St. Louis CITY SC Earns Two Finalists for 2026 MLS Year-End Awards

Major League Soccer announced on Thursday the finalists for the 2026 MLS Year-End Awards, with St. Louis CITY SC represented in two categories. Head coach Yoann Damet is a finalist for the Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year award, while captain Roman Bürki is a finalist for MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. The recognition caps a historic regular season campaign in which CITY SC returned to the postseason, set an MLS record with a 21-match unbeaten streak and captured its first-ever trophy. 

Damet is one of three Coach of the Year finalists, joining Nashville SC’s B.J. Callaghan and Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s Jesper Sørensen. In his first season as St. Louis’ head coach, Damet guided CITY SC from 14th in the Western Conference after its first 10 matches to a third-place finish with 54 points (15-9-10). Under his leadership, St. Louis recorded a 21-match unbeaten streak across all competitions, the longest in MLS history, and captured its first-ever trophy, the U.S. Open Cup title, with a penalty shootout victory over the Columbus Crew. 

Bürki is one of three finalists for MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, alongside Nashville SC’s Brian Schwake and New England Revolution’s Matt Turner. The 2023 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and two-time MLS All-Star recorded four clean sheets and 72 saves in 28 appearances, ranks top five in goalkeeper aggressive distance (22.29), which measures how far he comes off his line to make defensive actions and protect space behind the back line. He is also among the league’s best distributors, ranking top three in pressured pass completion (78%) and top two in line-breaking pass completion (57%). 

The finalists for the annual awards received the highest average votes from MLS club technical staff, MLS first-team players, and select media members, with each group accounting for 33.3 percent of the overall results. The winners for each award will be announced throughout the Audi 2026 MLS Cup Playoffs.