FRISCO, Texas — FC Dallas forward Jesús Ferreira has been named to MLS’ 2022 Best XI, the league announced on Wednesday.
Ferreira is the first FC Dallas player to earn MLS Best XI honors since Mauro Díaz and Matt Hedges earned the honor in 2016.
He is also only the fourth player to be selected to the Best XI since 210 who is 21 years old or younger.
The "Best XI" recognizes the league’s top players at each position as determined by media, MLS players and MLS club technical staffs.
"I'm excited," Jesús Ferreira said in a press release. "Obviously, these are goals that I wouldn't be able to achieve without my teammates. But I'm excited that I can be named in the best XI of the league. That's another award that I take with me for this season and hopefully next season, I can keep working hard to make that best XI again and keep achieving other things. I'm just excited to be able to be on that top XI."
The Best XI announcement came after Ferreira was named the 2022 MLS Young Player of the Year earlier this week.
The Young Player of the Year award honors the top player in the league age 22 and under. Ferreira is the second straight FC Dallas player to win the Young Player of the Year award after Ricardo Pepi took the honor in 2021.
"Every season we want to be better," Ferreira said in the press release. "For me, my road has been a little difficult with 2020 been a rough year for me with only one goal scored, and then going back to 2021 where I can say that I broke out. Then this year was the best year of my career. It's exciting to see that I can keep improving each year. I'm excited that I can achieve things this year that I didn't know I could achieve before. I'm just excited that I can do things right and achieve objective personal goals that I have set for myself."
Here is the full list of MLS Best XI selections:
- Andre Blake | Goalkeeper | Philadelphia Union
- Jakob Glesnes | Defender | Philadelphia Union
- Kai Wagner | Defender | Philadelphia Union
- Walker Zimmerman | Defender | Nashville SC
- Luciano Acosta | Midfielder | FC Cincinnati
- Sebastián Driussi | Midfielder | Austin FC
- Daniel Gázdag | Midfielder | Philadelphia Union
- Hany Mukhtar | Midfielder | Nashville SC
- Jesús Ferreira | Forward | FC Dallas
- Brandon Vázquez | Forward | FC Cincinnati
- Carlos Vela | Forward | Los Angeles Football Club
Ferreira's performance this season in the MLS and in exhibition matches for the U.S. men's national team has made him a favorite to make the World Cup roster this fall in Qatar.
More FC Dallas coverage: