Major League Soccer today announced the finalists for its 2025 Year-End Awards, with Sounders FC midfielder Obed Vargas being named a finalist for Young Player of the Year alongside Orlando City SC’s Alex Freeman and Real Salt Lake’s Diego Luna. This marks Vargas’ first time being named a finalist for the award, which is given to the best player during the 2025 MLS regular season born on or after January 1, 2003.
Vargas, 20, has started all 26 of his regular-season appearances with three goals and five assists, earning his first MLS All-Star selection earlier this year. He ranks second on Sounders FC in minutes (2,273), third in completed passes (1,171) and seventh in pass percentage (89%). Across all competitions, the midfielder has 38 appearances for the club in 2025, recording four goals and seven assists. He started all three of the Rave Green’s fixtures during the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and played every minute during the championship run at Leagues Cup 2025, helping claim the franchise’s ninth major trophy.
The finalists for the annual MLS Year-End Awards earned the highest average votes from MLS club technical staff, MLS first-team players and select media members, with each group accounting for 33.3 percent of the overall results.
Earlier this month, Vargas was named to the top spot on MLS’ annual 22 Under 22 list. Voted on by a panel of MLS staff, MLS Season Pass talent and club technical staff, the list honors the top young talent across all of MLS under the age of 22. He jumped six spots in the rankings to number one this year after coming in seventh on the 2024 list.
Vargas recently returned from representing the Mexico U-20 Men’s National Team at the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He started all of Mexico’s matches in the tournament, helping El Tri finish second in Group C before defeating host country Chile in the Round of 16, ultimately falling to tournament runner-up Argentina in the Quarterfinals. The midfielder earned his first cap with the Mexican senior team in October 2024 with a substitute appearance against the United States in a 2-0 victory. Vargas previously made nine appearances for the U.S. Youth Men’s National Team at various levels before utilizing his one-time federation switch to Mexico.
The Anchorage, Alaska native joined Sounders FC Academy at the age of 14 from Cook Inlet Soccer Club, going on to play one season with Tacoma Defiance in 2021. While still with Defiance, he started and played 77 minutes in Seattle’s victory over Austin FC on July 22, 2021, at the time the third-youngest player in league history to play in a match (15 years and 351 days) before signing with the club following the season.
Sounders FC enters the Audi 2025 MLS Cup Playoffs as the fifth seed in the Western Conference and faces fourth-seeded Minnesota United FC in the Round One Best-of-Three series. Game 1 is slated for Monday, October 27 at Allianz Field (6:00 p.m. PT / Apple TV – Watch Free, FS1, FOX Deportes, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM), with Game 2 scheduled for Monday, November 3 on the Emerald Queen Casino Pitch at Lumen Field (7:30 p.m. PT / Apple TV – Watch Free, FS1, FOX Deportes, 950 KJR AM, Sirius XM FC, El Rey 1360 AM). If necessary, Game 3 will be played in Minnesota on Saturday, November 8, with the exact time to be announced at a later date.
