HOW THE 2014 "24 UNDER 24" RANKING WAS DETERMINED

The rankings this year, as in past years, are determined by a panel of soccer media members across the US and Canada who regularly cover MLS, including from ESPN, TSN, RDS, Sports Illustrated, FoxSports.com, Goal.com, and, of course, the editorial staff at MLSsoccer.com.

A 50-player short list was selected by a preliminary panel of MLSsoccer.com editors and external constituents, and then the larger panel rated the 50 players based on the following criteria:

Technical (skills, dribbling, shooting, first touch, heading, etc.)

Soccer IQ (positioning, reading game, situational understanding, tactical awareness, etc.)

Physical Attributes (speed, endurance, strength, vertical leap, etc.)

Personality (attitude, marketability, media savviness, charisma, intangibles, etc.)

Potential (improvability, ceiling, national team potential, potential future transfer value, etc.)

The votes were tabulated to establish the final 24 players.

The cut-off date for eligibility for this year's was October 26, the final day of the 2014 MLS regular season.