History of the MLS All-Star Game: Unveiling the Legacy

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What is the History Behind the MLS All-Star Game?

Like all of the other major professional sports in the US—the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL—Major League Soccer (MLS) started out as a simple mid-season showdown between the selected All-Stars in the league’s two conferences (Eastern and Western).

The first MLS All-Star Game was played at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 14, 1996, where the East All-Stars edged the West All-Stars 3-2. The players involved were hand-picked by coaches, and this inaugural game was part of a doubleheader, which was followed by the FIFA World All-Stars playing the Brazilian national team.

The MLS then experimented with different All-Star Game formats, with this East-West matchup game lasting only 6 years. In 1998, the MLS All-Stars played the World All-Stars—a team made up of MLS players outside of the US—and in 2002, the MLS All-Stars faced the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT).

Excluding 2004, when the league played one more East-West All-Star Game, the MLS All-Star Game has seen the MLS All-Stars play one high-profile team from a foreign league. The first of these matches came against European opponents, with the MLS All-Stars beating Fulham (English Premier League) 4-1 in Columbus, Ohio, in 2005.

From 2005 to 2019, the MLS All-Stars welcomed teams from Europe, the majority from the EPL, with Celtic (Scottish Premier League), Roma and Juventus (Italian Serie A), Bayern Munich (German Bundesliga), and Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid (Spanish La Liga) the non-EPL participants in this growing mid-summer soccer extravaganza.

In those 15 contests, the MLS All-Stars—a combination of US and Canadian players since 2007—went 7-8, winning the first four, going winless in the final four, and losing all three times in which the game went to a PK Shootout. No MLS All-Star Game was played in 2020 due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021 and 2022—like they will this year—the MLS All-Stars welcomed the Liga MX All-Stars from Mexico to the US and won one each time. Last year, in 2023, at Audi Field in Washington, DC, EPL heavyweights Arsenal paid a visit to the States again and humbled the MLS All-Stars 5-0.

Next year’s 2025 MLS All-Star Game will be played at Q2 Stadium in North Austin, Texas. In the 20 games the US-Canadian players have played as the MLS-All Stars, they have won 11 times and lost 9, but have gone 1-3 in MLS All-Star Game history when the match has gone to a PK Shootout.

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How Are MLS All-Star Rosters Chosen and What Are the Rules?

Players in the MLS All-Star Game make the roster by a combination of 3 things: fan voting, selections by the appointed manager, and the league commissioner's choices. This year, the MLS All-Stars will be managed by the Columbus Crew’s Wilfried Nancy—the Head Coach of the host Columbus Crew. The MLS Commissioner is Don Garber.

Like most professional and amateur soccer matches, the MLS All-Star Game consists of two 45-minute halves. If the game should be tied at the end of 90 minutes plus injury time, it goes straight to a Penalty Kick Shootout as it did in 2009, 2017, 2018, and 2021.

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Where and When is the 2024 MLS All-Star Game?

This 28th annual MLS All-Star Game will be held on Wednesday, July 24, at the soccer-specific Lower.com Field (Grass) in Columbus, Ohio. The $314 million stadium is the home of the MLS’s Columbus Crew and is located in the downtown Arena District, in the center of the mixed-use Astro Park development at 96 Columbus Crew Way.

The venue opened in 2021 and has a capacity of 20,731. This will be the first MLS All-Star game held at Lower.com Field and the third held in the city of Columbus, with Columbus Crew Stadium (now Historic Crew Stadium) hosting the game in 2000 and 2005.

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Who Will the MLS All-Stars Be Playing This Year?

Like they did in 2021 and 2022, the MLS All-Stars will play a team of All-Stars from the top Mexican league, Liga MX. The complete 2024 Liga MX All-Star roster is below.

The MLS All-Stars have beaten the Liga MX All-Stars in both MLS All-Star Game meetings, winning at Bank of America Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on August 25, 2021, in a 3-2 PK Shootout after the teams were tied 1-1 at the end of regulation and then winning 2-1 the following year on August 10, 2022, at Allianz Field in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

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2024 MLS All-Star Week Schedule of Events

The 2024 MLS All-Star Week will run from Saturday, July 20, through Wednesday, July 24, in Columbus. Here is a list of the week’s events with details on what, where, when, and how you can attend, including how to get tickets for the much-anticipated 2024 All-Star Skills Challenge and the 2024 MLS All-Star Game.

