GOAL takes a look at five of the most unexpected storylines to begin the 2025 MLS season
The 2025 MLS campaign is nearly halfway through. Already 14 Matchdays into the campaign, trends are beginning to emerge, and patterns are starting to take shape. As expected, the Eastern Conference makes up the majority of the top of the race for the MLS Supporters' Shield – similar to the 2024 season. FC Cincinnati and the Philadelphia Union are tied at the top, while the Columbus Crew narrowly trail.
Unexpectedly, though, the Vancouver Whitecaps and U.S. international Brian White have emerged as the top team in the Western Conference and are right in that race at the top alongside them. The Union are perhaps the breakout team of the MLS season so far, too. Israeli forward Tai Baribo has already surpassed his 2024 goal tally and leads the race for the MLS Golden Boot by a three-goal margin already at 11. Towards the top of that table are Minnesota United, a franchise learning to play the ball, and they're excelling – spearheaded by Argentine midfielder Joaquin Pereyra.
Meanwhile, one team that is stunningly not at the top? Inter Miami. Across all competitions, the are winless in six of their last seven, and Lionel Messi himself has just two total assists in MLS play this season. Messi and Co. aren't the only underwhelming team this season, as nobody would have expected the reigning champions LA Galaxy to be winless after playing 14 games. It raises questions over the futures of both clubs, though Los Galácticos just extended embattled manager Greg Vanney.
GOAL takes a look at each development, discussing the unexpected storylines that have taken over the league 14 weeks into the campaign.
Get the MLS Season Pass today!Stream games nowBaribo's brilliance leading Philly
MLS's Golden Boot leader to begin the 2025 season, Israel international Baribo is FLYING – and the Union are soaring with him.
Atop the Supporters' Shield through Matchday 14, the 27-year-old has taken them to new heights in 2025 with 11 goals and one assist in 11 starts across 13 appearances this season. Under the guidance of new head coach Bradley Carnell, he looks like a brand new forward this season.
The club has secured major results in recent weeks, with wins over the LA Galaxy and Atlanta United – with both matches seeing Baribo score game-winners – while also securing results against the Crew, FC Cincy, and Orlando City, twice.
Baribo has already surpassed his 2024 goal tally of nine, and after missing out on postseason soccer last campaign, has Philly on course for greatness this season. Out of nowhere, he has become one of the most exciting players in the entire league.
AdvertisementGettyVancouver's climb
The Whitecaps are MLS's most pleasant surprise to begin 2025. Atop the Western Conference, and one point back in the race for the Supporters' Shield – but with a game in hand – they've become one of the league's most competitive sides this campaign. In regular season play, they've lost just one game this season – a game to the Chicago Fire, where they heavily rotated their roster due to CONCACAF Champions Cup match congestion.
Speaking of, they're also in the final of that tournament, and are looking to become just the second team in MLS history to win the continental showcase to be crowned the kings of North America.
This brilliant run? It's been spearheaded by first-year MLS manager Jesper Sorensen, and U.S. international Brian White. In MLS regular season action, White has eight goals this campaign, while he's bagged another five in the Champions Cup, bringing his season total to 13 so far across all competitions. White has become a late bloomer, and Sorensen is still a bit of an anomaly in the league, but he's unlocked the 28-year-old's shooting boots, and helped guide them to the top of the conference to begin the campaign.
It's a remarkable turnaround for a club that only qualified for the postseason last year through a Wildcard play-in game, and the 51-year-old Danish manager deserves immense amounts of credit for it.
White, meanwhile, has worked his way into the U.S. men's national team picture, and after featuring in both the January camp and March Nations League camp, he's made the 60-man shortlist for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. With the World Cup just one year out, anything has become possible for him amid this stellar stretch of form.
Getty Images SportMessi's frustrations
After their stupendous 2024 campaign, Lionel Messi's Inter Miami have fallen in recent weeks. The crashed out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup in the semifinals of the competition, getting battered by the Whitecaps across two legs, and their MLS form has dwindled since.
Across all competitions, they've won just one of their last seven, and across the Eastern Conference, they have conceded the sixth-most goals in MLS regular season action. Their midfield and defense have fallen short of expectations, while in the final-third, both Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez have looked increasingly frustrated – specifically, their Argentine talisman.
Messi's last regular season assist came in a two-assist showing against NYCFC in their first match of the season back on Feb. 22 – the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has not recorded one since. Meanwhile, in front of net, he has five goals in 10 league matches, and in his last two MLS matches, he's come up without a goal contribution.
Suarez, meanwhile, has helped in the assist department for Miami this season with six total, but he's scored just two goals – an area where they primarily need his services.
It's become a frustrating period for the South Beach club and first-year manager Javier Mascherano, and as things have continued to dwindle over the course of May, the frustration has only grown. With less than one month until the start of the FIFA Club World Cup, the need to vastly improve if they want to compete.
Getty Images SportTrouble in LA
Uff. Los Angeles, what's going on?
After hitting the highest of highs last season, winning MLS Cup, the Galaxy are at the lowest of lows right now, winless in 14-straight matches to begin the 2025 MLS campaign. The only team in the league without three points to their name, they sit 30th in the race for the Supporters' Shield while in the midst of an internal battle to identify what's gone wrong.
Sure, there are a handful of logical reasons for inconsistencies to begin the season, but there's no real excuse for it to drag on as long as it has.
Meanwhile, the club controversially handed manager Greg Vanney a long-term contract extension last week, despite their winless start to the campaign.
Star winger Gabriel Pec, the 2024 MLS Newcomer of the Year, has just one goal and two assists in 11 appearances this season after having 30 goal contributions last year, while his compatriot on the opposite side of the pitch, Ghana international Joseph Paintsil, has just one assist in seven appearances. Both have dealt with respective injuries, and star midfielder Riqui Puig is currently sidelined with an ACL tear, but the Western Conference side is running out of excuses.
It’s all perplexing, especially for a team that looked so promising just a few months ago.
