Ahead of this week's midsummer matchup, GOAL looks back 30 years at the first MLS All-Star Game in New Jersey
In 1994, the United States hosted the FIFA World Cup for the first time, and it was the first introduction of the sport in the country. Major League Soccer launched in 1996 to capitalize on the momentum in the U.S.
The league featured the stars from the U.S. men's national team, and now, 30 years on, MLS has grown into one of the world's most competitive leagues. That 1996 season, though, was special and notably, it featured the first MLS All-Star Game.
It's All-Star week in MLS, and the 29th edition of the game is set to be played at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas on Wednesday night. There have been many formats, and in recent years, the Mexico-U.S. rivalry has been pushed with MLS vs LIGA MX All-Stars.
The modern success of the ASG is only possible due to what happened in 1996: a patriotic, over-the-top occasion that had American soccer fans soaking in the best of their new domestic league.
GOAL US looks back on that inaugural MLS All-Star Game.
WHAT HAPPENED?
In a very American sport-style moment, the day began with players walking out one by one, team by team – East vs West – with their names announced to respective cheers around the stadium. The loudest applause was for forward Brian McBride and defender Alexi Lalas, both of whom starred for the U.S. in the '94 World Cup.
The East ultimately won the match 3-2, and it was a proper spectacle. Goals from the winning side included strikes from Tab Ramos, Giovanni Savarese and Steve Pittman while Preki and Jason Kreis scored for the West. At the full-time whistle, though, fans didn't leave their seats. Why? Well, it turns out the MLS ASG was just the opening act.
In 1996, soccer in U.S. was still being established. The idea of filling Giants Stadium in New Jersey just for the MLS All-Star Game was a bit of a dream. So why did 78,416 spectators show up to witness the first MLS ASG? There was second match scheduled immediately after, the main event of a doubleheader featuring the Brazil national team against the FIFA All-Stars.
Jorge Campos, goalkeeper for the West, played 45 minutes in the MLS All-Star Game and then proceeded to – this is true – play again, but this time at striker for the FIFA All-Stars. Nothing short of a fever dream.
Brazil won the glorified second match, with Roberto Carlos scoring the winner – the summer he moved to Real Madrid – in a 2-1 victory, capping off a truly historic first day of MLS All-Star action. It was the perfect result for the league – two games, with goals galore, legitimate superstars from around the world taking the pitch after the opening act.
It was the most "welcome to American soccer" showing possible, and it was executed to near perfection.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportWHY IT MATTERED
That games at Giants Stadium drew fans from all over the U.S. Though Giants Stadium no longer exists, it was based in East Rutherford, now home to MetLife Stadium – which hosted the Club World Cup final, and will do the same for the 2026 FIFA World Cup final.
It's fair to say that the first ASG is, in some ways, inspiring American soccer. At the Club World Cup this summer, individual player walkouts with names announced were replicated. As for the history of the ASG, that afternoon at Giants Stadium established a foundation for what fans could expect in the coming years of the ASG: a true spectacle.
Getty Images SportFROM THOSE WHO WERE THERE
What did everyone expect from the first MLS All-Star Game? Well, nobody really knew.
“Since it was the first one, none of us had really been in an All-Star Game,” inaugural MLS All-Star Alexi Lalas recalled in 2011. “We associated everything with other sports. It’s a very American type of situation. So, we looked at not knowing, from a competitive side, how to approach and play the game.”
The match, with five different goal scorers, ultimately served as a precursor for the main event, but the players knew then in the moment they'd started something special.
“Even though we recognized a lot of people were there for Brazil-World Stars game, there was a collective understanding that this was celebrating a year into our little project,” Lalas said. “I don’t think any of us ever got the feeling that it wasn’t still about MLS even with the incredible draw of that second game.”
When asked in if the match left a lasting memory, then-star for the West and current head coach of Toronto FC, Robin Fraser, replied "absolutely."
“It was the first year of the league and everything was new to us," he recalled several years ago. "To see the kind of fans there surrounding soccer was great. For those of us who’d been around and been in smaller leagues and been on national teams, we were definitely waiting for the day when soccer would be embraced like that.”
And embrace the world of American soccer, fans did. Fast forward to present day, and the groundwork for 30 years of MLS was established, too.
Getty Images SportWHAT CAME NEXT?
So much has changed in 30 years for MLS. An eight-time Ballon d'Or winner in Lionel Messi stars in the league. The All-Star game is in its 29th iteration – the 2020 game was nullified by the pandemic – and no longer does MLS need a second match to draw in a sold-out crowd.
The 2025 ASG is here, and for the fans who have been around since day one, it's a celebratory moment 30 years in the making.
