National Soccer Hall of Fame Announces the Five Members of Its 2025 Class

Sports stats



FC Dallas

National Soccer Hall of Fame Announces the Five Members of Its 2025 Class

December 3, 2024 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


FRISCO, Texas - The National Soccer Hall of Fame today announced that the five members of its 2025 class are Mark Abbott, Chris Armas, Mary Harvey, Carli Lloyd and Nick Rimando.

They will be inducted at a ceremony May 3 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.

Lloyd and Rimando were elected from the Player Ballot. Armas and Harvey were elected from the Veteran Ballot, and Abbott was elected from the Builder Ballot. Lloyd was elected in her first year of eligibility.

A forward and midfielder who repeatedly scored key goals in major world finals, Lloyd played 316 full internationals between 2005 and 2021, winning two Olympic gold medals (2008 and 2012) and two World Cup titles (2015 and 2019). She was twice named the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year and won the Golden Ball as the best player at the 2015 Women's World Cup. She starred in the NWSL with Western New York Flash, Houston Dash and NJ/NY Gotham across eight of her 11 professional seasons. She won the English Women's FA Cup in 2017 while on loan to Manchester City.

Former U.S. Men's National Team member and Fox Sports colleague Alexi Lalas (a 2006 Hall of Famer) surprised Lloyd with the news of her election at her home in Medford, N.J. (Photos and video here)

A goalkeeper who set a record for the most appearances in first-division American soccer, Rimando won MLS titles with two different teams. He played 553 games in 20 MLS seasons, from 2000 to 2019, starring for the Miami Fusion, D.C. United and Real Salt Lake. Rimando won championships with D.C. United in 2004 and with Real Salt Lake in 2009, when he was named the MVP of the final. Rimando made 22 appearances for the U.S. between 2002 and 2015, including the 1-0 victory over Panama in the final of the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He also was a member of the U.S. squad at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Brian Dunseth, a former player who spent 16 years as RSL's television analyst, joined Rimando's family to break the news of his induction at America First Field in Salt Lake City. (Photos and video here)

A midfielder who was a longtime star of both MLS and the USMNT, Armas played the first 12 MLS seasons, initially for the Los Angeles Galaxy and later for the Chicago Fire. He was named to the MLS postseason Best XI five times, in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003. He played in MLS Cup four times: in 1998 (when he was on the winning side), 2000 and 2003 with Chicago and 1996 with Los Angeles. Armas played 66 full internationals for the USMNT between 1998 and 2005 and was initially part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup roster before sustaining an ACL injury in one of the team's warmup matches.

Former teammate Marcelo Balboa (a 2005 Hall of Famer) surprised Armas with the news of his election at Colorado Rapids headquarters in Commerce City. (Photos and video here)

The goalkeeper on the U.S. team that won the first FIFA Women's World Cup in 1991, Harvey played every minute of all six U.S. games in that tournament, conceding only five goals and recording three shutouts. She also won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games, the first in which women's soccer was included. Harvey, who was one of the first American women to play professionally overseas, played three seasons in the German women's first division and two seasons in the Swedish women's first division.

U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone (a 2018 Hall of Famer) surprised Harvey with the news of her election before the U.S. Women's National Team's match against the Netherlands in The Hague. (Photos and video here)

Abbott was president and deputy commissioner of Major League Soccer for 10 seasons, from 2013 through 2022, after having been the league's vice president for business affairs. Hired as the league's first employee in 1993 - three years before the league began play - Abbott was an MLS employee throughout the league's first 30 years.

Clark Hunt, chairman and CEO of FC Dallas, and his brother Dan, president of FC Dallas, surprised Abbott with the news of his election at the Grand Hyatt DFW Airport. (Photos and video here)

For the Player Ballot, election procedures call for the two Players named on the most ballots (and on at least 50 percent of the ballots) to be elected. A third Player also can be elected by being named on at least 75 percent of the ballots.

The 20 Player finalists received the following number of votes from the 48-member Player Voting Committee: Lloyd (47, 97.9%), Rimando (35, 72.9%), Chris Wondolowski (28, 58.3%), Lori Chalupny (27, 56.3%), Amy Rodriguez (27, 56.3%), Cat Reddick Whitehill (26, 54.2%), Keith Johnson (23, 47.9%), Kyle Beckerman (22, 45.8%), Chris Ahrens (21, 43.8%), Dwayne DeRosario (19, 39.6%), Jermaine Jones (16, 33.3%), Oguchi Onyewu (14, 29.2%), Robbie Keane (13, 27.1%), Chad Marshall (8, 16.7%), Maurice Edu (7, 14.6%), Stephanie Lopez Cox (7, 14.6%), Carlos Ruiz (6, 12.5%), Shalrie Joseph (6, 12.5%), Matt Besler (3, 6.3%) and Yael Averbuch (3, 6.3%).

For the Veteran Ballot, election procedures call for the Veteran named on the most ballots (and on at least 50 percent of the ballots) to be elected. A second Veteran also can be elected by being named on at least 75 percent of the ballots.

The 10 Veteran finalists received the following number of votes from the 24-member Veteran Voting Committee: Harvey (23,95.8%), Armas (19, 79.2%), Tony Sanneh (19, 79.2%), Tatu (15, 62.5%), Clint Mathis (12, 50%), Kevin Crow (9, 37.5%), Aly Wagner (7, 29.2%), Francis Farberoff (4, 16.7%), Lorrie Fair (2, 8.3%), Lori Henry (1, 4.2%). Armas won the tiebreaker with Sanneh by virtue of receiving more preliminary ballot screening points.

For the Builder Ballot, the 2025 rotation considered candidates from all three categories: coaches, referees and contributors. Election procedures call for the Builder named to the most ballots (and on at least 50 percent of the ballots) to be elected.

The 10 Builder finalists received the following number of votes from the 24-member Builder Voting Committee: Abbott (19, 79.2%), Clive Charles (16, 66.7%), Richard Groff (12, 50%), William Cox (10, 41.7%), Clark Hunt (10, 41.7%), Tim Leiweke (9, 37.5%), Kari Seitz (8, 33.3%), Lothar Osiander (7, 29.2%), Joe Cummings (6, 25%) and Burton Haimes (5, 20.8%).

Full 2025 voting results and complete information about election and eligibility procedures are available at NationalSoccerHOF.com. The election process is administered by National Soccer Hall of Fame staff under election and eligibility guidelines established by the Hall of Fame Board of Directors.

Check out the FC Dallas Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Major League Soccer message board...

Major League Soccer Stories from December 3, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central