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 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 d ...
format used by other
North American sports leagues where the Eastern Conference squared off against the Western Conference. This eventually evolved into the current system where the league annually invites a club from abroad to play against a league all-star team in a friendly match. The MLS All-Stars hold a 9–7 record in the competition marking the season's midpoint. Players are awarded roster spots through a combination of fan voting and selections by the appointed manager and
league commissioner.
In case of a tie after full-time, the game does not use a 30-minute
extra time period; instead it goes straight to a
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 ...
. The match is preceded by a skills challenge tournament, which was introduced in 2018 and features three-player teams competing in various events. The All-Star Game also runs parallel to the
Major League Soccer Homegrown Game
The MLS Next All-Star Game, formerly known as the MLS Homegrown Game, is an exhibition match between selected players in MLS Next Pro. Similar to events such as Major League Baseball's All-Star Futures Game, the National Hockey League's NHL A ...
, which debuted in 2014.
History
Major League Soccer's
first all-star game was played at
Giants Stadium in the summer of 1996. The game, using an East–West format with players handpicked by the coaching staffs to emulate other American leagues, was the first game of a doubleheader with the
Brazilian national team defeating a team of FIFA World All-Stars. The matchup between divisions would only be used for six seasons as MLS tried experimenting with different formats. The
1998 All-Star Game placed a team of American MLS players against MLS players from abroad. The
2002 game, the first to use a league-wide all-star team, was the only game to feature a national team opponent.
Since then (except in 2004), every opponent has been a foreign club invited by the league. The MLS All-Stars won their first six games before falling to
Everton in penalties in
2009. All games from
2005 to
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
have been against teams from Europe, the majority of which have been from England's
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
. The European league schedule runs from fall to spring, allowing for a fixture against the MLS All-Stars during the preseasons of teams. The
2020 All-Star Game was to be the first to feature the all-star team from another league,
Liga MX; however, that game was cancelled.
The roster is chosen using a mix of fan votes, nominations from the coach, and commissioner's pick. Some players, including English midfielders
Steven Gerrard and
Frank Lampard
Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Everton. He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea’s greatest ever players, and one of the greatest midfielder ...
in 2015, have been picked to participate in the All-Star Game despite not playing in club matches. Players who are picked to play in the All-Star Game but refuse to join the team are suspended from one league match.
Roster
For
2014
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, ten players were chosen by All-Star Game coach
Caleb Porter
Caleb Porter (born February 18, 1975) is an American soccer coach who most recently served as the head coach of Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew from 2019 to 2022. He was previously head coach of the Portland Timbers from 2013 until 2017. ...
, eleven players were chosen by fan voting (subject to Porter's approval), and two were selected by 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 ...
.
Skills Challenge
The modern incarnation of the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge, introduced in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
, is a freestyle soccer event that features three-player teams competing against each other in minigames, including a touch-and-volley goal showcase, a shooting accuracy competition, and a passing-and-shooting challenge. The older version of the skills challenge was retired in 2001 and featured other events, including "goalie wars" and
soccer tennis.
Results by team
;Notes
Results by nation
Results by year
"East vs. West" (1996–1997)
"MLS USA vs. MLS World" (1998)
"East vs. West" (1999–2001)
"All-Stars vs. Guest" (2002–2003)
"East vs. West" (2004)
"All-Stars vs. Europe" (2005–2019)
"All-Stars vs. Liga MX All-Stars" (2021–present)
Future All-Star Games
Most Valuable Player
Television coverage
Since
2015, English-language rights for the MLS All-Star Game have alternated between
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
and
Fox.
In even numbered years, ESPN has broadcast the All-Star Game while Fox would broadcast the
MLS Cup
The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...
. Likewise, in odd numbered years, Fox would be slated to broadcast the All-Star Game
while ESPN or its sister network,
ABC beginning in
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, would broadcast the MLS Cup. This arrangement
will stay in place until at least the 2022 season.
References
{{Football League Select XIs
All-star games
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 d ...
Recurring sporting events established in 1996
1996 establishments in the United States
Representative teams of association football leagues