Nashville have all three MLS Defender of the Year finalists, a sweep last seen in 2009

Nashville SC have all three finalists for MLS Defender of the Year. Andy Najar, Jeisson Palacios and Maxwell Woledzi were named on Thursday when the league announced its 2026 year-end award finalists. That makes Nashville only the second club in MLS history to fill every finalist spot for a single award, after Seattle Sounders FC did it for Newcomer of the Year in 2009.

The sweep follows from the numbers. Nashville conceded 25 goals in 34 games, which MLS calls the best 34-game defensive season in league history, and they set the single-season points record with 77. They also tied the league mark with 17 clean sheets.

The defenders aren't the only ones on the list. Rookie goalkeeper Brian Schwake, whose 16 clean sheets matched the league record, is a Goalkeeper of the Year finalist with St. Louis CITY SC's Roman Bürki and New England's Matt Turner. B.J. Callaghan is up for Coach of the Year, and Hany Mukhtar is an MVP finalist. That is six finalists across four awards, the most for one club in a season since Inter Miami also had six in 2024.

The finalists were picked by the highest average votes from three groups, each worth a third of the result: MLS club technical staff, first-team players and select media members. When one back line concedes this little, all three groups ended up rewarding it, not one standout. Nobody from another club broke into the top three.

The MVP race is where most of the attention will go. Lionel Messi is chasing a record third straight award after winning in 2024 and 2025 and taking a second straight Golden Boot with 26 goals. He's up against Evander of FC Cincinnati, Houston's Guilherme, Mukhtar and Philadelphia's Cavan Sullivan. At 17, Sullivan is the youngest MVP finalist ever and the first teenager on the list, and he's also up for Young Player of the Year. Guilherme, with 16 goals and 10 assists, is a Newcomer of the Year finalist alongside Orlando City's Antoine Griezmann.

Winners will be announced throughout the MLS Cup Playoffs, which start on Nov. 19. For Nashville, the Defender of the Year trophy is already theirs no matter who wins it. The harder part is making that defense count in the postseason, where the record books dont hand out trophies.