The 15 best goal-scoring seasons in MLS history

Lionel Messi will embark on his first full MLS season next year but he will have some way to go if he is to break the all-time goal-scoring record in a single season. Here are the 15 best goal-scoring seasons in MLS history.

Los Angeles Football Club v Vancouver Whitecaps FC - CONCACAF Champions League: Quarterfinal - Leg 1 / Christopher Morris - Corbis/GettyImages

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4. Roy Lassiter — 1996 — 27 goals

The inaugural MLS season in 1996 saw Roy Lassiter star for the Tampa Bay Mutiny as he scored 27 goals in 30 matches. He scored one hat-trick in this campaign which was against the Colorado Rapids.

Lassiter scored a further five goals in the playoffs but the Mutiny lost to the eventual champions D.C. United in the semi-finals.

His form in that campaign earned him a move to Europe as he joined Genoa on loan. However, he failed to make an impact in Italy and returned to MLS with D.C. United.

5. Chris Wondolowski - MLS 2012 - 27 goals

Chris Wondolowski scored 27 goals in 32 MLS games in 2012 for the San Jose Earthquakes. This included hat-tricks against Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids. He also scored in the MLS All-Star game against Chelsea.

The Earthquakes won the Supporters Shield that year but lost to the Los Angeles Galaxy in the quarter-finals.

Wondolowski would spend the rest of his career at San Jose, scoring in total 176 times for the club. This makes him the club's all-time top goalscorer.

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