The 2016

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

All-Star Game, the 21st annual

Major League Soccer All-Star Game 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 another league. MLS initially adopted a traditional all ...

, took place on July 28, 2016 (7:30 p.m. EDT, 4:30 p.m. local time) at

Avaya Stadium PayPal Park (formerly Earthquakes Stadium and Avaya Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium in San Jose, California. It is the home stadium of the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Bay FC of the National Women's Soccer Leagu ...

, the home of the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

. The game was televised live on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...

in the United States, and on TSN and RDS in Canada. The game featured the MLS All-Star team playing English side

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, with the match being a preseason friendly for Arsenal as part of their tour of California. Chuba Akpom was named MVP.

Background

The

(MLS) All-Star Game is an annual

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the playe ...

played by a selection of players from the league's teams. It began in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

with the Eastern Conference and Western Conference fielding their own teams, similar to other major North American sports. After numerous format changes, the 2003 edition saw the format change again to matchup Mexican club

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

against the "MLS All-Stars", a team with the best players competing in MLS. After reverting back to the original format in 2004, the "MLS All-Stars" had since played various club teams from across the world, including

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

clubs

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and Chelsea. MLS announced in May 2015 that

, the home stadium of the

, would host the 21st edition of the MLS All-Star Game. In February 2016, it was announced that Premier League side

were set to play the MLS All-Stars on July 28. Telecommunications company

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

sponsored the game and the match was broadcast live in the United States through

and

; it was also available internationally in over 100 countries.

Squads

MLS All-Stars

The MLS All Star Fan XI was announced on July 9, 2016, however members of this XI were not guaranteed a slot in the 22 man game day squad. Notes: :Injured or otherwise unable to play.

Arsenal

On July 22 Arsenal announced a 25-man traveling squad for the MLS All-Star game:
Notes: :Injured or otherwise unable to play. : Arsenal F.C. Reserves, Development Squad

Match

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mls All-Star 2016

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases 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 division, bu ...

2016 in sports in California Arsenal F.C. matches Sports competitions in San Jose, California Soccer competitions in California July 2016 sports events in the United States 2010s in San Jose, California