U.S. Soccer's players of the year nominees announced: Christian Pulisic and Sophia Smith highlight senior ballot while Angel City phenom Alyssa Thompson and Lionel Messi's Inter Miami teammate Benjamin Cremaschi throw names in the hat for youth

There are four primary player awards - with senior and and young player of the year accolades for both the men's and women's teams. It's the inaugural year for votes being tallied for Match of the Year, with five contests being looked at for the award. GOAL takes a look at the nominees below...

The nominees for all five main categories are listed below, while awards for Power Soccer Player of the Year, Deaf Male player of the Year, Deaf Female Player of the Year, CP Male Player of the Year, CP Female Player of the Year, Futsal Player of the Year, Beach Soccer Male Player of the Year and Beach Soccer Female Player of the Year are all up for grabs.

Smith won the 2022 Player of the Year award for the USWNT, while Pulisic is a three-time winner himself, in 2017, 2019 and 2021.

Voting opened Monday at 12 pm ET and is set to close in one week, on Monday December 18 at noon ET. With multiple award categories needing ballots cast, there will surely be a plethora of votes tallied over the course of seven days.