2026 MLS All-Star Game: First Picks Revealed as Messi, Son, USMNT Stars Headline

Five of the first 11 MLS All-Stars will represent their countries at the World Cup this summer.

Son Heung-min (left), Tim Ream (center) and Lionel Messi (right) are all set to head to the 2026 MLS All Star Game. | Luiza Moraes/MLS/Getty Images, Cory Knowlton/ISI Photos/Getty Images, Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images

Lionel Messi, Son Heung-min and two U.S. men’s national team stars were selected for the 2026 MLS All-Star game in Charlotte, N.C. in late July, headlining the first eleven players unveiled for the match.

Inter Miami superstar Messi, who will be 39 by the time the game comes around, cracks his third All-Star roster since joining MLS in 2023, but there remains doubt around whether or not he will play, given he skipped the league’s marquee event last season. Son, meanwhile, features for the first time, after joining LAFC last summer. 

Alongside them will be two World Cup-bound USMNT stars, including captain and Charlotte FC defender Tim Ream and Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter. Should they, Messi or any other player opt to miss the event, they will be suspended for their club’s next MLS match. 

Led by Dean Smith, the manager of Charlotte FC, the MLS All-Stars will face off against the best from Liga MX in a skills-based competition on July 28, ahead of the annual showcase game on July 29, both taking place at Bank of America Stadium. 

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MLS All-Stars—How It Works

The league’s brightest stars. ⭐

Meet the First XI for the MLS All-Star Game pres. by @chime pic.twitter.com/DaefafwnkC

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 5, 2026

The final squad will feature 26 players, with only the first eleven unveiled this week. Already, though, the roster features five players set to play at the 2026 World Cup, with Messi headlining Argentina’s title defense, Son with South Korea, Berhalter and Ream with the USMNT and Mbekezeli Mbokazi with South Africa. 

For the MLS side, the entire roster is selected from a mix of fan votes, 13 coach picks from Smith and two picks from MLS commissioner Don Garber. After several weeks of voting, Chicago Fire center back Mbokazi led the line and is set to become the second South African player to be named to an MLS All Star squad, while Son matches the achievement for South Korean stars.

Of the 11 fan-voted selections, five were previously MLS All-Stars, with each of Berhalter, Messi, Hany Mukhtar, and Andy Najar representing the league in 2025, while Tim Ream earned a call to the 2011 MLS All-Star Game, which pitted the selection against Manchester United.  

2026 marks the fifth time in the last six seasons that the event will use the MLS vs. Liga MX structure, after previously hosting matchups between the Eastern and Western Conferences as well as against highly touted European teams, including Arsenal, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the past.

Last season, the MLS All-Stars prevailed 3–1 over Liga MX in Austin and won the skills challenge, after losing both events in 2024.

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MLS All-Stars—First Selections

Sebastian Berhalter will head to the MLS All-Star game after playing for the USMNT at the World Cup. | Elizabeth Ruiz Ruiz/Getty Images

Goalkeepers

• Brian Schwake (Nashville SC)

Defenders

• Anthony Markanich (Minnesota United)
• Mbekezeli Mbokazi (Chicago Fire)
• Tim Ream (Charlotte FC) 
• Andy Najar (Nashville SC)

Midfielders

• Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps) 
• Zavier Gozo (Real Salt Lake)
• Hany Mukhtar (Nashville SC)

Forwards

• Hugo Cuypers (Chicago Fire)
• Son Heung-Min (LAFC)
• Leo Messi (Inter Miami)

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