It's that time again: Time to decide who belongs at the annual MLS All-Star Game, scheduled for the night of July 29 in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the turf at Bank of America Stadium.
The annual summer exhibition will once again pit a collection of MLS All-Stars against a collection of All-Stars from Mexico's Liga MX. The Starting XI for the MLS squad gets picked by a three-pronged popular vote, with fans, MLS players, and media each getting an equal say in who earns the honor of MLS All-Star starter.
Here at the New York Soccer Journal, we've got three of the privileged few members of the American soccer media who got to cast media ballots to help decide who makes that Starting XI.
Our voting bloc consists of Andrew Leigh, editor of NYSJ, Trey Fillmore, co-host of our The Blueprint podcast, and Michael Battista, NYSJ's resident Cosmos and lower-league reporter who also covers Red Bull New York for New York Sports Nation. We all got our ballots in prior to the deadline, which was 11:59 pm ET on Thursday, May 21. If you're reading this, it's sadly too late to vote, but fear not, we made our voices heard on your behalf.
Since all votes are now officially cast, we're here to share each of our ballots and provide some explanations for our choices, broken down by each position group: Goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders, and forwards. You'll notice that we all have the same formation, and that's by design, because MLS only allowed you to vote in a 4-3-3 formation, and you were limited to to players who appeared in at least 50% of their club's matches played as of May 13.
So with all that explained, let's first show you each of our individual ballots, then break down the picks.
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Andrew Leigh's MLS All-Star Starting XI
GK: Brad Stuver - Austin FC; RB: Andy Nájar - Nashville SC; CB: Mathias Laborda - Vancouver Whitecaps, Jackson Ragen - Seattle Sounders; LB: Anthony Markanich - Minnesota United FC; DM: Sebastian Berhalter - Vancouver Whitecaps; AMs: Guilherme - Houston Dynamo FC, Zavier Gozo - Real Salt Lake; FWDs: Hugo Cuypers - Chicago Fire FC, Lionel Messi - Inter Miami CF, Petar Musa - FC Dallas
Michael Battista's MLS All-Star Starting XI
GK: Brad Stuver - Austin FC; RB: Samuel Sarver - FC Dallas; CB: Tristan Blackmon - Vancouver Whitecaps, Daniel Munie - San Jose Earthquakes; LB: Anthony Markanich - Minnesota United FC; DM: Adri Mehmeti - Red Bull New York; AMs: Hany Mukhtar - Nashville SC, Pep Biel - Charlotte FC; FWDs: Hugo Cuypers - Chicago Fire FC, Julian Hall - Red Bull New York, Petar Musa - FC Dallas
Trey Fillmore's MLS All-Star Starting XI
GK: Brad Stuver - Austin FC; RB: Andy Nájar - Nashville SC; CB: Mathias Laborda - Vancouver Whitecaps, Thiago Martins - New York City FC; LB: Anthony Markanich - Minnesota United FC; DM: Sebastian Berhalter - Vancouver Whitecaps; AMs: Evander - FC Cincinnati, Zavier Gozo - Real Salt Lake; FWDs: Hugo Cuypers - Chicago Fire FC, Lionel Messi - Inter Miami CF, Petar Musa - FC Dallas
Now that all 33 of our picks are on the record, we'll add comments by position group to give you the rationale behind the choices.
Goalkeeper
Andrew: Brad Stuver, Austin FC
The fact that Stuver spent multiple days and multiple rounds of MLS matches personally campaigning for himself on Bluesky completely won me over. Sometimes, campaigning directly to your target voters works. That, the fact that his advanced shot-stopping stats are elite this season, and because I remember him fondly as Sean Johnson's back-up here with New York City FC. Easy choice.
Michael: Brad Stuver, Austin FC
There was a stat sticking out to me when picking my goalkeeper. The easy thing would be to pick the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets, in this case LAFC's Hugo Lloris with eight. But while Stuver only has four this season he leads the league in saves with 75. The next goalkeeper to have anywhere near as many clean sheets as him has nearly 20 less saves. Stuver is playing stellar with a bad backline. Gotta give it to him. Plus he's pushing himself on Bluesky.
