Charlotte FC's Kristijan Kahlina wins 2024 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award

By Brian Maurer

Kristijan Kahlina (Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90)

It's official. No rioting by Charlotte FC fans needed. Kristijan Kahlina is the 2024 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. He becomes the fourth European to win MLS GOTY, and the seventh EC goalkeeper to win in the last 10 years (Andre Blake helped that stat a lot).

The Croatian was ranked top five in numerous goalkeeper stats including save percentage (1st), shutouts (T-1st), minutes played (T-1st), goals against average (3rd), and saves (T-3rd). According to American Soccer Analysis goal minus expected goals stat (G-xG) he had one of the best goalkeeper seasons in MLS since 2013. Kahlina's G-xG stat* in 2024 suggests that he prevented over 10 goals for Charlotte.

Outside of the hiring of Dean Smith, there are very few individuals who can say they had as big a role in the outcome of Charlotte FC's fifth-place Eastern Conference finish as Kahlina. Kahlina also hit the 100 appearances mark for Charlotte this season, and now becomes the first player in the club's history to win an MLS end-of-year award.