Unique and loaded with world-class talent, The Soccer Tournament descends on Cary, NC
That soccer will be played at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary this week isn’t really news. That is, after all, what it’s there for.
But rather than watching the NC Courage battle in the National Women’s Soccer League, or NCFC taking on a USL1 opponent, soccer enthusiasts have the opportunity to take in a unique spectacle with an old-fashioned motivator: 32 teams, four days, winner gets $1 million.
Not a bad gig, if you can get it.
The catch? All of the teams are loaded with talent — many with professionals and national team players.
Such is life for those entered in The Soccer Tournament, a first-of-its-kind soccer tourney that’s a spinoff of the popular The Basketball Tournament, a venture backed in part by Winston-Salem-area native and NBA star Chris Paul.
Paul also had a hand in The Soccer Tournament, along with men’s soccer national team star Clint Dempsey.
So, what is this, exactly?
The Soccer Tournament is a first-of-its-kind tournament. Modeled after The Basketball Tournament, TST is an open-application, million-dollar, winner-take-all seven-on-seven competition featuring 32 teams from around the world.
Unique format
The Soccer Tournament follows its older sibling, The Basketball Tournament, into the sporting world, and adopts similar rules, altered to fit the sport.
The most important rules:
▪ Similar to the FIFA World Cup setup, there are 32 teams, divided into eight groups of four. Each pod of teams will play each other once.
▪ The teams will play 7-on-7, and accordingly the field will be a bit smaller (65 yards by 45 yards) and the goals a bit smaller (18.5 feet by 6.5 feet) than in traditional soccer.
▪ The timing and scoring format is also different. Teams will play two 20-minute halves. At the end of the second half, the clock will be turned off, and the teams will then play to a “target score,” which will be one greater than the leading team’s score at the time. For example, if Team Red leads Team Blue 5-3, the target score would be 6: The first team to six total goals wins. If no one scores in the first five minutes of “Target Score Time,” the game will become 6-on-6, then 5-on-5, and so on, until someone nets the goal that gets their team to the target.
▪ There will be no offsides during play.
Which teams are entered?
TST will feature teams from seven different countries, including eight professional clubs, ranging from Wrexham (Wales) to Borussia Dortmund (Germany). North Carolina’s own Charlotte FC is the only MLS club to field a team, which will be playing to win the money for a charity in memory of their fallen teammate, Anton Walkes.
But sorry, folks, neither of Wrexham’s famous owners are scheduled to be in Cary this week.
There are at least 22 former U.S. men’s and women’s national team players involved, totaling over 1,300 senior caps, among them former USMNT stars Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Jermaine Jones and DaMarcus Beasley, USWNT legends Kristine Lilly, Mia Hamm and Heather O’Reilly, Spanish star Cesc Fabregas, social media stars Noah Beck, Mo Ali and Castro1021, and former NFL star Chad “OchoCinco” Johnson.
Group A: Borussia Dortmund, Hoosiers Army (Indiana Alumni), Kingdom FC, Newtown Pride FC
Group B: Wolverhampton, Blade & Grass FC, Villita FC, DMV Diplomats
Group C: Club Necaxa, Hapoel Tel Aviv, SLC FC, Virginia Dream
Group D: West Ham, Dallas United, Culture by Mo Ali FC, Far East United
Group E: Wrexham Red Dragons, Como 1907, US Women, Say Word FC
Group F: Hashtag United, Conrad & Beasley United, Nati SC, Gracie FC
Group G: Team Dempsey, Sneaky Fox FC, Zala FFF, Jackson TN Boom
Group H: Charlotte FC, Duke Sevens (Duke Alumni), NCFC, Raleigh Rebels
More about each of the teams can be found here.
What’s the schedule?
Wednesday, May 31: The teams are scheduled for arrival, check-in and some practice time.
Thursday, June 1: The first session of games begins at 9 a.m.on Stadium Field 1, featuring Borussia Dortmund of Germany and Hoosier’s Army. The final game of Session 1 is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. when the Duke Sevens face the Raleigh Rebels.
Thursday, June 1: The second session of games begins at 5 p.m., when Blade & Grass FC face Wolves FC. The final game of the second session is scheduled for 10:15 p.m. as North Carolina FC faces the Raleigh Rebels.
Friday, June 2: The first session of games is the final session of group play. That kicks off at 9 a.m. with Borussia Dortmund vs. Kingdom FC, and ends with a 2 p.m. tilt between Duke Sevens and North Carolina FC.
Friday, June 2: The second session Friday is the first knockout round session, in which the top 16 teams will play single-elimination games to whittle the field down to eight. That begins at 6 p.m., with the final match slated for 10 p.m.
Saturday, June 3: The quarterfinals and semifinals are played. The quarterfinals begin at noon, with the semifinals set to kick off at 7 p.m.
Sunday, June 4: The $1 million championship final is set for 3 p.m.
How can I watch?
If you’re not among the lucky people to have tickets in hand, you can still follow all of the action on select streaming services.
On Thursday, eight of the games across the two sessions will be live on Peacock, with the rest of the games on the TST YouTube channel.
On Friday, four daytime session games will be on Peacock, with the rest of the games on the TST YouTube channel.
Beginning with the eight round-of-16 matches Friday evening, all elimination games will be streaming on Peacock.
