Summary

Following each championship, a player on the winning club is awarded with the title of being the Most Valuable Player (MVP). Usually, but not necessarily, the winner of the award is the player who scores the game-winning goal, or sets up the game-winning goal. This is the case of the 2007, 2008, 2010, 2017, 2019 and 2020 recipients, who all scored game-winning goals, or assisted multiple goals for the winning side.

Exceptions to this occurred in 2000, 2009, 2016, and 2021 where the Most Valuable Player award went to goalkeepers Tony Meola, Nick Rimando, Stefan Frei, and Sean Johnson, respectively. Meola and Frei, with the Kansas City Wizards and Seattle Sounders FC, both earned shutouts for their respective teams in the cup. Rimando and Johnson made two saves in a penalty shoot-out to give Real Salt Lake the title over the LA Galaxy and New York City FC the title over Portland Timbers, respectively.

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