Voting closed Wednesday for fans, players, and media to weigh in on who they’d like to see represent Major League Soccer at the 2025 MLS All-Star Game, set for July 23 at Q2 Stadium here in Austin.
Though we don’t know the exact results at time of writing, the league on Monday released some preliminary voting tallies that hinted at who might get the nod. No surprise, Lionel Messi headlined the list. Barring injury, he will kick a ball in Austin for the first time in his career next month when the MLS All-Stars take on the Liga MX All-Stars in the annual exhibition match.
Other locks include Messi’s Inter Miami teammates Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, as well as MVP contenders Evander, Anders Dreyer, and Tai Baribo.
Also made clear in that release, you can forget about any Austin FC players making it in off the vote. Not a single Verde player was listed as a top-five vote-getter at his position.
So, will the local fans have anyone of their own to cheer on at Q2?
Fortunately, the 12 All-Star slots awarded via balloting comprise less than half of the 26-player roster. Another dozen come at the discretion of the manager of the MLS All-Star team, Austin FC head coach, Nico Estévez. No, not because Estévez has done an “all-star” job this season, but because the nomination always goes to the coach of that year’s host club. (The final two places are reserved for last-minute commissioner selections.)
Because of this, it’s a virtual guarantee that the host club gets at least one, and usually multiple, all-stars. The last time a host club had just one representative, Nani suited up for Orlando City in 2019.
Now, if you ask Estévez (we did), every Austin FC player deserves to be an all-star, despite the club’s middling record.
“I will tell everyone to vote our players, because they are really good players, and they can do a really good job on the MLS All-Star [team], and they deserve to be there.”
So there you have it, all 12 of Nico’s manager selections will be Austin FC players. Great!
Could you imagine?
In reality, I’d set the over/under for Verde picks at 1.5.
The first should be relatively obvious, for a few reasons. Brad Stuver has been a top-performing goalkeeper in MLS going on five seasons now, and this year has been no different. He’s top-five in saves and clean sheets, and top 10 in save percentage and goals against per game. Statistically, it’s been arguably his best season yet.
Book it. This will be the year Stuver gets his long-overdue all-star bid.
But will any of his teammates join him?
I can think of as many as three for whom a case can be made. Brandon Vazquez has the name and reputation of an all-star, but so far, not the production.
Brendan Hines-Ike has arguably been the club’s most consistent performer, though nothing about him jumps off the page.
Then there’s Owen Wolff, with his USMNT legacy name, having somewhat of a breakout season at age 20. If Wolff stays in MLS for the long term, he’s a shoo-in for some all-star nods. But could that come as soon as this season?
If I’m Nico Estévez, and I don’t want to push my luck, I’m going with two ATX players: Stuver and Wolff.
Wolff has already earned legitimate accolades with his play, having twice received MLS Team of the Matchday honors. He’s also a budding USMNT prospect soccer fans want to see. And if Wolff ever decides he wants to test his talents in Europe, having “All-Star” on his résumé will only help Austin FC’s leverage when negotiating an outgoing transfer fee.
Austin FC won’t get another shot at literally hand-picking its all-stars. And while it would be poor form to abuse this opportunity, that doesn’t mean you can’t take some liberties.
This article appears in June 13 • 2025.
