2026 MLS All Star Skills Challenge: Thomas Muller, Tim Ream and Maxime Crepeau Turn Charlotte Into a Trick Shot Circus

Photo Credits: Ethan Garnier

There are preseason exhibitions, there are all star weekends, and then there is the MLS All Star Skills Challenge: the beautiful little soccer fever dream where elite players spend an evening having a fun time in a bunch of different events. On Tuesday night in Charlotte, the 2026 edition delivered exactly what it needed to deliver. Big names. Home crowd juice. One German legend casually detonating the record book. One veteran center back turning the passing challenge into his own TED Talk on technique. One goalkeeper deciding that goalie weirdness is, in fact, an art form.

By the end of the night, Thomas Muller, Tim Ream, and Maxime Crepeau had emerged as the main characters. LIGA MX got its own moment with Javier Ruiz and then claimed the relay challenge as the final team flex, but this event mostly belonged to the MLS names who treated Truist Field like their own private content factory.

Thomas Muller Opened the Night by Nuking the Shooting Challenge

If the All Star Skills Challenge is supposed to start hot, Muller basically set the whole thing on fire.

The Vancouver Whitecaps FC star won the All Star Shooting Challenge presented by AT&T with a ridiculous 79 point performance, topping the previous record of 72 set by Evander last year. That alone would have been enough to own the moment. The extra juice came from the fact that Evander actually rallied to match the number, which turned a great round into a proper showdown. Muller still walked away with the crown, because of course he did. The man has been haunting defenders and scoreboards for years. Apparently carnival targets are not safe either.

What made it pop was the style of it all. This was not some lucky spree of shots clipping forgiving panels. Muller looked like a guy who had already solved the challenge in his head before he took the first attempt. Quick setup, efficient strikes, no wasted motion.

And in a setting like this, personality matters as much as precision. Muller has long understood the assignment in made for camera soccer events. He gives you quality, but he also gives you theater. So naturally, the event opened with him turning the challenge into a personal flex and the crowd into accomplices.

Tim Ream Gave Charlotte the Home Crowd Moment It Wanted

Then came Tim Ream, who basically looked at the Passing Challenge presented by Dawn and decided to host a clinic.

The Charlotte FC veteran and United States men’s national team captain beat New England Revolution playmaker Carles Gil in the final, delivering one of the cleanest technical displays of the night. It was exactly the kind of performance hometown fans dream about in these events. Not just a win, but a composed, veteran, no panic win. Ream did not approach the challenge like a novelty act. He treated it like he had rent due.

There is something deeply funny and deeply satisfying about a center back becoming the elegant technician in a field full of attackers and creators. But that is also why Ream’s performance landed so hard. It reminded everyone that elite passing is not just about flair guys flicking no look balls into tiny windows. Sometimes it is an experienced defender calmly putting the ball exactly where it needs to go, over and over, while everybody else gets a little too cute.

The other viral subplot in this challenge came when actor Danny Ramirez, star of Captain America: Brave New World, nearly pushed Son Heung Min over the edge in his heat. Son survived, but just barely, which added the exact kind of crossover weirdness these events should always embrace. Soccer needs a little shameless fun in its bloodstream, and a Marvel actor almost clipping one of the game’s biggest stars definitely qualifies.

Still, the event ended with Ream on top, and it felt right. Charlotte got its local hero moment, and the veteran delivered it without a hint of fluke.

Maxime Crepeau Won the Weirdest Event, Which Means He Won One of the Best Ones

Goalie Wars remains one of the most delightfully unhinged parts of this entire spectacle. The rules are chaos adjacent, the vibes are elite, and the participants always look like they are one save away from either laughing or blacking out from adrenaline.

Maxime Crepeau won the All Star Goalie Wars presented by Old Spice, beating Houston Dynamo 2 goalkeeper Pedro Cruz in the final. That was the headline result. The better storyline, though, might have been the road he took to get there. In the semifinal, Crepeau got past New York City FC’s Matt Freese in a matchup that doubled as Canada versus United States World Cup bragging rights. That alone gave the event more bite than most all star side dishes ever get.

Crepeau’s win fit the pattern of his entire career. He is tough, reactive, and just erratic enough in the best possible way to thrive in a format like this. Goalie Wars rewards players who can stay sharp when the game gets strange. Crepeau has clearly spent years making peace with goalkeeping absurdity, and it paid off here.

Pedro Cruz deserves some love too. His run to the final included an overtime upset of Pachuca’s Carlos Moreno, which gave the bracket some real juice. But in the championship round, Crepeau had the steadier hand and took the belt.

Javier Ruiz Put LIGA MX on the Board

LIGA MX’s first win of the night came in the Crossbar Challenge presented by Gillette, where Javier Ruiz of Club Necaxa beat Real Salt Lake teenager Zavier Gozo in the final.

Crossbar contests are chaos by design because they are equal parts skill, rhythm, and whatever cosmic alignment governs whether a ball smashes iron or drifts an inch too high. Ruiz found the sweet spot and delivered the first clear league win of the evening for LIGA MX.

There is always something inherently cool about a player owning the most aesthetically satisfying event of the night. Goals are fun. Passing is clean. But smoking the bar with precision? That is catnip for highlight edits.

Gozo making the final also matters. Even in a format built for stars and veterans, these events can turn into launchpads for younger players who suddenly get a moment in front of a wider audience. He did not win, but he absolutely looked like he belonged.

LIGA MX Took the Relay and the Last Word

The final event, the MLS vs LIGA MX Relay Challenge presented by AT&T, went to LIGA MX in a time of 1:34. This was the first edition of the relay, blending elements from the earlier competitions into one main event, and it did exactly what a team finale should do. It created urgency, league pride, and just enough organized nonsense to keep the crowd fully locked in.

For LIGA MX, winning the relay mattered because it stopped the night from becoming a full MLS coronation. Muller had the record. Ream had the hometown shine. Crepeau had the goalie belt. Ruiz and the relay team made sure the visitors still left with something to wave around heading into the main event.

That matters because all star week is never really just about the events themselves. It is about narrative setup. It is about planting little seeds of rivalry before the actual match kicks off. If MLS dominated every single challenge, the buildup to the game would feel flatter. LIGA MX grabbing the relay gave Wednesday a little extra spice.

The Real Point of Nights Like This

Nobody should confuse the Skills Challenge with serious competition in the traditional sense. This is not a trophy that changes a season. It is not a legacy maker. But that does not mean it is fluff.

The event matters because it lets the league show off its personalities in a way regular matches often cannot. Fans get to see a player like Muller lean into spectacle. They get to watch Ream become the technical assassin for an evening. They get to enjoy the controlled lunacy of Goalie Wars without pretending it has to be something more respectable than it is.

And from a league branding standpoint, this stuff works. The Skills Challenge is content friendly, crowd friendly, and built for clips that travel fast. In a sports ecosystem where attention is currency, that matters a lot.

Closing Take

The 2026 MLS All Star Skills Challenge did exactly what it should do. It entertained, it revealed a little personality, and it set the table for the bigger showdown to come. Thomas Muller broke records and looked smugly brilliant doing it. Tim Ream gave Charlotte a veteran masterclass. Maxime Crepeau won the most chaotic event of the night because of course the goalkeeper event needed a little glorious madness.

LIGA MX grabbed enough hardware to keep the rivalry spicy, but the night’s center of gravity lived with the MLS trio who understood the stage and performed accordingly.

If Wednesday’s All Star Game needed a trailer, Tuesday night was a pretty good one.