2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge: format and participants

Several faces from the 2026 World Cup will be on show at Truist Park today, as the Charlotte arena hosts the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge - an event that is the prelude to tomorrow’s MLS All-Star Game.

How will the 2026 All-Star Skills Challenge unfold?

Standout players from Major League Soccer and Liga MX will put their abilities to the test across four individual challenges, which come with a tweak in format. In previous years, participants earned points for their team; in 2026, each event will be won by a single payer.

In addition to featuring select soccer stars from MLS and Mexico’s elite league, tonight’s individual events will also witness a smattering of celebrity cameos.

The evening’s entertainment will then conclude with a team challenge: a relay-style event that pits MLS’s representatives against their counterparts from Liga MX.

MLS All-Star Skills Challenge - every event:

Shooting challenge

• Hit as many targets as possible in 60 seconds (also featuring YouTuber FaZe Rug)

Goalkeeper challenge

• Two keepers try to score past each other on a small-sized soccer field

Crossbar challenge

• Players go head-to-head as they try to hit the bar from the edge of the penalty box (also featuring influencer Céline Dept and former NFL player Chad Ochocinco)

Passing challenge

• Players try to hit a series of passing targets in the shortest possible time (also featuring actor Danny Ramírez)

Relay challenge

• Two teams of players - one from MLS, one from Liga MX - face off in a relay that combines features from every individual skills challenge

MLS Skills Challenge - the rosters:

In addition to 2014 World Cup winner Thomas Müller, MLS’s roster includes five men - the U.S.’s Tim Ream and Matt Freese, Canada’s Maxime Crépeau, South Korea’s Son Heung-min, and Croatia’s Petar Musa - who were at FIFA’s global tournament this summer.

MLS’s Skills Challenge squad also features three players from the Next Pro development league: Houston Dynamo 2’s Pedro Cruz, Huntsville City’s Will Mackay and North Texas’s Edouard Nys.

MLS roster:

• Maxime Crépeau: Orlando City
• Pedro Cruz: Houston Dynamo 2
• Evander: FC Cincinnati
• Matt Freese: New York City FC
• Carles Gil: New England Revolution
• Zavier Gozo: Real Salt Lake
• Son Heung-min: Los Angeles FC
• Will Mackay: Huntsville City
• Thomas Müller: Vancouver Whitecaps
• Edouard Nys: North Texas SC
• Petar Musa: FC Dallas
• Tim Ream: Charlotte FC

Liga MX roster:

• Juan Brunetta, Tigres
• Fernando Gorriarán, Tigres
• Elías Montiel, Pachuca
• Carlos Moreno, Pachuca
• José Paradela, Cruz Azul
• Federico Pereira, Toluca
• Charly Rodríguez, Cruz Azul
• Javier Ruiz, Necaxa

All-Star Skills Challenge: start times, how to watch

The 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT. You’ll be able to watch the event on the subscription streaming service Apple TV.

Tomorrow evening, the MLS and Liga MX players involved in today’s Skills Challenge will move on to Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, where they’re on the rosters for the 2026 MLS All-Star Game. An exhibition match that pits the best of MLS against their counterparts from Mexico, Wednesday’s All-Star matchup kicks off at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.

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