CINCINNATI — FC Cincinnati's Luciano Acosta and Brandon Vazquez have been named one of the 11 best players in MLS for 2022.
Major League Soccer announced the Best XI honors Wednesday, which recognize the top players at each position as determined by the media, MLS players and MLS club technical staffs.
Vazquez and Acosta are the first players in FC Cincinnati's club history to be named to the elite list.
The honor comes after a historic season for FCC where the team went to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time. Acosta and Vazquez were also the first pair of MLS all-stars to represent FCC in August's 2022 MLS All-Star Game.
This is the second time in Acosta's career that he's been named to the MLS Best XI. Prior to the honor with FCC, the midfielder was named to the 2008 Best XI with D.C. United. He is only the sixth midfielder in MLS history to be named twice to the list with two different clubs.
In the 2022 season, Acosta had a career-high 29 regular season goal contributions — making him tied for third-most in the MLS. He provided at least one goal or assist in 11 of FCC's 12 regular season wins in the 2022 season.
For Vazquez, this is the first time the striker has earned MLS Best XI honors. He had 18 regular season goals, tying him for fourth in the entire MLS.
He became the first player in FCC history to score multiple goals in consecutive games, as well.
Jointly, Acosta and Vazquez are the first pair of teammates with at least 25 goal contributions since 2018's Josef Martinez and Miguel Almiron on Atlanta United.
The 2022 MLS Best XI also included players from Nashville SC, Austin FC, FC Dallas, LAFC and the Philadelphia Union.
The Union beat FCC 1-0 in a season-ending loss during the second round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The Union went on to win the MLS' Eastern Conference, and the club is set to face LAFC on Nov. 5 for the MLS Cup.
