Winners to be announced Friday 19 December
Canada Soccer have announced the six finalists for the 2025 Canada Soccer Players of the Year Award from both the Women’s and Men’s National Team Programs. The two co-winners, one player from each National Team, will be announced on Friday 19 December. Winners and finalists were decided following a nationwide vote from Canadian media members and Canada Soccer Coaching License holders.
The three finalists from the Women’s National Team are Vanessa Gilles (FC Bayern Munich), Adriana Leon (San Diego Wave FC) and Jayde Riviere (Manchester United WFC). The three finalists from the Men’s National Team Ali Ahmed (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Tajon Buchanan (Villarreal CF) and Jonathan David (Juventus FC).
Earlier this week, Olivia Chisholm and Luc De Fougerolles were named the 2025 Canada Soccer Young Players of the Year, Duncan McDonald was named the 2025 Canada Soccer Para Soccer Player of the Year, and Léa Palacio-Tellier was named the 2025 Canada Soccer Futsal Player of the Year. Maxime Crépeau took home the 2025 Allstate Good Hands® Award.
For Canada, Gilles appeared in eight matches in 2025, starting six and scoring once. Her goal came in the 2-0 win over Mexico at the Pinatar Cup, a result that secured the tournament title and marked her 50th appearance with CANWNT.
At club level, Gilles began 2025 with Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, making 13 appearances and logging 1,120 minutes while contributing four goals and one assist. She helped OL Lyonnes win the 2024-25 Première Ligue and reach the UEFA Women’s Champions League semifinals. In May, she transferred to FC Bayern Munich, where she has made seven appearances and scored three goals so far in the 2025-2026 season.
For Canada, Leon made 11 appearances in 2025, including seven starts, totalling 652 minutes. She co-led the team in goals with three, scoring twice in the 4-1 win over Haiti on 31 May in Winnipeg.
At club level, Leon joined San Diego Wave FC from Aston Villa WFC in February 2025. She made 27 appearances (17 starts), played 1,432 minutes, and contributed four goals and three assists, including a brace in a 5-2 victory over North Carolina Courage on 25 May.
For Canada, Riviere appeared in six matches in 2025, starting all six and playing 490 minutes. She recorded one assist and earned her 50th cap on 8 April during an international friendy against Argentina.
At club level with Manchester United WFC, Riviere played 23 matches across the end of the 2024-25 and start of the 2025-26 seasons, totalling 1,831 minutes. She contributed one goal and four assists, including a standout goal in a 5-1 win over London City Lionesses in September, which also marked her 50th appearance for the club. She has also gone the full 90 in all four of the club’s UEFA Women’s Champions League matches to date this season.
For Canada, Ahmed made 10 appearances, contributing a goal and three assists, including his first goal for Canada in a 3:0 win over Romania in an international friendly in Bucharest. He provided the match-winning assist on Jonathan David’s goal against USA in the Concacaf Nations League third-place match.
For Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Ahmed won the 2025 Canadian Championship and was awarded the George Gross Memorial Trophy for Most Valuable Player of the tournament. He also contributed to Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s Concacaf Champions Cup and MLS Cup runs, where the team made the final of both competitions for the first time in club history. In total, Ahmed contributed four goals and thirteen assists across all club competitions.
For Canada, Buchanan appeared in all 14 matches, contributing four goals and one assist. He earned his 50th cap for Canada in the final group stage match of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup in a 2:0 win over El Salvador in which he scored the game’s second goal.
For Villarreal, Buchanan has contributed six goals and two assists across 35 appearances in 2025 so far. He scored a hat-trick in a 5:0 win over Girona in the second matchweek of the 2025/26 La Liga season and appeared in four Champions League matches for the club in 2025 so far.
For Canada, J. David appeared in all 14 matches, contributing six goals and two assists. In 2025, J. David entered CANMNT’s Top 10 All-Time appearances leaders, currently sitting at 73, five off Mark Watson’s 78 appearances for country. He was named the 2024/25 Concacaf Men’s Player of the Year at November’s Concacaf Awards.
For LOSC Lille, J. David contributed eight goals and seven assists in 2025 before announcing his departure in May. He departed the club as its third all-time goalscorer and all-time goalscoring leader in European competitions. In July, J. David joined Italian giants Juventus on a free transfer, scoring on his debut in a 2:0 win over Parma in the club’s opening Serie A match of the 2025/26 season. He has scored twice in six appearances in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League for Juventus, including a last-minute winning goal against Bodø/Glimt in a 3:2 away win in Norway.
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