Trey: Brad Stuver, Austin FC
When I'm picking goalkeeper, I look at post-shot expected goal plus minus. When I can't decide, I would say a lot of times I can't decide because MLS has so many good goalkeepers, and they always do. I know that it's hard to get over 28 goals allowed. But he's been great this year. He has prevented like almost six goals from going in the net, just himself. That's enough to switch the outcomes of multiple games. I think that's huge and I think he just doesn't get enough credit overall.
Defenders
Andrew: RB: Andy Nájar, Nashville SC; CB: Mathias Laborda, Vancouver Whitecaps; Jackson Ragen, Seattle Sounders; LB: Anthony Markanich, Minnesota United FC
I was torn between Nájar and Kyle Duncan of Minnesota for right-back, but when he's been available, Nájar has been such a big part of Nashville's success and I felt like I needed to get someone from their backline in there; Brian Schwake got crowded out of the goalkeeper spot by Stuver, and the Loons got a left-back in lieu of Duncan. Center-back, Ragen is consistently Defender of the Year-quality for the Sounders, who once again have one of the best defenses in MLS, and Laborda and Tristan Blackmon make for one of the league's best tandems in central defense, but I gave Laborda the edge due to availability and due to his attacking contributions.
Michael: RB: Samuel Sarver, FC Dallas; CB: Tristan Blackmon, Vancouver Whitecaps; Daniel Munie, San Jose Earthquakes; LB: Anthony Markanich, Minnesota United FC
I saw Sam Sarver score his first Major League Soccer goal in-person against Red Bull New York. Since then he's scored two more, including one last weekend that got him a Modelo beer sponsorship. Dude's a beast, and he's a former FC Motown player. He made that late push and he got my vote. Overall though, defenders are really tough to pick. Blackmon is the reigning MLS Defender of the Year and while I don't think he's done enough to be named to the United States men's national team roster for the World Cup, he's one of the reasons why the Caps are first in the West. Munie and Markanich have also both had good seasons as well, and the latter is the only person on here all three of us agreed on.
Trey: RB: Andy Nájar, Nashville SC; CB: Mathias Laborda, Vancouver Whitecaps; Thiago Martins, New York City FC; LB: Anthony Markanich, Minnesota United FC
The right back that does the best at contributing to one of the best strike forces in the league, that is Andy Nájar. He is 90th percentile in possession value, 96th percentile in passing value, 86th percentile in goals prevented too, so he's doing it on both ends and he has three assists in just 800 minutes played. This year when we're picking two center-backs, this is my go-to criteria: I pick the best defender on the team that has allowed the least expected goals, and then I pick an "eye test" guy. Best defender on the defensive expected goals allowed team, it's definitely Laborda. For me, as a center-back, getting three goals and an assist is cool, it's rad. My second center-back slot is my eye test guy, and I had to get a homer pick in somewhere, so it has to be Thiago Martins. I think if you watch him play and watch other players play in this league, he is a top three to five center-back in this league.
Left back was maybe the hardest just because this league is dying for some real superstar left backs. I just ended up defaulting to Anthony Markanich from Minnesota, he's got four goals and an assist this year, he's learned how to play defense extremely well, and he's 86th percentile in net possession value added, 90th percentile for offensive value added.
Midfielders
Andrew: DM: Sebastian Berhalter, Vancouver Whitecaps; AMs: Guilherme, Houston Dynamo FC; Zavier Gozo, Real Salt Lake
Berhalter is one of my favorite Western Conference players to watch. Absolute wand when it comes to his deliveries from dead-ball situations, off-the-chart marks on the "Got That Dawg In Him" scale, and has emerged as an elite defensive midfielder in MLS since breaking out with Vancouver and the USMNT in 2025. Guilherme with seven goals and four assists in his debut MLS season, and he's just carried Houston, ranking seventh among all MLS players in net goals added (g+), and in the 96th percentile for the value he adds with his dribbling: He's more dribbly winger than attacking midfielder, but we're working within the confines of this ballot. Same goes for Zavier Gozo, who is really a wingback, but who I had to vote for in another attacking mid slot. I'm one of those believe-the-hype types who is ready to see Gozo at the World Cup, and I'm especially ready to see him at the All-Star Game, just to see him do some more MLS things before he leaves for Europe.
Michael: DM: Adri Mehmeti, Red Bull New York; AMs: Hany Mukhtar, Nashville SC; Pep Biel, Charlotte FC
So originally this was going to be a Berhalter sweep for the three of us until I saw Mehmeti leading MLS voting for DMs. And the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Mehmeti is 17 years old and he's currently in the 89th percentile for defensive contributions in MLS. And on the other side of the field, he's a huge threat. Red Bull's offense can rely on him to make passes that break the backlines of other teams. In fact, no other player in MLS has a higher percentage of line-breaking passes (20.6%). He's just so good.
