Mbekezeli Mbokazi has broken his silence on MLS All Star team selection which will also feature Lionel Messi

Mbekezeli Mbokazi has broken silence on his record breaking MLS All Star team selection.

The Chicago Fire defender received the most votes in the First XI for the 2026 MLS All-Star Game selection announced on Friday which saw him feature in the same team as Lionel Messi.

Mbokazi also became the first South African to feature in this team after Doctor Khumalo who was in the team in 1996.

Mbokazi, who is with Bafana Bafana in Mexico for the World Cup, said his Zulu upbringing shaped him to be who he is today.

"My background also helps me because we all grew up in different ways and each and everyone has their own way of seeing things,” he told Chicago Fire media department.

“Being Zulu, it’s rare that your life will be easy, growing up. I saw that the little I had, it will be difficult, but I have to be strong mentally and trust yourself.

“So being Zulu shaped me because I don’t know if I was other tribe, how I could have been because where I grew up, it was difficult and I had to be strong.

“And I knew that in life, you won’t get anything when you’re sitting and not doing anything. You have to try, get out there and work.

“I’ll speak for us Zulus, not others because when you really want something, there are high possibilities that you can get it.”