The 2021 Major League Soccer All-Star Game was the 25th edition of the 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 Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a traditional all-star g ...

, an exhibition soccer match in the United States. The game, featuring the MLS All-Stars taking on the Liga MX All-Stars, was played at Banc of California Stadium in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, California. The game was originally scheduled to take place on July 29, 2020, during the 2020 season, but was postponed on May 19, 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. The game was televised domestically on

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports ...

and

Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language 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 Latino public and inclu ...

in the United States, and on

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and

TVA Sports TVA Sports is a Canadian French-language sports specialty channel owned by the Groupe TVA, a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media. The channel is a general-interest sports network, and the first major competitor to RDS, the only other ...

in Canada. The MLS All-Stars won the match 3–2 on

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * P ...

after the 90 minute-match ended in a 1–1 tie.

Match planning

The

originally fielded two all-star teams from the Western and Eastern conferences. Other competition formats pitted an all-star team against various opponents, including the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ...

and clubs from Mexico and Europe. An exhibition between the MLS All-Stars and an all-star team from Liga MX, the top flight of Mexican soccer, was proposed in the mid-2010s as part of a closer relationship between the leagues. Officials from MLS and Liga MX announced a new partnership in March 2018, including new club competitions like the

Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

and

Leagues Cup The Leagues Cup is an annual association football competition between clubs from Major League Soccer and Liga MX in North America. It debuted in July 2019 with four teams participating from each league. The first edition was a single-eliminat ...

, and a commitment for a shared all-star game. Liga MX president Enrique Bonilla attended the

2018 MLS All-Star Game The 2018 Major League Soccer All-Star Game was the 23rd edition of the annual Major League Soccer All-Star Game. It was held on August 1 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia and played against Italian club Juventus. The match was t ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

with MLS commissioner

Don Garber Donald P. Garber (born October 9, 1957) is an American sports executive who has served as the Commissioner of Major League Soccer since 1999. Garber is also the CEO of Soccer United Marketing and a member of the United States Soccer Federati ...

, where they continued discussions for the match, including a potential venue in the Los Angeles area. On November 20, 2019, MLS officially announced that the 2020 All-Star Game would be played against the Liga MX All-Stars at Banc of California Stadium, the home of

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club, commonly referred to as LAFC, is an American professional Association football team based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The club ...

. It is the first to be played against an all-star team from another league. LAFC head coach Bob Bradley was selected as the manager of the MLS All-Star team. It is the first MLS All-Star Game to be played in the Los Angeles area since

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

, which was hosted by the

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

at the Home Depot Center, now known as

Dignity Health Sports Park Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dign ...

. On May 19, 2020, MLS announced that the All-Star Game would be canceled alongside the

2020 Leagues Cup The 2020 Leagues Cup was planned to be the second edition of the Leagues Cup organized by Major League Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation. The tournament would have featured 16 teams, an increase from the inaugural edition that had eight ...

and

2020 Campeones Cup The 2020 Campeones Cup was planned to be the third edition of the Campeones Cup, an annual North American football match contested between the champions of the previous Major League Soccer season and the winner of the Campeón de Campeones from L ...

due to the

. The league later announced that the All-Star Game would be rescheduled for the 2021 season in Los Angeles, with the MLS All-Stars against the Liga MX All-Stars. The league announced on June 9, 2021, that the All-Star Game against Liga MX would be played on August 25 at Banc of California Stadium.

Squads

MLS All-Stars

The MLS All-Star squad was announced on August 4, 2021.

Carlos Vela Carlos Alberto Vela Garrido (born 1 March 1989) is a Mexican professional footballer who captains and plays for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Described as a versatile player who can play as a forward, winger, and attacking midfiel ...

and

Javier Hernández Javier Hernández Balcázar (; born 1 June 1988), commonly known by the nickname Chicharito (, Mexican Spanish: ''little pea''), is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy. He is know ...

withdrew due to injury. New England players

Carles Gil Carles Gil de Pareja Vicent (born 22 November 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for New England Revolution in Major League Soccer. He began his career at Valencia, playing mostly in their reserves a ...

and Tajon Buchanan withdrew as well as Minnesota United midfielder Emanuel Reynoso.

Rodolfo Pizarro Rodolfo Gilbert Pizarro Thomas (born 15 February 1994) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Pizarro broke into the senior Pachuca team in 2012, remaining there unti ...

George Bello George Oluwaseun Bello (born January 22, 2002) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a left-back for 2. Bundesliga club Arminia Bielefeld and the United States national team. Early years Born in Abuja, Nigeria, Bello ...

, and Sebastian Lletget were added as replacements. Six members of the starting XI were selected from

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

, tying the record set by D.C. United in 2006. Brothers Cristian Roldan and

Alex Roldan Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis_(given_name), Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambigu ...

also became the first brothers to play for the All-Star team. * Manager: Bob Bradley ''(

)''

Liga MX All-Stars

The Liga MX All-Star squad was announced on July 19, 2021. Nahuel Guzmán and Jorge Sánchez were called up as replacements for

José de Jesús Corona José de Jesús Corona Rodríguez (born 26 January 1981) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper and captains for Liga MX club Cruz Azul. Corona is an Olympic gold medalist, captaining Mexico at the 2012 Summer Olymp ...

and

Fernando Navarro Fernando Navarro may refer to: * Fernando Navarro (Spanish footballer) Fernando Navarro Corbacho (; born 25 June 1982) is a Spanish former professional footballer. Mainly a left-back, he could also play as a central defender. He spent most of ...

who withdrew due to injury. On August 23, the final squad was announced with 10 new players added. * Manager: Juan Reynoso ''(

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

)''

Skills Challenge

The MLS All-Star Skills Challenge was played on August 24 at Banc of California Park between eight players from each team in five events. The Liga MX All-Stars defeated the MLS All-Stars in the competition by a score of 26–25, with the tiebreaker scored by Cruz Azul forward Jonathan Rodríguez in the Crossbar Challenge.

Broadcasting

The All-Star Game and Skills Challenge were both broadcast in the United States on

in English and TUDN in Spanish, as well as

and

in Canada. Fox Sports broadcast the match in 4K HDR and also deployed several special slow-motion cameras for the match, as well as a skycam. The Fox Sports broadcast averaged 175,000 viewers, setting a record low for the event's English broadcasts, while the TUDN broadcast averaged 1.4 million and peaked at 1.6 million—the second-most for a Spanish broadcast of the match.

Match

Match rules

*Unlimited substitutions *

Penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

if tied at full time; no extra time

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mls All-Star 2021

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All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase 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 d ...

August 2021 sports events in the United States 2021 in sports in California 2021–22 Liga MX season 2021–22 in Mexican football Association football penalty shoot-outs