NEW YORK (Monday, October 6, 2025) – Vancouver Whitecaps FC midfielder Sebastian Berhalter was voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Matchday for Matchday 38 of the 2025 MLS season.
Berhalter scored two goals and added one assist in Vancouver’s 4-1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday night at BC Place (Watch MLS Wrap-Up Discuss His Performance Here ). After scoring twice in the second half, his brace marked the first multi-goal game in Berhalter’s regular-season career. In 2025, the U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder has already set career bests in goals (four), assists (11), goal contributions (15), and minutes played (2,116). His 11 assists are the most by a Whitecaps player in 2025 and his 15 goal contributions trail only Brian White (17) for the most on the team. Berhalter is the only player in MLS this season to produce at least 10 assists and 70 key passes in fewer than 2,220 minutes.
Vancouver scored the opening goal of the match in the 39th minute when Berhalter picked out 18-year-old Rayan Elloumi with a terrific free kick, which the Homegrown tapped home at the back post (Watch Here). After Thomas Müller scored in the 57th minute, Berhalter got on the scoresheet in the 74th minute with a rocket from 29.17 yards that found the corner of the net (Watch Here ). Despite San Jose getting a goal back, Berhalter capped off the 4-1 victory in style during second-half stoppage time as he laced another effort from outside the 18-yard box, which deflected off the post and in for his second goal of the night (Watch Here).
This is the first time in his career that Berhalter has been named MLS Player of the Matchday and he joins Thomas Müller (Matchday 33) and Brian White (Matchday 8) as the Whitecaps players to win the award this season. With the honor, Vancouver has had three different players named MLS Player of the Matchday in the same season for just the second time in club history (four players in 2013).
As the chase for the top seed in the Western Conference heats up, Vancouver can regain the top position on Saturday when they travel to face Orlando City SC at Inter&Co Stadium (7:30 p.m. ET, MLS Season Pass on Apple TV).
The MLS Player of the Matchday is selected each matchday of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while an Instagram fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