For Mukhtar this would be his fifth straight All-Star game, and with six goals and four assists through 13 matches played I think he's earned it. I could go on but we all know who Mukhtar is and what he can do with the ball. He's not on Golden Boot pace this year but Nashville are top of the East in big part because of him.
Biel is my dark horse pick because I don't think he's getting a lot of respect right now. He has more goal contributions than players like Maxi Moralez (who was my pick before the injury), Evander, Mukhtar, and more. One of the best attacking midfielders in MLS right now is going to be left off because he's not a sexy choice and Charlotte isn't a popular team. But he deserves the flowers.
Trey: DM: Sebastian Berhalter, Vancouver Whitecaps; AMs: Evander, FC Cincinnati; Zavier Gozo, Real Salt Lake
Berhalter, 10 goal involvements in the manner in which he plays is so, so impressive. He's a box-crasher for sure, but he's also involved in buildup and he's also busting back to make crazy challenges. He is so all over the place, and I just don't think there's any weakness in his game. He has the defensive capability and work rate and tactical understanding. He has his just technique, his ball striking, his delivery on set pieces, his creativity.
Evander, maybe the numbers aren't quite there, and I think there's genuine validity to the argument of whether or not he helps soccer teams win soccer games, but he's the most talented player on the pitch in pretty much any game he plays. He is everything that I dream of when I dream of a No 10, and the quality of the goals that he scores just get me out of my chair every time. I think Gozo needs to be on the field, and I think Salt Lake needs a player in this. Gozo is the best right-wing-back in this league, but we have to vote for a 4-3-3 so he technically doesn't qualify or is not allowed to be voted on as a right-back.
Forwards
Andrew: Hugo Cuypers, Chicago Fire FC; Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF; Petar Musa, FC Dallas
I wanted to include Nico Fernández Mercau from New York City FC to give my ballot at least a little "team I cover" flavor, but I simply couldn't sacrifice any of these three. If Nico was eligible for one of the AM spots, I would have voted for him over Guilherme, but alas. Cuypers is alone atop the Golden Boot race right now, but Messi and Musa are right on his heels: Sometimes it's boring to vote based on the literal Goals leaderboard, but in this case, it feels wrong to deviate from it. Better luck next season, Nico.
Michael: Hugo Cuypers, Chicago Fire FC; Julian Hall, Red Bull New York; Petar Musa, FC Dallas
Unlike Andrew, I have no problem putting "team I cover" flavor in my ballot. Especially at Lionel Messi's expense.
Hall has been named Player of the Matchday twice this season in MLS, only one other player has done that. He's the youngest player in league history to be named POTM, youngest to score an MLS hat-trick, he's shocked the league in overtaking Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting as Red Bull New York's leading offensive player. When I asked Michael Bradley if Hall should be an All-Star, he joked that if he was a coach of another team he'd vote for him (coaches can't vote for their own players).
"If in the process it comes, then we would all be very proud of him and very excited for him," Bradley said. "But there are bigger and more important things. And he knows that, we know that, and we're gonna keep working towards those things."
Hall has a future in this league, in this sport even, and I think those other important things will come — but there's nothing wrong with praising him right now with the All Star honor that he deserves. And the other elephant in the room is that Messi was voted an All Star last year and skipped the game. Why waste my vote on someone who might not even want it?
Andrew and Trey speak well for Cuypers and Musa. Two of the league's best offensive threats. Cuypers is the Golden Boot leader right now and he's done that while only playing 899 minutes (nearly 200 less than Messi).
Trey: Hugo Cuypers, Chicago Fire FC; Lionel Messi, Inter Miami CF; Petar Musa, FC Dallas
For me, the forwards was easy. In fact, this might be the easiest three ever. When I see people have different ones, I don't know what they're thinking. Firstly, these are the goal leaders. In non-penalty goals, Cuypers has 11, Messi has 11, and Musa has ten. Musa underlines that those guys are three of the best players in the league in net goals added. I've seen people say Julian Hall just because he's young and exciting, and people want to include him as a striker, but for my money, all the other guys add so much more on the front line.
