has been the best goalkeeper in MLS, posting eight clean sheets in 10 matches for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/los-angeles-football-club\/\">LAFC<\/a>. He&#8217;s playing at an absurd level so far.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/rafael-navarro\/\">Rafael Navarro<\/a> has been excellent for the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/colorado-rapids\/\">Colorado Rapids<\/a> as the outlet to build from the back, then starting and finishing plays in the final third.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/hany-mukhtar\/\">Hany Mukhtar<\/a> is back to his best as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/nashville-sc\/\">Nashville SC<\/a> have evolved into one of the best teams in MLS.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\n                                <iframe data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IZQmg-G2aag?feature=oembed\" allowfullscreen title=\"Sebastian Berhalter on James Rodr\u00edguez\u2019s ICONIC World Cup Goal!\"><\/iframe>\n                            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The back-to-back reigning Landon Donovan MLS MVP returns to the top five.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/lionel-messi\/\">Messi<\/a> started the season slowly (by his standards), but he&#8217;s starting to pick it up as of late. He&#8217;s now up to 10 goal contributions (8g\/2a) in MLS play.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/inter-miami-cf\/\">Inter Miami<\/a> have struggled recently, and have yet to win at Nu Stadium, but Messi&#8217;s form is a big reason why they&#8217;re still third in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>In\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/mvp-power-rankings-nashville-sc-s-sam-surridge-off-to-hot-start\">April&#8217;s edition<\/a> of MVP Power Rankings, I mentioned that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/petar-musa\/\">Musa<\/a> has my vote for best out-and-out No. 9 in MLS. One month later, I&#8217;m sticking with that take.<\/p>\n<p>Week in and week out, he shows his value for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/fc-dallas\/\">FC Dallas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Not only is Musa tied atop the Golden Boot presented by Audi race with 10 goals, but his consistent success has helped him claim a place in the Croatian national team. He looks set to feature at the World Cup this summer.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>For my money, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/sebastian-berhalter\/\">Berhalter<\/a> is the most influential midfielder in MLS.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/vancouver-whitecaps-fc\/\">Vancouver Whitecaps<\/a> star is tied for second in the league with seven assists, to go along with three goals. He&#8217;s commanded the midfield brilliantly, and his set-piece delivery is second to none.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/us-men-s-national-team\/\">USMNT<\/a> midfielder is playing at the highest level of his career, and he&#8217;s in contention for a spot on head coach Mauricio Pochettino&#8217;s World Cup roster on home soil.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>I&#8217;ve already spoken about Musa, who I believe is the most lethal striker in MLS. But <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/hugo-cuypers\/\">Cuypers<\/a> also has a shout for that title.<\/p>\n<p>The Belgian No. 9 has had an absolutely ridiculous start to the season. After only playing seven games for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/chicago-fire-fc\/\">Chicago<\/a>, Cuypers has scored a joint-league-high 10 goals.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s scored in every MLS match he&#8217;s played this season and has three straight braces in his last three league games.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/players\/sam-surridge\/\">Surridge<\/a> keeps his place atop my MVP Power Rankings.<\/p>\n<p>Despite missing time due to injury and illness, Nashville&#8217;s star striker is still firmly in the Golden Boot race. He&#8217;s scored nine goals, one off the league lead, after only starting four MLS matches and playing 440 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>His efficiency is off the charts, and he&#8217;s a huge reason why Nashville lead the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/news\/mvp-power-rankings-hugo-cuypers-challenges-sam-surridge-top-spot\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a>Michele Mcnaught<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer We&#8217;re just about one-third through the 2026 regular season, which is the perfect time for another Landon Donovan MLS MVP Power Rankings update. There hasn&#8217;t been a standout or clear MVP frontrunner, though a handful of players have been shining. I expect this list to change a lot before the 2026\u00a0FIFA World Cup pause, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":904317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[414,24024,2005],"tags":[6008,13437],"class_list":{"0":"post-904316","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-power","8":"category-rankings","9":"category-soccer","10":"tag-power","11":"tag-rankings"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/904317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}