CINCINNATI — FC Cincinnati midfielder Luciano Acosta and Columbus Crew midfielder Darlington Nagbe are 2022 MLS All-Stars.

Major League Soccer announced the selections Tuesday as part of the reveal of the full roster for the game, which will take place Aug. 10 at Allianz Filed in St. Paul, Minn. For the second consecutive season, the MLS All-Stars will take on the best of Liga MX, the top professional league in Mexico.

The game will take place at 8:30 p.m. ET. It will air live on ESPN and Univision in the United States, and other stations in Canada, Mexico and in more than 190 countries around the world.

Luciano Acosta

Acosta’s honor marks the first MLS All-Star selection in FC Cincinnati history. It’s also the first for Acosta in his six-year MLS career. He’s one of 14 first-timers on this year’s team.

“First thought is that I am very happy to be an MLS All-Star and represent FCC, and second is thanks to my family and my teammates who always support me and give me strength,” Acosta said. “This is for and because of them, and I will represent Cincy as it deserves.”

On Tuesday, Acosta’s wife and children went to social media to congratulate their “MLS superstar” on his professional achievement.

“Congratulations, Daddy… We love you,” Acosta’s son said in a video message to their father, who was born in Argentina.

An attacking midfielder, Acosta’s offensive prowess has been on display all season. 

As of Tuesday, Acosta, also known as “Lucho,” leads the MLS in assists (10) and total goal contributions (16). Overall, the FCC captain has produced a goal or an assist in all seven of his team’s wins this season. 

In June, Acosta became the first player in club history to earn MLS Player of the Month honors after registering four goal contributions in just 137 minutes during the month. 

Acosta is FCC’s all-time leader in assists (20) in MLS competition, more than double any other player in club history. The 5-foot-3 standout has appeared in a team-high 50 MLS matches since joining the Orange and Blue prior to the 2021 season.

Darlington Nagbe

The spotlight of the All-Star Game won’t be new to Nagbe. The versatile midfielder was an MLS All-Star Game in 2016, and is the only player in this year’s game to win three MLS Cups (2015, 2018, 2020). 

Since joining the Crew ahead of the 2020 season, the Liberia-born Nagbe has made 66 regular-season appearances, including 65 starts. He scored six goals and added six assists during that time, while maintaining a league-high pass completion percentage of 93.8%.

In 2022, Nagbe has three goals in 18 appearances, all starts, this season. He also leads the league pass completion percentage (92.3%) among qualifying players.

Following the announcement of Nagbe’s selection, fellow Crew midfielder Lucas Zelarayán marveled at his teammate’s ability to keep the ball away from opposing defenders.

“I don’t know how he does that,” Zelarayán said with a smile Tuesday afternoon.

“He’s a great player, one of the best players I’ve played,” he added. “I hope we play together for a long time."

Nagbe helped the Crew win a trophy in each of his first two seasons with the club, winning the MLS Cup in 2020 and the Campeones Cup in 2021. The Campeones Cup was the Crew’s first international trophy.

The Crew have had at least one all-star in 20 seasons dating back to the first MLS All-Star Game in 1996. Former Crew great and men’s national team legend Brian McBride was the game’s MVP in 1998.

MLS All-Star Event

Acosta and Nagbe will join the MLS All-Star team in Minnesota for a three-day event, from Aug. 8-10, featuring a skills challenge. 

MLS and LIGA MX will each form 10-player teams to compete in five events that aim to showcase their shooting and passing accuracy.

The 2022 MLS All-Star roster has 26 player coming from 16 different clubs. The players earned a spot through a mixture of fan, player and media voting (12 players), designations by All-Star head coach Adrian Heath (12 players) and a pair of selections by MLS Commissioner Don Garber.

The players have ties to 10 different countries: Argentina (4), Canada (2), Ecuador (1), Germany (2), Greece (1), Jamaica (1), Mexico (3), Peru (2), Spain (2) and the United States (8).  

The full All-Star roster is below.