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MLS All-Star Game

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MLS All-Stars celebrate a goal in the 2005 game versus Fulham of the English Premier League

The MLS All-Star Game has been held each season that Major League Soccer has existed. The set-up for the game has been far more fluid than that of All-Star games in more traditional leagues such as the NBA, NFL, and MLB. In six out of ten years, the Eastern Division players have played Western Division players. Twice, both during World Cup years, the league featured matchups based on nationality - in 1998, the Americans of MLS played the internationals; in 2002, the U.S. national team faced off against the (remaining) All-Stars of MLS. In 2003, the MLS All-Stars played Chivas de Guadalajara in Los Angeles, in what was probably the most competitive All-Star game in the league's history. In 2004, an attempt to pit MLS All-Stars against Real Madrid fell through when Real Madrid failed to achieve automatic qualification for the Champions League, forcing MLS to return to traditional East-West play. The 2005 MLS All-Star Game was played by selected MLS All-Stars against the English Premier League side Fulham at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio as Fulham's American forward Brian McBride, the MVP of the 1998 MLS All-Star Game and a former Columbus Crew forward, made an anticipated return to the city. The 2006 MLS All-Star Game will be versus Chelsea FC, the English Premier League champions, and may be a sign that the MLS is trending towards playing major foreign clubs in an effort to boost interest and improve international and domestic perceptions about the quality of MLS players.

The 2008 All-star Game is going to be held in Toronto, home to the MLS' latest franchise.

MLS is one of the few soccer leagues that plays an All-Star game. To many soccer fans elsewhere, international football would make any "all-star" game redundant and meaningless. In British English, an "all-star" soccer team representing a particular league or other grouping is called an XI (the Roman numeral represents the eleven players on the field). In respect of this tradition, MLS frequently referred to its starting lineup as an "XI" for its match against Fulham.


Previous results

Date Played Winning Team Losing Team Score Location City Att.
1996 East West 3-2 Giants Stadium East Rutherford 78,416^
1997 East West 5-4 Giants Stadium East Rutherford 24,816
1998 MLS USA MLS World 6-1 Citrus Bowl Orlando 34,416
1999 West East 6-4 Qualcomm Stadium San Diego 23,227
2000 East West 9-4 Columbus Crew Stadium Columbus 23,495^
2001 East West 6-6† Spartan Stadium San Jose 23,512
2002 MLS All Stars USA 3-2 RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. 31,096
2003 MLS All Stars Chivas de Guadalajara 3-1 Home Depot Center Carson, California 27,000^
2004 East West 3-2 RFK Stadium Washington, D.C. 46,378
2005 MLS All Stars Fulham 4-1 Columbus Crew Stadium Columbus 23,409^
2006 MLS All Stars Chelsea Toyota Park Bridgeview, Illinois
2007 TBD TBD ? TBD
2008 TBD TBD Exhibition Place Stadium Toronto, Ontario

Game MVPs

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