Major League Soccer announced today that FC Cincinnati’s Luciano ‘Lucho’ Acosta and Matt Miazga have been named to the 2023 MLS Best XI presented by Continental Tire, which recognizes the league’s top players at each position as determined by members of the media, MLS players, and MLS club technical staffs.
The Best XI, a collection of elite performers from the 2023 MLS regular season and one of the most prestigious annual honors a player can receive, are the latest honors following the 2023 Supporters’ Shield-winning campaign for Acosta, Miazga and FC Cincinnati.
Acosta and Miazga earn the third and fourth all-time MLS Best XI honors for FC Cincinnati. Last season, Acosta – alongside Brandon Vazquez – became the first player in club history to be named to the Best XI. Miazga’s 2023 recognition is his first-career Best XI naming.
The MLS Best XI presented by Continental Tire represents eight nations and seven clubs, all of which qualified for the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs.
2023 MLS Best XI presented by Continental Tire
Goalkeeper: Roman Bürki (St. Louis CITY SC)
Defenders: Matt Miazga (FC Cincinnati), Tim Parker (St. Louis CITY SC), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)
Midfielders: Luciano ‘Lucho’ Acosta (FC Cincinnati), Thiago Almada (Atlanta United), Héctor Herrera (Houston Dynamo FC), Hany Mukhtar (Nashville SC)
Forwards: Dénis Bouanga (LAFC), Giorgos Giakoumakis (Atlanta United), Juan ‘Cucho’ Hernández (Columbus Crew)
Luciano ‘Lucho’ Acosta
Acosta earns his third-career MLS Best XI honor (2018 with D.C. United; 2022 with FC Cincinnati). The 2023 Landon Donovan MLS Most Valuable Player led MLS with 31 goal contributions (17 goals, 14 assists) in the 2023 regular season.
In June, Acosta became the eighth active MLS player and 28th player in league history to record at least 50 goals and 50 assists. The following month, he captained the 2023 MLS All-Star team against Arsenal and afterward returned to MLS play, becoming the only active player and the 14th overall in league history to record over 70 career assists and at least 50 goals.
As captain of the Orange and Blue, the Argentine’s 43 regular-season assists since 2021 are the second-most in MLS during that time, and no other MLS player has more goal contributions than Acosta’s 136 (58 goals, 78 assists) since his MLS debut in 2016.
Matt Miazga
The 2023 MLS Defender of the Year, Miazga anchored FC Cincinnati’s back line, starting 27 regular season matches and logging over 2,300 minutes. Miazga led a defense that allowed only 39 goals (1.05 goals per game) in the 2023 regular season.
The stalwart defender has led an improved Cincinnati back line and defense since joining the Orange and Blue in August 2022 from Chelsea FC in the Premier League. In the 36 games he was on the field for Cincinnati in 2023, the Miazga-led defense allowed just 35 goals (0.97 goals per game). He started 12 games in which the club held their opponents scoreless, and his 10 MLS regular season clean sheets are tied for the fourth-most among outfield players in the league.
Playing a key role in FC Cincinnati’s dramatic turnaround over the last two seasons, the club holds a 27-5-16 record in all matches that Miazga has appeared in and has advanced to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs at the conclusion of both seasons, while capturing the MLS Supporters’ Shield in 2023. Miazga was one of three FC Cincinnati players to make the MLS All-Star team in 2023, joined by Acosta and Álvaro Barreal.
FC Cincinnati will host in-state rivals Columbus Crew on Saturday, Dec. 2 in the Eastern Conference Final. Kickoff from TQL Stadium with a trip to MLS Cup on the line is set for 6 p.m. ET. The match will be aired exclusively on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Local radio information will be announced at a later date.
For more information on FC Cincinnati in the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs, visit FCCincinnati.com/Playoffs23.
For up-to-the-minute information about FC Cincinnati, visit the team’s official website at fccincinnati.com, or follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FCCincinnati. Additionally, fans are encouraged to download the team’s new official mobile app on iOS or Android for instant access to mobile tickets, team content and match notifications.
