Major League Soccer All-Star Game
| Founded | 1996 |
|---|---|
| Region | Major League Soccer (CONCACAF) |
| Number of teams | 2 |
| Most successful club(s) | MLS All-Stars (9 times) |
| Television broadcasters | ESPN2, UniMás, TSN |
 2016 MLS All-Star Game | |
The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring select players from the league against an international club. MLS initially adopted a traditional all-star game 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. The MLS All-Stars hold an 8–4 record in the competition marking the season's midpoint. Players are awarded rosters 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.
History
Major League Soccer's first all-star game was played at Giants Stadium in the summer of 1996. The game, using the traditional East–West format with players handpicked by the coaching staffs, was the first game of a doubleheader with the Brazilian national team defeating a team of FIFA world all-stars.[1][2] 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, is the only game to feature a national team opponent. Since then every opponent has been a professional club invited by the league. The MLS All-Stars won their first six games before falling to Everton in penalties in 2009. All games since 2005 have been against teams from Europe, the majority of which have been from England's Premier League. This is a feasible format because unlike MLS (which runs a spring-summer-fall schedule) the major European leagues all run a fall-winter-spring schedule, meaning the middle of the MLS season co-incides with the pre-seasons of most European leagues.
Roster
For 2014, ten players were chosen by All-Star Game coach Caleb Porter, eleven players were chosen by fan voting (subject to Porter's approval), and two were selected by MLS commissioner Don Garber.[3]
Results by team
| Team | Winner | Runner-up | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
  MLS All-Stars |
9 | 4 | 13 |
| MLS East |
5 | 1 | 6 |
 Manchester United |
2 | & —
|
2 |
| MLS West |
2 | 4 | 6 |
| Everton |
1 | & —
|
1 |
 Roma |
1 | & —
|
1 |
| MLS USA |
1 | & —
|
1 |
 Bayern Munich |
& —
|
1 | 1 |
 Celtic |
& —
|
1 | 1 |
| Fulham |
& —
|
1 | 1 |
 Guadalajara |
& —
|
1 | 1 |
 MLS World |
& —
|
1 | 1 |
| Tottenham Hotspur |
& —
|
1 | 1 |
| United States |
& —
|
1 | 1 |
| West Ham United |
& —
|
1 | 1 |
| Chelsea |
& —
|
2 | 2 |
Results by format
"East vs. West" 1996–1997
| 1996 MLS All-Star Game July 14, 1996 |
East |
3–2 | West |
Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ramos  13'Savarese 69'Pittman 88' |
Report | Preki 33' Kreis 37' |
Attendance: 78,416 Referee: Kevin Stott MVP: Carlos Valderrama |
| 1997 MLS All-Star Game July 9, 1997 |
East |
5–4 | West |
Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valderrama 50' Galderisi 63'Warzycha 66'Williams 70'McBride 88' |
Report | Washington 11' Campos 44'Takawira 80'Jones 86' |
Attendance: 24,816 Referee: Arturo Angeles MVP: Carlos Valderrama |
"MLS USA vs. MLS World" 1998
| 1998 MLS All-Star Game August 2, 1998 |
MLS USA |
6–1 | MLS World |
Citrus Bowl, Orlando, FL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T. Ramos 5' Lalas 15'McBride 16'Preki 40'Lassiter 78'Jones 83' |
Report | M. Ramos 89' |
Attendance: 34,416 Referee: Esse Baharmast MVP: Brian McBride |
"East vs. West" 1999–2001
| 1999 MLS All-Star Game July 17, 1999 |
East |
4–6 | West |
Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lassiter 1' Moore 62' (pen.)Valderrama 73'John 83' |
Report | Preki 13', 38' Kosecki 32'Jones 36'Wright 84'Cerritos 89' |
Attendance: 23,227 Referee: Sandra Hunt MVP: Preki |
| 2000 MLS All-Star Game July 29, 2000 |
East |
9–4 | West |
Columbus Crew Stadium, Columbus, OH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathis 2' Moreno 36'Valencia 39'Chung 51'Diallo 59', 61'Heaps 65'Washington 67'McBride 76' |
Report | Razov 17', 22' Cienfuegos 19'Nowak 44' |
Attendance: 23,495 Referee: Paul Tamberino MVP: Mamadou Diallo |
| 2001 MLS All-Star Game July 28, 2001 |
East |
6–6 | West |
Spartan Stadium, San Jose, CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chacón 28' McBride 34', 39'Diallo 53'Rooney 84'Catê 87' |
Report | Donovan 3', 7', 19', 90+2' Graziani 26'Kovalenko 69' |
Attendance: 23,512 Referee: Noel Kenney MVP: Landon Donovan |
"All-Stars vs. Guest" 2002–2003
| 2002 MLS All-Star Game August 3, 2002 |
MLS All-Stars |
3–2 | United States |
RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kreis 59' Etcheverry 72'Ralston 81' |
Report | Donovan 58' Jones 76' |
Attendance: 31,096 Referee: Brian Hall MVP: Marco Etcheverry |
| 2003 MLS All-Star Game August 2, 2003 |
MLS All-Stars |
3–1 | Guadalajara |
The Home Depot Center, Carson, CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Razov 57' Ruiz 68'Beasley 83' |
Report | Garcia 66' |
Attendance: 27,000 Referee: Kevin Terry MVP: Carlos Ruiz |
"East vs. West" 2004
| 2004 MLS All-Star Game July 31, 2004 |
East |
3–2 | West |
RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guevara 20', 22' (pen.) Eskandarian 74' |
Report | Ching 43' Kreis 89' |
Attendance: 21,378 Referee: Michael Kennedy MVP: Amado Guevara |
"All-Stars vs. Guest" 2005–present
| 2005 MLS All-Star Game July 30, 2005 |
MLS All-Stars |
4–1 | Fulham |
Columbus Crew Stadium, Columbus, OH |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twellman 23' O’Brien 56'Cunningham 85', 89' |
Report | Jensen 66' (pen.) |
Attendance: 23,309 Referee: Ricardo Valenzuela MVP: Taylor Twellman |
| 2006 MLS All-Star Game August 5, 2006 |
MLS All-Stars |
1–0 | Chelsea |
Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| De Rosario 70' |
Report | Attendance: 21,210 Referee: Abbey Okulaja MVP: Dwayne De Rosario |
| 2007 MLS All-Star Game July 19, 2007 |
MLS All-Stars |
2–0 | Celtic |
Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ángel 36' Toja 44' |
Report | Attendance: 18,661 Referee: Baldomero Toledo MVP: Juan Pablo Ángel |
| 2008 MLS All-Star Game July 24, 2008 |
MLS All-Stars |
3–2 | West Ham United |
BMO Field, Toronto, ON |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gómez 27' Blanco 45'De Rosario 70' (pen.) |
Report | Ashton 26', 67' |
Attendance: 20,844 Referee: Mauricio Navarro MVP: Cuauhtémoc Blanco |
| 2009 MLS All-Star Game July 29, 2009 |
MLS All-Stars |
1–1 (3–4 p) |
Everton |
Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, UT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davis 26' |
Report | Saha 12' |
Attendance: 20,124 Referee: Ricardo Salazar MVP: Tim Howard | |
| Penalties | ||||
Donovan  Davis  Arnaud Johnson Casey Ljungberg |
Vaughan Jô Baines Neville Lescott Rodwell |
| 2010 MLS All-Star Game July 28, 2010 |
MLS All-Stars |
2–5 | Manchester United |
Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ching 64' De Rosario 90' |
Report | Macheda 1', 13' Gibson 70'Cleverley 73'Hernández 84' |
Attendance: 70,728 Referee: Jorge Gonzalez MVP: Federico Macheda |
| 2011 MLS All-Star Game July 27, 2011 |
MLS All-Stars |
0–4 | Manchester United |
Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Anderson 20' Park 45'Berbatov 52'Welbeck 68' |
Attendance: 26,760 Referee: Jair Marrufo MVP: Ji-Sung Park |
| 2012 MLS All-Star Game July 25, 2012 |
MLS All-Stars |
3–2 | Chelsea |
PPL Park, Chester, PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wondolowski 21' Pontius 73'Johnson 90+1' |
Report | Terry 32' Lampard 58' |
Attendance: 19,236 Referee: Baldomero Toledo MVP: Chris Pontius |
| 2013 MLS All-Star Game July 31, 2013 |
MLS All-Stars |
1–3 | Roma |
Sporting Park, Kansas City, KS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:30 | Gonzalez 90+1' |
Report | Strootman 4' Florenzi 47'Tallo 68' |
Attendance: 21,175 Referee: Hilario Grajeda MVP: Alessandro Florenzi |
| 2014 MLS All-Star Game August 6, 2014 |
MLS All-Stars |
2–1 | Bayern Munich |
Providence Park, Portland, OR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wright-Phillips 51' Donovan 70' |
Report | Lewandowski 8' |
Attendance: 21,733 Referee: Jair Marrufo MVP: Landon Donovan |
| 2015 MLS All-Star Game July 29, 2015 |
MLS All-Stars |
2–1 | Tottenham Hotspur |
Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaká 20' (pen.) Villa 23' |
Report | Kane 37' |
Attendance: 18,671 Referee: Ismail Elfath MVP: Kaká |
| 2016 MLS All-Star Game July 28, 2016 |
MLS All-Stars |
v | Arsenal |
Avaya Stadium, San Jose, CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Announcement |
References
- ↑ Stephenson, Colinwas (1996-07-14). "Soccer Fans Get Their Kicks With 2 All-star Games Today". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
- ↑ Yannis, Alex (1996-07-16). "SOCCER REPORT". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
- ↑ "MLS announces 2014 MLS All-Star Game roster". US Soccer Players. July 21, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
