Lucho Acosta: MLS' other Argentine star is 2023 MVP - and he has the potential to play a Lionel Messi-esque role for the USMNT ahead of the 2026 World Cup

Acosta could barely have gotten a better footballing education as he worked his way through the youth ranks at Boca Juniors; the Argentine giants known as the club of the late, great Diego Maradona.

At just 21, Acosta made the move to the United States, joining D.C. United on loan in 2016 from his beloved Boca. He made an instant impact, with three goals and eight assists in his first season, and United turned his initial loan deal into a permanent one during his first year with the club.

Two years on, Acosta was regarded as one of the best players in MLS, and his lore only grew after D.C. added legendary Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney to their ranks. The duo even scored what might be the most famous goal in league history, while Rooney dubbed Acosta as "one of the best I've played with" during his time in the capital.

However, after a collapsed transfer to PSG, Acosta left United in 2020 on a free transfer, joining Liga MX side Atlas, but returned to MLSwith Cincinnati in 2021 as a Designated Player. Now, two years on, the Argentine has turned Cincy from cellar dwellers to MLS Cup challengers.

In January 2019, Acosta was the darling of MLS. Flourishing alongside Rooney, he asserted himself as one of the brightest up-and-coming players in the league. Meanwhile, with Miguel Almiron having completed a $27m move from Atlanta United to Newcastle of the Premier League months prior, all eyes were on MLS for who the 'next Almiron' would be.

PSG certainly felt that Acosta fit the bill, and they pursued him like hawk late in the MLS transfer window. Per The Athletic, then-GM of D.C. United, Dave Kasper, traveled with Acosta to Paris to meet with the French giants through an 'unnamed intermediary' - but that's when the deal began to collapse.

The intermediary appeared to give false information to both parties ahead of time, and the two sides couldn't come to an agreement regarding a fee for Acosta, who United valued at $13-15m, while PSG's offer was $9.1m.

Whether Acosta would have made the grade at such an established European powerhouse is anyone's guess, but PSG's interest highlights the level of talent we are talking about here.

When FC Cincinnati joined MLS as an expansion franchise in 2019, they were genuinely awful. There's no point in holding back or trying to frame it in a polite manner. They were awful, and it wasn't just one year of it; it was three-straight seasons where they finished as the worst team in MLS, managing just 14 league wins in that stretch.

Their fortunes changed in the summer of year three, though. Acosta arrived, and they built a squad around a player who had previously shown so much potential in MLS, but left due to the club refusing to build around him and provide the talent needed for him to truly succeed. Cincy didn't make that mistake.

Come 2022, Acosta's first full season with the Orange and Blue, he was named captain, and they qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Progress.

This time around, however, has been the stuff of dreams. Cincy went seven games unbeaten to start the season, and only suffered one loss through their first 22 matches in all competitions. Acosta kept scoring, assisting and leading them to glory, and the Argentine even earned the captains' honors for MLS in their 2023 All-Star game against Arsenal in July.

The 2023 regular-season campaign from Cincinnati has gone down in league history as one the best-ever, only second to the 2021 run by the New England Revolution. Acosta was named on the ballot for 2023 MVP, and is now the first-ever winner of the award for the Orange and Blue. He almost single-handedly turned the franchise around, and is now being touted as an individual who could do that on the national stage - only not with Argentina.

The 2026 World Cup is still over two years away, but the USMNT's planning for the tournament - which America will co-host - began the minute team crashed out of the 2022 edition in the last 16.

One aspect of that planning, that admittedly began before Qatar last winter, has been the convincing of dual-nationals to commit to joining Berhalter's squad. Berhalter has been part-coach, part-recruiter over the past few years, and has secured the services of enough players to make his roster one of the world's most talented.

Christian Pulisic, Timothy Weah, Yunus Musah, Antonee Robinson, Malik Tillman, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jesus Ferreira are just some of the high-profile names to have committed themselves to the U.S. cause in recent times, while the successful pursuit of Folarin Balogun earlier in 2023 left fans abuzz with anticipation as he rejected England's advances. Recent dual-national call-ups Kristoffer Lund, Kevin Paredes and Lennard Maloney could yet become reliable members of the squad in the build-up to 2026, too.

Next on Berhalter's radar is Acosta, who earlier this year started his American citizenship process with a dream of playing for the USMNT. In June, Acosta told The Athletic that he would "obviously" accept a call-up to the squad if it arrived. The Argentine midfielder added: "It’s one reason I started (the citizenship) process."

Securing Acosta's services would offer the USMNT a veteran presence in their incredibly youthful attack, while allowing them to have an alternative to Gio Reyna at the No.10 position. Reyna's injury history is a cause for concern, and there is no clear back-up for the Borussia Dortmund youngster in the current U.S. squad. Acosta ticks every box that the USMNT need.

There's an argument to be made that even if Acosta enters the USMNT player pool, he doesn't crack the starting XI. However, a player of his experience and caliber would be crucial to deal with the pressure of hosting a World Cup match on home soil.

How he would potentially fit in on the field comes down to whether Reyna can find consistent first-team minutes at club level while staying healthy. The battle for the attacking midfield role would, then, be between Acosta and the 20-year-old, and it's a fun hypothetical to toy with.

Quite who would work better in between Pulisic and Weah, and behind Balogun, is up for debate. Reyna has age and top-level European experience on his side, but right now Acosta has the track record of consistently producing on the pitch. Presuming the latter eventually commits to the U.S., this is going to be an exciting battle to watch play out.

It's playoff season, and it's all-or-nothing for Cincinnati and Acosta, who have worked their way into the Eastern Conference finals. They're the clear favorites to win the MLS Cup, are in red-hot form and are set to have home-field advantage in the postseason for as long as they are alive.

As for Acosta, it's been a quiet start goals-wise during the playoffs for the Argentine, but he can turn up at any given moment and bring a moment of magic to the pitch. When he will get confirmation of his U.S. citizenship is less clear, with the most-recent update having come over the summer. The longer it drags on, the less likely it is that he will be able to feature ahead of the U.S. hosting the 2024 Copa America. However, with the offseason on the horizon, anything is possible.

The World Cup, though, is far enough away for him to make an impact for Berhalter's team beforehand. If he can maintain his form from 2023, then he has the potential to be a game-changer the USMNT - though not quite to the same level as Messi in Miami!