Major League Soccer has announced its return, with Minnesota United set to take part in a 26-team tournament at Disney World.
The MLS season was just two games old when the coronavirus outbreak forced its postponement, but it’s announcing its return with an MLS is Back Tournament that will be held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
The 26 MLS teams will compete without fans in attendance, ahead of the planned return to competitive games in home markets later in the summer.
The tournament kicks off on July 8, with teams split into groups of six, with each team playing 3 group games over a 16-day period. The results of these games will count towards overall MLS regular season standings when it resumes later in the year.
The top two teams from each group, plus four third-placed teams with the best record, will advanced to a round of 16 held July 25-28, starting a knockout series that culminates with the tournament final on Aug. 11.
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Don’t say itWe’re going to Disney World https://t.co/8KNZPyEmrX
— Minnesota United FC (@MNUFC) June 10, 2020
The winner of the tournament will earn a spot in the 2021 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League. The games will be held 8 a.m., 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. CDT.
The group draw for the tournament will be held on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
“The opportunity to have all 26 clubs in a controlled environment enables us to help protect the health of our players, coaches and staff as we return to play,” said MLS Commissioner Don Garber.
Once the competition is done, MLS plans to resume its regular season albeit with a revised schedule, meaning Minnesota United could be back at Allianz Field as soon as mid-to-late August.
The schedule for this will be developed at a later date.
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