Tournament to commence on July 8th.
Major League Soccer announced its format for its “MLS is Back Tournament” which is set to start Wednesday, July 8th. The tournament will be played without fans at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World in Orlando.
The tournament will start with a draw into six groups with Eastern Conference teams in Groups A, C, and E and Western Conference teams in Groups B, D, and F. Group A will feature six teams including Orlando City SC who are designated at the hosts while the remaining groups with have four teams each. The other seeded teams will be last year’s MLS semi finalists—Atlanta United, Toronto FC, LAFC, and Seattle Sounders FC—and Real Salt Lake who had the next highest points total in the Western Conference in 2019. Nashville SC will be moved to the Eastern Conference for the tournament and the rest of the 2020 season.
After Thursday’s draw at 3:30pm ET which will be streamed online on MLS’s platforms on its website, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Each team will play three group stage matches (which will count towards the MLS standings). The top two teams in each group, plus the four best third-place teams will advance to the knockout stages. Knockout stage matches will start on Saturday, July 25th and run through July 28th. All knockout stage matches will not count towards the standings and will go straight to penalties if tied after 90 minutes. The final will be on Tuesday, August 11th with the tournament winner earning a berth in the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League regardless of whether the club is American or Canadian. CONCACAF has given its approval for this year and MLS has promised that should either Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver win the tournament, they will indeed compete in the Canadian Championship. The decision has no bearing of Canada Soccer’s qualification spot through the Canadian Championship, though it will have to determine how to award its spot should the MLS is Back Tournament and Canadian Championship are won by the same team.
As far as health and safety protocols go, players, essential staff, and referees will be tested prior to arrival, upon arrival in Orlando, and every other day in Orlando. Positive tests for COVID-19 will be excluded from participation and place in isolation while people who were in close contact with said person who tested will be tested daily.
Teams during play will have up to five substitutions per match with a maximum of three opportunities for substitutions. Match day rosters can be up to 23 players. All other rules apply and any caution points from the first two matches of the season carry over to the tournament.
Television and times are to be announced while it was announced match times will be at 9am, 8pm, and 10:30pm ET.
MLS East
