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Much like the NFL and NBA, the MLS regularly hosts an annual SuperDraft, with three rounds of selections that allow teams to choose specific college players to join their roster. Generally, the teams with the lowest amount of regular-season points get the first picks until 87 players are chosen. Players must have exhausted their NCAA or NAIA eligibility to be drafted. In this article, we’ll highlight the top draft picks over the last decade, including where they came from and what teams they were drafted to.
Starting with the first and only Canadian to be drafted to the MLS in the SuperDraft, UConn’s dominant forward Cyle Larin was drafted to Orlando City SC in their first season of play in the MLS. After scoring 17 goals in his rookie season and playing for 3 seasons with Orlando, Larin hopped to teams all across the world, including Besiktas in the Turkish Super Lig, Club Brugge and Zulte-Waregem in the Belgian Pro League, before moving to the Spanish La Liga to play with Real Valladolid and current new team of Real Mallorca.
Jack Harrison was drafted first overall in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft as an English midfielder to the Chicago Fire in 2016 from Wake Forest University. Throughout his career since then, Harrison would join NYCFC before playing in England with Manchester City, Leeds United and Everton.
Abu Danladi is a Ghanaian forward drafted to Minnesota United FC from UCLA, scoring 8 goals in his rookie season. In 2020, he was transferred to Nashville SC for two seasons before moving to the United Soccer League (USL), joining his current team New Mexico United.
Defender João Moutinho was drafted as the first pick of the 2018 MLS SuperDraft from Akron University to LAFC. The Portuguese player would spend just one season with LAFC before moving to Orlando SC for four seasons. Eventually, he joined the Italian Serie B (second tier in Italy) team Spezia before joining his current team of Jagiellonia Bialystok in Poland.
The first of the US-born players to be drafted as the first overall pick since 2013, Frankie Amaya was taken by FC Cincinnati in their debut MLS season from UCLA. After two seasons with Cincinnati, the midfielder transferred to the New York Red Bulls for four impressive seasons, before joining his new team Toluca playing in Liga MX, the top-flight soccer league in Mexico.
Another American drafted as a forward was Robbie Robinson, joining Inter Miami CF from Clemson for the Florida team’s MLS debut season. After four unsuccessful seasons with the Miami-based club, Robbie Robinson is now a free agent in the MLS.
Venezuelan midfielder Daniel Pereira was drafted to Austin FC in their debut MLS season from Virginia Tech as the first pick of the 2021 draft. Pereira has so far played four seasons with Austin FC, with 88 total starts.
The third American player and midfielder to be drafted first overall in the last 10 years was Ben Bender, coming out of the University of Maryland to join Charlotte FC in their debut MLS season. After playing three seasons and scoring seven total goals for Charlotte, Bender has since joined the USL’s Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Gifted another first overall pick the following year, Charlotte FC chose Senegalese international defender Hamady Diop to join their roster from Clemson. So far, Diop has made very few starts in his two seasons with Charlotte and is currently on loan at Serbian team Cukaricki.
Born in Trinidad & Tobago, the Lipscomb University forward was drafted to Toronto FC first overall in the 2024 MLS Draft. In his debut season, he scored two goals and had two assists in 13 starts.
Liam has been a major sports fan and soccer player for over a decade, with a particular focus on major top-level soccer leagues, including the EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and MLS. He has written numerous promotional articles for various top sportsbooks and continues to publish historical and factual sports articles covering the NFL, MLS, NHL, MLB, EPL and more.