MLS All-Star Game, Skills Challenge: Everything you need to know, how to watch, live stream, start time

It’s all star week in Minnesota as MLS and Liga MX all stars will take part in the festivities. While the All-Star Game is Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET,  players will be taking part in the Skills Challenge first. From passing challenges to goalie wars, the event will see MLS and Liga MX’s best square off. Not all of the players taking part in the event will be included in the all star game on Wednesday, but when you can get Chicharito to do a crossbar challenge, you find a way to do it. Lorenzo Insigne was on the roster for the challenge as well, but he will be replaced by Brandon Vázquez of FC Cincinnati. 

MLS Skills Challenge Roster: Sebastián Driussi, Jesús Ferreira, Chicharito, Héctor Herrera, Carles Gil, Sean Johnson, Hany Mukhtar, Dayne St. Clair, Emanuel Reynoso

Liga MX Skills Challenge Roster: Avilés Hurtado, Angel Mena, Julián Quiñones, Germán Berterame, Uriel Antuna, Alexis Vega, Álvaro Fidalgo, Luis Chávez, Carlos Acevedo, Camilo Vargas

How does the Skills Challenge work?

The challenge includes six challenges, the Shooting Challenge, Touch Challenge, Cross and Volley Challenge, Passing Challenge, and Goalie Wars. There is a chance that Goalie Wars won’t be televised as it returns to the competition. 

The Events

Shooting Challenge: The shooting challenge will see three players from each team take turns shooting at 11 targets that have values ranging from two points to 20 points. Each player will have 60 seconds to shoot with each team alternating shooting chances. Ten of the targets are static but there is also a moving target worth 20 points. The points among the teams will then be added up with the winning team being awarded one point on the overall Skills Challenge Scoreboard.

Touch Challenge: Three players from each team will again compete but they’ll be together with a team including two passers and one receiver. The receiver will collect passes chipped by teammates or launched by a ball launcher as they look to control and redirect those balls into one of four targets. The target values have values of five, 10, and 20 points but any ball that makes it within a set range of the targets will count for two points. The final five balls will be worth double points, and the team with the most points after the round will be awarded one point overall.

Cross and Volley Challenge: This is the first event where a fan vote will be taken into account. Eight players per team will participate, including six outfielders and two goalkeepers. Teams want to score golazos worthy of a Puskas award as this challenge is based on style. Each round, the shooting team will have two players sending in crosses from outside the 18-yard-box to one shooter behind the penalty box. The shooter will face a goalkeeper from the non-shooting team. 

When the ball is crossed, the shooter must receive that ball and volley a shot past the opposing keeper. Scoring is a little more complicated as players will be able to get different point ranges depending on how the goal is scored. They are awarded five points for a half volley goal scored after the ball touches the ground once, 10 points for a two touch goal that doesn’t hit the ground, and 15 points for a one touch goal that doesn’t hit the ground. Teams can earn 20 points for each bicycle or scissor kick goal plus an additional 25 points awarded by a fan vote for the best moment. The moment can be a goal or a save and after that is tallied, the winning team will get one point on the chalkboard.

Passing Challenge: This challenge will see one player per team take part as they look to be the first to hit each of the five targets in each 60 second round. There will be three rounds but as the first team to win two rounds will win the event, the third round will only be needed as a tiebreaker.

Crossbar Challenge: Seven players from each team will participate with them again simultaneously taking part. Each team will line up three players in zone one (the top of the 18-yard-box) and four players in zone two (40 yards out from the goal). The team with the lowest total from the previous events will go first before teams then alternate kicks back and forth to hit the crossbar. Teams will start the completion with whatever their current accumulated score is on the overall All Star Skills Challenge Chalkboard from the previous challenges. One point will be awarded for each time that they hit the crossbar and a team will need five total points to unlock zone two. Once in zone two, teams will aim to hit the crossbar for a Victory Shot, and the first to accomplish that will win the Skills Challenge.

How to watch

• Date: Tuesday, Aug. 9 | Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
• Location: Allianz Field — St Paul, Minnesota
• TV: ESPN2  | Live stream: fuboTV (try for free)