How Zavier Gozo became MLS’s newest All-Star

Jun 5, 2026, 12:34 PM

Real Salt Lake midfielder Zavier Gozo looks for a passing lane around Sporting Kansas City defender...

Real Salt Lake midfielder Zavier Gozo (72) looks for a passing lane around Sporting Kansas City defender Jansen Miller (15) during the second half of an MLS game at America First Field in Sandy on Saturday, April 4, 2026. (Photo: Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News)

(Photo: Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News)

BY MATTHEW CASEY

KSL Sports

SANDY — The first Utah native ever selected to an MLS All-Star First XI wasn’t built in a single season; he was built in one-on-one battles long after most of his teammates had headed home.

In an offseason spent strengthening a left foot he couldn’t yet depend on. In moments that never appeared on a stat sheet.

On Friday, Real Salt Lake attacker Zavier Gozo was named to the 2026 MLS All-Star First XI, becoming the first Utah native ever voted into Major League Soccer’s annual showcase.

“It’s pretty cool to be the first-ever Utah player to be named an All-Star in MLS,” Gozo said. “I’m very grateful to all the fans, players and media across the league for recognizing me with this prestigious honor.”

The 19-year-old becomes the third RSL Academy product to earn MLS All-Star recognition, joining Justen Glad and Aaron Herrera.

The company he’ll keep in Charlotte underscores the magnitude of the achievement.

Gozo was voted into a First XI that includes former MLS MVPs Lionel Messi and Hany Mukhtar, as well as international stars such as Son Heung-min.

At just 19 years old, Gozo’s name now sits alongside some of the most accomplished players in MLS history.

The First XI does not represent the final MLS All-Star roster. Additional selections from Charlotte FC head coach Dean Smith and MLS Commissioner Don Garber will be announced later.

Shining in the first XI. 🤩

MLS NEXT Pro alum Zavier Gozo is only the second teenager to be selected in the last five editions of the @MLS All-Star Game! pic.twitter.com/hZHdEdwQSz

— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) June 5, 2026

“I look forward to hopefully having a few of my RSL teammates join me in Charlotte,” Gozo said. “And I’ll be very excited to get back on the field and get things going again later this Summer.”

The honor caps a breakout first half of the season.

Gozo enters the World Cup break tied with rookie Sergi Solans atop RSL’s scoring chart with six goals while leading the club with 11 goal contributions through 14 matches.

His five game-winning goals or assists are already the second-most by a teenager in a single MLS season, leaving him three shy of Diego Fagundez’s league record of eight set with New England in 2013.

The numbers explain why he was selected.

The growth behind them explains how he got there.

The offseason that changed Gozo’s game

Last season, injuries forced Real Salt Lake to accelerate the teenager’s development. There was no gradual introduction, no carefully managed timeline. Instead, Gozo found himself learning on the fly against MLS competition, making mistakes, adjusting and growing in real time.

Among the areas Gozo identified for improvement as the season progressed was his left foot.

For Gozo, the offseason became an opportunity to improve. As RSL front office and coaching staffers wrapped up meetings following the 2025 season, they repeatedly noticed the same thing: one player still out on the training pitch.

Gozo would dribble down the right channel, cut onto his left foot and shoot toward the far post.

Then he’d do it again.

And again.

Because he wasn’t satisfied.

The work didn’t stay hidden for long.

In just RSL’s third match of the season, Gozo found himself on the road in Atlanta, carrying the ball down the right flank in front of more than 53,000 fans. Driving at his defender, he forced the retreat he wanted before cutting inside onto his left foot.

It was a movement he had practiced countless times.

The shot curled beyond the goalkeeper and into the far corner.

For most fans, it was a highlight-reel goal. It was also evidence that the hours spent alone on training fields were already paying dividends.

Beyond the box score

The growth wasn’t always measured in goals.

In RSL’s second match of the season against Seattle, Gozo produced a moment of jaw-dropping magic.

Stationed near the right touchline, he brought down a crossfield pass from Lucas Engel on his chest and immediately attacked. Two defenders stood in front of him. Another arrived from behind.

Gozo beat the first wave while absorbing contact and drove into the heart of Seattle’s defensive shape. As he surged forward, more defenders collapsed toward him.

Suddenly, the Sounders were no longer defending the ball.

They were defending Zavier Gozo.

Ari Piol and JuanMa Sanabria found themselves with a numerical advantage at the top of the penalty area. Gozo’s attempted pass was partially blocked, but the damage had already been done.

RSL’s Luca Moisa recovered possession.

Two passes later, Aiden Hezarkhani had the ball at his feet inside the penalty area.

Gozo continued his run, dragging Hezarkhani’s would-be defender toward the center of goal with him. The movement opened a shooting lane and Hezarkhani hammered his finish into the net.

Gozo didn’t get a goal.

He didn’t get an assist.

Yet his fingerprints were all over the sequence.

The box score won’t credit him. The video tells a different story.

The play offered a glimpse of a player evolving beyond raw pace and individual moments. The teenager wasn’t simply beating defenders anymore. He was learning how to manipulate them, distort defensive shapes and create opportunities for teammates.

Against Sporting Kansas City, a sequence that would later earn MLS Goal of the Week honors began with what Gozo himself described afterward as a missed touch. Instead of controlling the pass cleanly, the ball popped up on him.

For many young players, a heavy touch ends the chance.

Gozo adapted.

As the ball dropped, he adjusted his body and struck a volley that flew into the far side netting, turning an apparent mistake into one of the best goals of the MLS season.

Then came the celebration.

Gozo sprinted toward the sideline where members of his family were waiting. For a brief pocket of time, the accolades, highlights and growing national attention gave way to something simpler: a Utah kid sharing one of the biggest moments of his career with the people who helped him get there.

Gozo the ‘unicorn’

Improvement is rarely a solo act, but the story of those extra training sessions says as much about Gozo as it does anyone else.

When injuries forced Noel Caliskan into an unfamiliar role at right back last season, Caliskan often stayed after training for additional one-on-one defensive work. More often than not, the player across from him was Gozo.

The sessions were demanding by design. Gozo’s pace, movement and willingness to attack defenders made him one of the most difficult matchups at the club, exactly the kind of challenge Caliskan needed as he learned a new position.

While Caliskan earned deserved praise for his performances, Gozo played an important role as well, repeatedly giving a teammate the opportunity to test himself against MLS-level attacking talent.

When a teammate needed help, Gozo was there.

And long before fans, players and media across Major League Soccer voted Gozo into the All-Star First XI, teammates were already treating him as the standard.

“For me he’s a unicorn,” head coach Pablo Mastroeni said. “Very rarely do you have a guy that is as fast as he is that can maintain the speed and endurance over 90 minutes.”

Moments later, Mastroeni went even further.

“From that perspective, he is world-class,” Mastroeni said. “I’m saying Premier League. I’m saying any league in the world.”

Veteran midfielder Stijn Spierings has seen the impact firsthand.

“He brings a lot of depth to the game,” Spierings said, noting that Gozo can be dangerous from multiple positions. “He’s obviously very quick, so yeah, I like it to have him in front of me, but I like it to have him on the side as well.”

The numbers will tell future generations that Gozo scored six goals and added five assists before the World Cup break. They’ll show he became the first Utah native selected to an MLS All-Star First XI.

What they won’t show are the countless hours spent strengthening a weaker foot, the subtle movements that created space for teammates, the extra repetitions after training, or the willingness to turn weaknesses into strengths.

Those details rarely make highlight reels.

But they help explain why a teenager from Utah is headed to Charlotte as an MLS All-Star.