The 2026 MLS All Star First XI has been released, and the headline names are a surprise to no one.
Lionel Messi and Son Heung-Min are the least surprising additions – $10 would have won you about five cents on that bet – but who else has been named?
Only the first eleven have been confirmed so far, but there are 15 places still to be taken. The initial team was selected through the normal combined voting system involving fans, players, and media members, with a 4-3-3 formation in mind. Don Garber will choose who fills two of the remaining places, while Charlotte FC head coach, Dean Smith, will be picking the other 13.
The MLS All Stars will face off against a team of leading players from Liga MX on July 29th. The venue is the Bank of America stadium in Charlotte, and Apple TV will be broadcasting the game.
Here’s what we know so far.
The First XI – Who Has Been Chosen
This is the third year in a row that Messi has been named in the All Star team – although he withdrew in 2025 – while Son Heung-Min becomes only the second South Korean player to make the team since his move to LAFC in August last year. The first was LA Galaxy defender, Hong Myung-Bo, way back in 2003.
They are joined in the front line by Chicago Fire striker Hugo Cuypers, who is currently the top scorer in the league, with 13 goals in 11 games.
| Position | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Brian Schwake | Nashville SC |
| Left Back | Anthony Markanich | Minnesota United FC |
| Centre-Back | Mbekezeli Mbokazi | Chicago Fire FC |
| Centre-Back | Tim Ream | Charlotte FC |
| Right Back | Andy Najar | Nashville SC |
| Defensive Midfielder | Sebastian Berhalter | Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
| Attacking Midfielder | Zavier Gozo | Real Salt Lake |
| Attacking Midfielder | Hany Mukhtar | Nashville SC |
| Forward | Hugo Cuypers | Chicago Fire FC |
| Forward | Son Heung-Min | LAFC |
| Forward | Lionel Messi | Inter Miami CF |
In midfield, Zavier Gozo becomes only the second teenager to have been selected in the last 5 MLS All Star Games. The young Real Salt Lake star being joined by Vancouver Whitecaps defensive midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, and Nashville SC’s veteran playmaker, Hany Mukhtar.
Brian Schwake is in goal, making his All Star debut, and in front of him is Tim Ream, making an All Star return 15 years after his first appearance in 2011. Mbekezeli Mbokazi partners with Ream, and received more fan votes than any other player on the ballot.
The left back is Minnesota United’s, Anthony Markanich, 2025’s highest scoring defender in MLS with 9 goals. The right back is Nashville’s Andy Najar, who already has 5 assists this season. So between the two of them there should hopefully be at least one goal scored or created.
MLS The Favourite Again
This will be the fifth time MLS All Stars have faced their Liga MX counterparts. And MLS are currently leading the race.
The first meeting was in 2021, ending with a penalty shootout victory for MLS, and they won again in 2022, this time with a 2-1 win. Liga MX came back with a 4-1 triumph in 2024, but MLS put them firmly back in their place in 2025 with a convincing 3-1 win in Texas.
MLS are the favourites again, even at this early stage, and with the game taking place at Bank of America Stadium for the first time, the venue where Charlotte FC regularly attract some of the biggest crowds in the league, attendance is likely to be strong.
The game takes place just ten days after the World Cup Final, too, so Major League Soccer will be hoping that some of the World Cup hysteria will carry across to the All Star game.