Thirteen former Major League Soccer stars, highlighted by DaMarcus Beasley, Dwayne DeRosario and Landon Donovan, were named first-year eligible candidates for the National Soccer Hall of Fame, it was announced Thursday.
They join a group 156 candidates named across three categories: Player Eligibility List, Veteran Eligibility List and Builder Eligibility List, with six earning induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame's Class of 2023.
The player's list contains 14 finalists from last year: David Beckham, Lori Chalupny, Brian Ching, Maurice Edu, Thierry Henry, Lauren Cheney Holiday, Eddie Johnson, Shalrie Joseph, Robbie Keane, Pablo Mastroeni, Josh McKinney, Oguchi Onyewu, Carlos Ruiz and Cat Reddick Whitehill.
Beckham, Ching, Mastroeni and Kevin Hartman are in their final year of eligibility on the Player ballot. If they are not selected this round, they will be move to the Veteran ballot for the 2024 election.
Below is the list of all the first-year candidates who played in MLS, along with their career achievements, sorted in alphabetical order by last name.
- DaMarcus Beasley — 126 US men’s national team caps, appearing in the four World Cups and 11 seasons in MLS earning one Best XI selection
- Ricardo Clark — 35 USMNT caps and 15 seasons in MLS with one Best XI selection
- Dwayne DeRosario — 14 seasons in MLS with six Best XI selections
- Landon Donovan — 157 USMNT caps and 15 seasons in MLS with seven Best XI selections
- Benny Feilhaber — 44 USMNT caps and nine seasons in MLS with one Best XI selection
- David Ferreira — Five seasons in MLS with one Best XI selection
- Christian Gomez — Six seasons in MLS with three Best XI selections
- Jermaine Jones — 69 USMNT caps and four seasons in MLS
- Chad Marshall — 16 seasons in MLS with four Best XI selections
- Michael Parkhurst — 25 USMNT caps and 10 seasons in MLS with one Best XI selection
- Chris Pontius — 11 seasons in MLS with one Best XI selection
- Nick Rimando — 21 USMNT caps and 20 seasons in MLS
- Jonathan Spector — 36 USMNT caps and two seasons in MLS