MLS All-Star Soccer Celebration

2024 MLS All-Star Week kicks off with the MLS All-Star Soccer Celebration on Saturday, July 20 (4:30 pm to 9:30 pm ET) and Sunday, July 21 (3 pm to 7 pm ET) from McFerson Commons Park (218 West Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215).

This festival is free for MLS fans of all ages and will feature interactive zones, games, music, giveaways, autographs, MLS watch parties, and more. Coca-Cola will host its 5th annual Beats, Cleats, and Eats gala, an event featuring interactive experiences for MLS fans, special guest appearances by MLS players, and a sampling of the latest Coca-Cola products.

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MLS All-Star Soccer Concert

On Sunday, July 21, the MLS All-Star Concert will be held at 6:30 pm ET at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. Grammy-nominated artist Marshmello will perform, along with a special appearance from multi-platinum recording artist PinkPantheress.

You can buy Marshmello tickets for the MLS All-Star Concert presented by Target at Nationwide Arena on the secondary market here from TicketX, where you can find the best deals on Concert Tickets and save 10% on your first purchase using this special July promo code.

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Proceeds from ticket sales to the Marshmello-Pink Pantheress concert will go to Neighborhood Athletics, a non-profit group from Columbus dedicated to giving athletic and educational opportunities to young people in underserved communities.

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MLS All-Star Day of Service

On Monday, July 22, the MLS All-Star Day of Service will be held in Columbus, also at Nationwide Arena. MLS fans will be able to volunteer and pack lunches for 100,000 families in need in the area.

After this noble endeavor, the MLS says there will be “a family-friendly celebration with food, music, entertainment, games and more.” If you would like to volunteer for one of the shifts between 9 am and 2:30 pm on the MLS All-Star Day of Service, you can do so by using this link.

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MLS NEXT All-Star Game

On Tuesday, July 23, the first of three MLS All-Star Week events will be held at 11:30 am ET with the MLS NEXT All-Star Game, where 44 of the best MLS NEXT players will face off at the site of the previous MLS All-Star Games held in Ohio’s capital—Historic Crew (formerly Columbus Crew) Stadium (One Black and Gold Boulevard, Columbus, Ohio 43211). The MLS NEXT All-Star Game debuted as the Homegrown Game in 2014.

Admission to the match—which will be streamed live—is free, where the MLS NEXT East All-Stars will be playing the MLS NEXT West All-Stars. Attending fans are advised to park in the VOP lot (near Gates 4 and 5) and the G Lot. You can find parking information and directions to Historic Crew Stadium here.

One big reason to watch or attend this MLS NEXT All-Star Game is the chance to watch Philadelphia Union wunderkind Cavan Sullivan. The 14-year-old MLS player made his league debut on Wednesday, July 17, when he became the youngest player ever to play in the MLS as his Union defeated the New England Revolution, 5-1, in a game in which his older brother Quinn Sullivan scored in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Cavan Sullivan has already been signed by heavyweights Manchester City FC in the EPL.

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Special Olympics Unified Sports® MLS All-Star Game

Also happening on Tuesday, July 23 at the Historic Crew Stadium, the Special Olympics Unified Sports® MLS All-Star Game will be played at 3:30pm ET. p.m.t will feature the Unified Sports East and West All-Stars teams, with players with Intellectual disabilities (Special Olympic athletes) and without Intellectual disabilities (Unified partners) playing in an 11 versus 11 competitive match.

The teams will be outfitted in custom kits provided by Adidas and coached by MLS Greats. Admission to the Special Olympics Unified Sports® MLS All-Star Game is also free and open to the public. You can reserve your tickets here.

You can stream the Special Olympics Unified Sports® MLS All-Star Game live on YouTube.com/MLS.

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MLS All-Star Skills Challenge

The last event on Tuesday, July 23, is the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge, which will start at 7:30 pm ET and be held at Lower.com Field.

The event will see 10 players from the MLS All-Stars team and 10 players from the Liga MX All-Stars along with one former “great” MLS (Sacha Kljestan) and Liga MX player (Luis Hernández) and female players from the NWSL(Diana Ordóñez) as well as Mexico’s Liga MX Femenil (Alicia Cervantes) facing off in five different competitions:

• Shooting Challenge presented by AT&T

• Touch Challenge presented by Crest

• Cross & Volley Competition presented by AT&T

• Passing Challenge presented by Old Spice

• Crossbar Challenge presented by GilletteLabs

The MLS All-Star Skills Challenge, presented by AT&T, first became part of MLS All-Star Week in 2018 and has evolved into a freestyle soccer event in which three-player teams compete against each other in a series of minigames.

