The 2021 Major League Soccer All-Star Game was the 25th edition of the annual

Major League Soccer All-Star Game The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a traditional all-star gam ...

, an exhibition

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

match in the United States. The game, featuring the MLS All-Stars taking on the

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

All-Stars, was played at

Banc of California Stadium Banc of California Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC and the National Women's Soccer League's Angel City FC. Opened on ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California. The game was originally scheduled to take place on July 29, 2020, during the 2020 season, but was postponed on May 19, 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The game was televised domestically on

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports 2 ...

and

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...

in the United States, and on TSN and

TVA Sports TVA Sports is a Canadian French-language sports specialty channel owned by the Groupe TVA, a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media. The channel is a general-interest sports network, and the first major competitor to RDS, the only other Fre ...

in Canada. The MLS All-Stars won the match 3–2 on

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

after the 90 minute-match ended in a 1–1 tie.

Match planning

The

originally fielded two all-star teams from the Western and Eastern conferences. Other competition formats pitted an all-star team against various opponents, including the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ha ...

and clubs from Mexico and Europe. An exhibition between the MLS All-Stars and an all-star team from

, the top flight of Mexican soccer, was proposed in the mid-2010s as part of a closer relationship between the leagues. Officials from MLS and Liga MX announced a new partnership in March 2018, including new club competitions like the Campeones Cup and

Leagues Cup The Leagues Cup is an annual association football competition between clubs from Major League Soccer and Liga MX in North America. It debuted in July 2019 with four teams participating from each league. The first edition was a single-eliminati ...

, and a commitment for a shared all-star game. Liga MX president Enrique Bonilla attended the 2018 MLS All-Star Game in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

with MLS commissioner

Don Garber Donald P. Garber (born October 9, 1957) is an American sports executive who has served as the Commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999. Garber is also the CEO of Soccer United Marketing and a member of the United States Soccer Federation ...

, where they continued discussions for the match, including a potential venue in the Los Angeles area. On November 20, 2019, MLS officially announced that the 2020 All-Star Game would be played against the Liga MX All-Stars at

, the home of

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The club ...

. It is the first to be played against an all-star team from another league. LAFC head coach

Bob Bradley Robert Frank Bradley (born March 3, 1958) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach and sporting director of Toronto FC. A native of New Jersey and graduate of Princeton University, Bradley coached in the American college game and Maj ...

was selected as the manager of the MLS All-Star team. It is the first MLS All-Star Game to be played in the Los Angeles area since

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, which was hosted by the

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

at the Home Depot Center, now known as

Dignity Health Sports Park Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignity ...

. On May 19, 2020, MLS announced that the All-Star Game would be canceled alongside the 2020 Leagues Cup and 2020 Campeones Cup due to the

. The league later announced that the All-Star Game would be rescheduled for the 2021 season in Los Angeles, with the MLS All-Stars against the Liga MX All-Stars. The league announced on June 9, 2021, that the All-Star Game against Liga MX would be played on August 25 at Banc of California Stadium.

Squads

MLS All-Stars

The MLS All-Star squad was announced on August 4, 2021.

Carlos Vela Carlos Alberto Vela Garrido (born 1 March 1989) is a Mexican professional footballer who captains and plays for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Described as a versatile player who can play as a forward, winger, and attacking midfield ...

and

Javier Hernández Javier Hernández Balcázar (; born 1 June 1988), commonly known by the nickname Chicharito (, Mexican Spanish: ''little pea''), is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. He is known ...

withdrew due to injury. New England players

Carles Gil Carles Gil de Pareja Vicent (born 22 November 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for New England Revolution in Major League Soccer. He began his career at Valencia, playing mostly in their reserves a ...

and

Tajon Buchanan Tajon Trevor Buchanan (born February 8, 1999) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a winger for Belgian Pro League side Club Brugge and the Canada national team. Club career Early career Buchanan was born and raised in Bram ...

withdrew as well as Minnesota United midfielder Emanuel Reynoso.

Rodolfo Pizarro Rodolfo Gilbert Pizarro Thomas (born 15 February 1994) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Pizarro broke into the senior Pachuca team in 2012, remaining there unti ...

George Bello George Oluwaseun Bello (born January 22, 2002) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a left-back for 2. Bundesliga club Arminia Bielefeld and the United States national team. Early years Born in Abuja, Nigeria, Be ...

, and

Sebastian Lletget Sebastian Francisco Lletget (born September 3, 1992) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club FC Dallas. Early years Born in San Francisco, California, to Argentine parents, Lletget gr ...

were added as replacements. Six members of the starting XI were selected from

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

, tying the record set by

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. Brothers

Cristian Roldan Cristian Roldan (born June 3, 1995) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club Seattle Sounders FC and the United States national team. He was the 2013 Gatorade National Player of the Ye ...

and Alex Roldan also became the first brothers to play for the All-Star team. * Manager:

''(

)''

Liga MX All-Stars

The Liga MX All-Star squad was announced on July 19, 2021.

Nahuel Guzmán Nahuel Ignacio Guzmán (born 10 February 1986) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as goalkeeper for Liga MX club Tigres UANL. Club career Guzman made his professional debut for Newell's Old Boys in August 2006 against C.A. Belg ...

and Jorge Sánchez were called up as replacements for

José de Jesús Corona José de Jesús Corona Rodríguez (born 26 January 1981) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper and captains for Liga MX club Cruz Azul. Corona is an Olympic gold medalist, captaining Mexico at the 2012 Summer Olympi ...

and Fernando Navarro who withdrew due to injury. On August 23, the final squad was announced with 10 new players added. * Manager: Juan Reynoso ''(

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

)''

Skills Challenge

The MLS All-Star Skills Challenge was played on August 24 at Banc of California Park between eight players from each team in five events. The Liga MX All-Stars defeated the MLS All-Stars in the competition by a score of 26–25, with the tiebreaker scored by Cruz Azul forward Jonathan Rodríguez in the Crossbar Challenge.

Broadcasting

The All-Star Game and Skills Challenge were both broadcast in the United States on

in English and

TUDN TUDN (pronounced tu-de-ene; formerly called Univision Deportes Network (abbr. UDN) is an American Spanish language sports channel. Owned by TelevisaUnivision, it is an extension of the company's sports division of the same name. It launched on Ap ...

in Spanish, as well as TSN and

in Canada. Fox Sports broadcast the match in 4K HDR and also deployed several special slow-motion cameras for the match, as well as a

skycam __NOTOC__ Skycam is a computer-controlled, stabilized, cable-suspended camera system. The system is maneuvered through three dimensions in the open space over a playing area of a stadium or arena by computer-controlled cable-drive system. It is r ...

. The Fox Sports broadcast averaged 175,000 viewers, setting a record low for the event's English broadcasts, while the TUDN broadcast averaged 1.4 million and peaked at 1.6 million—the second-most for a Spanish broadcast of the match.

Match

Match rules

*Unlimited substitutions *

Penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

if tied at full time; no extra time

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mls All-Star 2021

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

August 2021 sports events in the United States 2021 in sports in California 2021–22 Liga MX season 2021–22 in Mexican football Association football penalty shoot-outs