The MLS All-Stars will face Arsenal in the 2023 MLS All-Star Game at Audi Field, the league announced on Tuesday.
D.C. United’s Wayne Rooney will coach his league’s team of stars at his home ground on July 19.
The night before, the top MLS stars will face off against their Arsenal counterparts in the 2023 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.
“I’ve had a front row seat to watch the growth and development of Major League Soccer, first as a player and now as a manager,” Rooney said in a statement.
“The opportunity to lead the best our league has to offer against a top Premier League club like Arsenal will be a highlight for me personally and an unforgettable experience for our passionate fanbase here in D.C.”
The game will mark a return to the All-Star Game format seen between 2005 and 2019, when the MLS All-Stars faced a European club team in the midst of their preseason. Arsenal was the opponent in 2016, a 2-1 win for the Gunners in San Jose.
The past two years saw the MLS stars face a team of stars from Liga MX.
“It’s great that we’re playing against the MLS All-Stars in Washington D.C. in July,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. “Our U.S. tour last summer was very good preparation for the season.
“The match against the MLS All-Stars will be a good test ahead of the 2023-24 season.”
For Rooney, the match will complete a notable hat trick: he played against the MLS stars with Manchester United in 2011, played for the MLS stars in 2019 and will now coach the MLS stars.
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