The 10 players from the MLS All-Stars team will be GK Roman Bürki (St. Louis City SC), GK Maarten Paes (FC Dallas), former Barcelona stars Jordi Alba (Inter Miami CF) and Sergio Busquets (Inter Miami CF), Luciano Acosta(FC Cincinnati), Evander (Portland Timbers), Ryan Gauld (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Riqui Puig (LA Galaxy), Federico Bernardeschi (Toronto FC), and hometown hero Cucho Hernández (Columbus Crew).

International legends and Inter Miami CF members Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez will not participate in the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge after Messi suffered an ankle injury in Argentina's Copa America Final win over Colombia.

The 10 players competing from the Liga MX All-Stars team are GK Luis Malagón (Club América), GK Kevin Mier(Cruz Azul), Gonzalo Piovi (Cruz Azul), Roberto Alvarado (CD Guadalajara), Juan Brunetta (Tigres UANL), Sergio Caneles (CF Monterrey), Jonathan dos Santos (Club América), Andrés Guardado (Club León), César Huerta (Pumas UNAM), and Salomón Rondón (CF Pachuca).

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MLS All-Star Community Day

The MLS All-Star Community Day will be held at Northgate Intermediate School (6655 Sharon Woods Boulevard, Columbus, Ohio 43229) on Wednesday, July 24, from 9 am to 1 pm.

The purpose of MLS All-Star Community Day by BODYARMOR is to advance youth soccer and education in the state of Ohio. Youngsters attending this event will receive soccer clinics from MLS and Liga MX players and can play in a 5v5 tournament. Also featured will be AED/CPR training, community resource booths, food trucks, and music.

Admission to this back-to-school-themed event is free and open to the public. Students will receive free backpacks, school supplies, and BODYARMOR squirt bottles.

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Who is on the 2024 MLS All-Star Game Roster?

You can find the 30 players on the 2024 MLS All-Star Game roster here. 16 were selected by Head Coach Wilfried Nancy, 2 were chosen by MLS Commissioner Don Garber (Héctor Herrera, Houston Dynamo and Darlington Nagbe, Columbus Crew), and 12 were given the nod by an online vote in a deemed 4-1-2-3 tactical formation.

Among the notable MLS All-Stars are the aforementioned Inter Miami CF quartet of Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Luis Suárez French GK Hugo Lloris (LAFC), Diego Rossi (Columbus Crew), Christian Benteke (DC United)—who is currently second in the MLS with 16 goals—Brazilian sensation Evander (Portland Timbers) and MLS assists (17) and key passes (82) leader Luciano Acosta (FC Cincinnati).

The leading scorer (17 goals) in the MLS, Salt Lake City Striker Cristian Arango, was voted onto the 2024 MLS All-Stars roster but will not play after being suspended by the league on July 15 for violating its anti-harassment policy.

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Who is on the 2024 Liga MX All-Stars Roster?

You can find the 30 players on the 2024 MLS All-Star Game Liga MX roster here. In addition to the 10 players mentioned who will also be participating in the MLS All-Stars Game Skills Competition from Liga MX, this talented roster also has many players who should make life hard for the MLS All-Stars on Wednesday night at Lower.com Field in Columbus.

Included are GK Fernando Tapia (Tigres UANL), F Andre Pierre-Gignac (Tigres UANL), F Guillermo Martinez (Pumas UNAM), and Mexican national team members Jesús Orozco (CD Guadalajara), Bryan González (CF Pachuca), Brian García (Deportivo Toluca).

Pierre-Gignac (24 goals in 2023 Liga MX Apertura) and the 2024 Liga MX All-Stars will look to become the first Mexican side to win this match in MLS All-Star Game history.

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Where Can I Watch the 2024 MLS All-Star Game?

You can see the live stream of the 2024 MLS All-Star Game between the MLS All-Stars and the Liga MX All-Stars on Wednesday, July 24, at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio, at 8 pm ET (7 CT/6 MT/5 PT) on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

The match will be streamed globally in English, Spanish, and French.

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Where Can I Get Tickets for the 2024 MLS All-Star Game?

At TicketX, you can get individual 2024 MLS All-Star Game tickets to Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday, July 24, for as low as $94.89. First-time buyers can get an additional 10% off their purchase using this special July promotional code.

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