Surrey teen makes MLS Next All-Star Game, joining older Badwal bro on Whitecaps list of 6
Published 10:30 am Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Surrey teen Manav Badwal has been selected to play in the MLS Next All-Star Game on July 27.
The match will showcase the future soccer stars of North America in an East-West showdown at Mecklenburg County Sportsplex in Matthews, North Carolina.
A midfielder with Whitecaps FC BMO MLS Academy, Badwal is the younger brother of Whitecaps FC midfielder Jeevan Badwal.
The younger Badwal joins five previous Whitecaps FC BMO Academy players selected to the MLS NEXT All-Star Game including brother Jeevan (in 2023), Tyler Brown and Sahil Deo (2025), Liam Mackenzie (2024) and Mihail Gherasimencov (2022).
Manav recently became the youngest player in Whitecaps history to play in an MLS NEXT Pro match at 15 years, 10 months and 11 days.
Since then, he’s started twice and made three appearances. In June, Manav was named 2025-26 Whitecaps FC BMO Academy U-16 Player of the Year, as well as to the Academy XI at the annual Whitecaps FC Academy Awards.
Last December, Manav joined Badwal family members for a Now-Leader interview and photo at their home in Newton, where Manav said he would love to play on the Whitecaps first team one day, hopefully with his older brother.
“It would be a dream come true to have them play on the same pitch together,” said proud mother Gurinder.
“I can’t imagine the stress that would be,” dad Kam added with a laugh.