The MLS All-Stars beat the Liga MX All-Stars 4-3 on Wednesday, July 29, at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, in front of a capacity crowd of 35,197. LAFC forward Son Heung-min captained the MLS side in his first All-Star appearance, scored twice inside the opening 23 minutes, and was named the game's MVP.
Per MLS's official match release, Son is the first player in LAFC history to win the All-Star Game MVP award. The result moved MLS to 4-1 all-time against Liga MX in the fixture.
Two goals in three minutes
Liga MX opened the scoring in the 9th minute, when Juan Brunetta of Tigres curled a set piece to the back post and Luis Gabriel Rey of Chivas headed it in.
Son answered in the 20th. Carles Gil, the New England Revolution playmaker and 2021 Landon Donovan MLS MVP, played a ball over the defense; Son took a touch and finished low past Liga MX goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo of Santos Laguna to level it at 1-1.
Three minutes later the same pair combined again. Hany Mukhtar of Nashville SC clipped a pass to Gil, whose cross found Son for a running right-footed volley and a 2-1 lead. Son was substituted off in the 35th minute, his night's work done.
"I have enjoyed it a lot," Son said afterward, as reported by LAFC. "It's amazing. Amazing players. I didn't have to do much. Everybody just set it up perfectly, so I just had two tap-ins."
Gil, who assisted both goals, told MLSSoccer.com the pair had not rehearsed anything: "We didn't practice [anything]. But you know, in the end, when you play with this type of players sometimes you don't even practice. It's just easy connections."
The rest of the scoring
Philip Zinckernagel of Chicago Fire FC made it 3-1 in the 42nd minute with a first-time finish on a loose ball in the box. Liga MX pulled one back in the 50th through Salomón Rondón of Pachuca, set up by a backheel from Cruz Azul's Carlos Rodríguez. Evander of FC Cincinnati restored the two-goal cushion in the 58th, curling in a finish after combination play between Nashville SC's Sam Surridge and Andy Najar.
Liga MX made it nervy in the first minute of second-half stoppage time, when José Paradela of Cruz Azul buried a cross from América's Israel Reyes into the top corner for the 4-3 final.
A post-World Cup All-Star Game
The game arrived ten days after the July 19 World Cup final on home soil, and the rosters showed it. Fifteen players in the match had appeared at the tournament — ten for the MLS All-Stars, including Son, USMNT goalkeeper Matt Freese of NYCFC, Tim Ream of Charlotte FC and Petar Musa of FC Dallas, and five for Liga MX.
It also showed in who was missing. Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul of Inter Miami, Chicago Fire's Mbekezeli Mbokazi and former Fire forward Hugo Cuypers were all replaced on the roster on July 25, ruled unavailable after their World Cup runs ended. An agreement between the league and the MLS Players Association, reached before the season, left participation up to individual clubs.
Ciara headlined the halftime show, performing "Level Up."
Son arrived in MLS a year ago, when LAFC signed him from Tottenham in an MLS-record $26 million transfer. He came into All-Star week leading the league in assists. That fee is the largest MLS has paid to bring a player in, and it landed in a run of arrivals that also brought Robert Lewandowski to Chicago Fire on a two-year deal this summer. MLS Season Pass averaged 120,000 unique viewers per match in 2025, up almost 50% from 2024.
Son returns to league play on Saturday, August 1, when LAFC travel to face the Vancouver Whitecaps and his All-Star teammate Thomas Müller at BC Place.
Source: MLSSoccer.com match release, MLSSoccer.com, LAFC, and Wikipedia's 2026 MLS All-Star Game entry.
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