United States Soccer has released the nominees for player of the year: The senior ballot has Christian Pulisic and Sophia Smith, while the juvenile ballot features Inter Miami teammate Benjamin Cremaschi, Angel City sensation Alyssa Thompson, and Lionel Messi.

The fоur player оf the year categоries in me𝚗’s and wоmen’s U.S. sоccer are up fоr grabs, and the finalists have been annоunced.So, what went down?

Bоth the me𝚗’s and wоmen’s teams have twо main player awards: seniоr and yоung player оf the year. Fоr the first time ever, five different games are being cоnsidered fоr the Match оf the Year hоnоr. GоAL reviews the cоntenders dоwn belоw…A LARGER VIEWWinners will be announced in the following five categories: Power Soccer Player of the Year, Deaf Male Player of the Year, Deaf Female Player of the Year, CP Male Player of the Year, CP Female Player of the Year, Futsal Player of the Year, Beach Soccer Male Player of the Year, and Beach Soccer Female Player of the Year. The nominees for each of these awards are detailed below.

The voting period began on Monday at 12 pm ET and will end on Monday, December 18, at noon ET, exactly one week from now. A large number of votes will be counted throughout the next seven days due to the fact that there are numerous award categories that require ballots to be cast.

Pulisic, Horan headline U.S. Soccer’s Player of the Year nominees

U.S. Soccer announced three prizes on Monday, with Christian Pulisic, Lindsey Horan, and Yunus Musah among the fifteen contenders.

Matt Turner, Folarin Balogun, and Ricardo Pepi round out the male player of the year list, which also includes Musah and Pulisic. Each of the five players is still an integral part of Gregg Berhalter’s USMNT team going into 2024, despite having moved clubs in the summer of 2018.

Pulisic, a 25-year-old, had a breakout season for the USMNT, scoring six goals and assisting on three more. His goals came in matches against Mexico and Germany. Pulisic has played in both the Serie A and UEFA Champions League with AC Milan, where he has contributed to five goals and three assists.

The record number of caps earned by a player before turning 21 is 33, which Musah now holds. After helping the United States win the CONCACAF Nations League competition for the second year in a row last summer, he was named to the Best XI. He was also a member of AC Milan’s squad alongside Pulisic.

This past summer, Balogun made a drаmаtic entrance into the USMNT stage by pledging his future to the team. The 22-year-old has made a permanent move to Ligue 1 side Monaco and has scored three goals and supplied two assists on the international level. For the team thus far this season, he’s tallied four goals and three assists.

Pepi had a productive year with the USMNT, scoring seven goals in ten games played (five of which came from substitutes). The 20-year-old has also become an important substitute for Eredivisie powerhouse PSV since joining them this summer.

Turner played in thirteen games for the US national team this season, recording seven shutouts. He was named the CONCACAF Nations League’s best goalkeeper for the second year in a row. Additionally, Turner switched clubs this summer, joining Nottingham Forest from Arsenal. He has since played 12 times for the storied team.