COLUMBUS – The Columbus Crew, in conjunction with Major League Soccer, today announced that forward Juan Camilo “Cucho” Hernández and defender Steven Moreira have been named to the 2024 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 Crew (two) and Inter Miami CF (two) are the only clubs with multiple players featured in this year’s Best XI.
Hernández has earned the honor in back-to-back seasons (2023-2024), joining Thomas Dooley (1997-98), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (2007-08) and Chad Marshall (2008-09) as the only players to accomplish the feat. Moreira – recognized as the 2024 MLS Defender of the Year on Nov. 13 – receives his first MLS Best XI accolade. A finalist for the 2024 Landon Donovan MLS MVP award, Hernández finished the 2024 campaign with a career-best 19 goals and 14 assists in 27 league appearances, setting a new Crew standard for goal contributions in one season (33). He has recorded 20 goals and 16 assists in 25 matches across all competitions since the Concacaf Champions Cup Final on June 2. In his second full season with the Black & Gold, Hernández became the first player in Club history and only the 19th in MLS history to post multiple seasons with both 10+ goals and 10+ assists after surpassing his totals from 2023 (14 goals, 11 assists). On Aug. 25, Hernández was named Best Player of Leagues Cup 2024 after tallying a brace in the final to lead the Crew to a 3-1 victory over LAFC in front of a sellout crowd at Lower.com Field.
Moreira started 23 of his 27 regular season appearances this year, contributing two goals and four assists while logging more than 2,100 minutes. The Crew conceded just 29 goals (1.26 goals per game) when Moreira started and the fourth-fewest goals in MLS this season (40) overall. He featured in six of the 10 matches the Crew recorded shutouts and ranked sixth among all MLS defenders in short passes completed (407) and second among Crew defenders in goal contributions with six (two goals and four assists). The French born, Cape Verde international held a 95.3 percent passing accuracy in regular season play. With his assist to Hernández on Matchday 35, Moreira became the 16th player to record at least 20 assists in regular season play in club history.
Both Hernández and Moreira were named to the MLS All-Star Team for the first time in their respective MLS careers in 2024. Led by Head Coach Wilfried Nancy, the pair was among the five Crew players representing Columbus in front of a home crowd at Lower.com Field on July 24.
Moreira is the 14th different Crew player to earn Best XI honors. This year’s inclusion of Hernández and Moreira mark 18 overall Best XI selections by Crew players in Club history.
ALL-TIME CREW PLAYERS TO EARN MLS BEST XI HONORS
1997: Thomas Dooley, Brad Friedel
1998: Thomas Dooley, Stern John
2002: Jeff Cunningham
2004: Robin Fraser
2007: Guillermo Barros Schelotto
2008: Chad Marshall, Robbie Rogers, Guillermo Barros Schelotto
2009: Chad Marshall
2015: Ethan Finlay, Kei Kamara
2018: Zack Steffen
2020: Jonathan Mensah
2023: Cucho Hernández
2024: Cucho Hernández, Steven Moreira
