With a second straight All-Star nod, Nashville SC’s English striker joins Hany Mukhtar, Andy Najar and Brian Schwake in carrying the city’s soccer story onto one of the league’s biggest stages.

There is a certain kind of electricity around a club when the results begin to feel bigger than the standings. In Nashville, that charge is running through GEODIS Park, through the supporters’ sections, and now all the way to Charlotte, where forward Sam Surridge has been named to the 2026 MLS All-Star Team for the second consecutive season.

Surridge, selected by the All-Star coach, gives Nashville SC a league-high four players in this year’s showcase. He joins previously announced First XI selections Hany Mukhtar, Andy Najar and Brian Schwake—a quartet that reflects not only individual excellence, but the widening cultural footprint of a team that has become one of the city’s most compelling live experiences.

The 2026 MLS All-Star Game presented by Chime will be played Wednesday, July 29 at 7 p.m. CT at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, where MLS All-Stars will meet a team of All-Stars from LIGA MX, Mexico’s top professional league. For Surridge, the trip is another marker in a rapid rise that has made him one of the defining faces of Nashville’s current run.

On the field, the numbers have been difficult to ignore. In just eight MLS appearances this season, Surridge has scored nine goals, tying him for the fifth-most in the league. He also leads MLS with four multi-goal matches—one hat trick and three braces—turning limited minutes into a highlight reel of precision, timing and confidence.

Since arriving in July 2023 as a Designated Player from English Premier League side Nottingham Forest, Surridge has become something more than a goalscorer. He was a finalist for the 2025 Landon Donovan MLS MVP Award and finished runner-up in the MLS Golden Boot race with 24 goals. Across competitions, his Nashville résumé now includes 47 goals and seven assists in 79 regular season appearances, four goals and two assists in Leagues Cup play, three goals and one assist in Concacaf Champions Cup action, and six goals in three Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup matches.

Nashville SC’s ascent has given the city another shared ritual. With a 10W-1L-3D record, the club is tied for the best 14-game start in MLS over the past 25 years and sits atop the Supporters’ Shield standings. The Boys in Gold resume play after MLS’ World Cup schedule pause when they host Atlanta United FC at GEODIS Park on Friday, July 17 at 7 p.m. CT—a summer night that now carries the added glow of four All-Stars and a striker in full flight