Coming off the seventh hat trick of his storied MLS career, San Jose Earthquakes forward Josef Martínez is the MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra for Matchday 7 of the 2025 season.
It was a vintage showing for the 31-year-old striker, who sparked San Jose's resounding 6-1 rout of D.C. United at PayPal Park with the three-goal barrage. Martínez's new career MLS goal total of 120 vaults him past New York Red Bulls legend Bradley Wright-Phillips for sole possession of sixth place on the league's all-time scoring leaderboard. He also became the sixth player in MLS history to be named MLS Player of the Matchday at least 10 times.
His seven career hat tricks are the most in league history, extending the record that Martínez already held (no other MLS player has more than five). The Venezuelan international now sits 13 goals shy of tying Jaime Moreno (133) for the fifth most in league history.
The former Atlanta United superstar has four goals in 415 minutes through Matchday 7, helping aid the Quakes' solid start to the 2025 campaign in their first year under Bruce Arena (3W-3L-1D, 10 points).
San Jose return to action in Matchday 8 with a road matchup at in-state rival LAFC on Saturday (10:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
The MLS Player of the Matchday presented by Michelob Ultra is selected each matchday of the regular season through both media and fan voting in a process conducted by MLS Communications. A panel of journalists from the North American Soccer Reporters (NASR) comprises 75 percent of the vote, while an Instagram fan vote represents the remaining 25 percent of voting. NASR consists of members of print, television, radio, and online media.
