Will Any Top USMNT Players Appear in the MLS All-Star Game?

Which A-team, B-team, or C-team Americans will suit up against Arsenal?

The All-Star match this evening at DC United’s stadium in the nation’s capital should provide great, entertaining soccer and plenty of goals. The MLS All Stars will feature many talented players, but Arsenal will be a very difficult opponent. The Gunners are easily one of the best ten sides in the world, and they just missed out on winning the Premier League this year to a transcendent Manchester City.

So for both general MLS fans and the global army of Arsenal fans, the match certainly will be entertaining.

But what does this match offer for USMNT fans? Will we see any of our favorite players in this match?

Arsenal Americans

Let's start with Arsenal, and then take a close at the MLS team.

The Gunners actually have two of our best players on their roster, and one up-and-comer:

• Folarin Balogun. Flo has always been an Arsenal player, and grew up in their system, but he was on loan at Rheims in France this past year where he had a fabulous season. Now he is the subject of intense transfer rumors all across Europe and might even join Pulisic at AC Milan.

• Matt Turner. Yep, our USMNT number one goalkeeper is Ramsdale's backup at Arsenal. Turner could start this match in a nod to his popularity here. Personally, I hope he gets loaned out before the season starts so he can get more match playing time this year. There is unfortunately no rumored loan agreement yet.

• Auston Trusty. A young, up-and-coming central defender who I place currently on the D-team in our USMNT depth chart at this point. He certainly could rise up and challenge Ream, Richards, and CCV for an A-team spot if he has another good season in England this year. He was on loan this past season, and played extensively at Birmingham in the English Championship (2nd division). He played very well and could get a transfer or another loan this year, or perhaps Arsenal will keep him for 2023-24.

The MLS Side

Now let’s take a close look at USMNT players in MLS who will feature in this All-Star match. Quite a few players at our C-team and D-team level are on the roster for this match, including many who appeared in our poor showing at this month’s Gold Cup. Others are not even at the D-team level in the USMNT depth chart.

Given that all of our best USMNT players are now playing in Europe, this state of affairs shouldn’t be surprising to us.

So let’s take a look. Here is the list of All-Stars who are American, in order of my interest and their potential to feature for the USMNT A-team:

• Luciano Acosta (CIN) - Let’s start with the most interesting player to me right now on this list, Lucho Acosta. He will captain the MLS team, no small honor. Acosta is a native Argentine midfielder with great technical ability on the ball. He hasn’t yet received his American citizenship, but by all accounts he is nearly through the process and is keen to get it done, become a full American, and suit up for the USA. He’s made his life here, his children were born here, and he clearly intends to stay in the country after his playing career. He is no longer young—at 30 years old—and he isn’t quite at A-team level when examining the strength of our very best USMNT midfielders. But he should slot right into a B-team spot on the depth chart and be called up as soon as his citizenship goes through. Let’s see how he does against Arsenal.

  

  Should Lucho Acosta acquire US citizenship, which looks likely, he could be an intriguing USMNT player.

• Jesús “Pirate” Ferreira (DAL) - Not at his peak yet, but at 22, the Pirate is no longer a truly young player. He plunders small Caribbean islands for the USMNT, but he struggles to score even single goals when playing decent international competition. He should feature in this match against Arsenal, and perhaps a strong performance will erase some of fans’ awful memories of his performance against Holland in Qatar. A transfer to Europe is needed to improve his game and push him to his potential, but he is well-paid and well-loved in Dallas, and he might choose to simply stay put. I see Pirate currently as a C-team attacking midfielder.

• Aidan Morris (CLB) - A young midfielder with some genuine talent and potential. I have on the E-team on the depth chart. He’s still just 21, and he is good, but he’s probably not quite good enough to really ever be part of the USMNT A-team picture. No need to say for certain at this point, but he was not quite good enough in the Gold Cup to raise his stock much. After another strong year at Columbus—which he is enjoying currently—he should try his luck in Europe. A smaller league, like Belgium or Portugal, would be the perfect milieu to push himself to a higher level.

• Walker Zimmerman (NSH) - A known commodity at this point, Walker is 30 years old. He is a longtime USMNT veteran and played three of our four matches in Qatar. He’s fallen down to the C-team on my depth chart now that our Europe-based central defenders have improved substantially over the past three years. We might never know how good Walker could have been had he gone to Europe, as it seems likely at this point that he will retire as an “MLS lifer.”

• John Tolkin (RBNY) - A young fullback with a slightly-above-average performance in the Gold Cup. I have Tolkin on the E-team for the USMNT, which is to say, he has potential but shouldn’t be called up again until he improves.

• Jordan Morris (SEA) - A known commodity for the USMNT, “JMo” has played some great matches over the years, and he’s still a C-team winger for us, but it’s time to move on in terms of the first roster. He’ll never be at that level for us, and we now have better and younger wings and attacking midfielders—such as Taylor Booth—who should be getting the experience with the USMNT to grow and improve and contribute in 2026.

• Tim Parker (STL) - A fringe defender, not really in the picture anymore, but he is having a bit of a career renaissance at St Louis City this year. For me, he should be called in over Miazga or Long if we ever get that far down the depth chart again.

• Matt Miazga (CIN) - Speaking of Miazga, he’s another fringe defender, but he was called in and played quite a bit in the Gold Cup. He was generally poor and honestly is not good enough at this point even for the USMNT D-team.

• Ryan Hollingshead (LAFC) - A fringe defender, not really in the picture anymore.

So that’s it. I’d say there are three interesting, potential USMNT players who could feature on the MLS side in this All-Star match: Lucho, Pirate, and Aidan.

Unfortunately, none of the three is really A-team material at this point. One isn’t eligible yet. The other two haven’t yet demonstrated the talent to play with our first team.

Thus, while this All-Star match should be great viewing and lots of fun, it’s not really a showcase of the best American players other than the two players—Flo Balogun and Matt Turner—who will suit up on the Arsenal side.

Enjoy the match.