BOSTON – The Soccer Tournament, the $1 million, winner-take-all, 7v7 world championship playing its inaugural event in Cary, N.C. from June 1-4, Thursday revealed its official 32-team field and group pairings.
TST will feature teams from 7 different countries, including eight professional top-flight clubs, and 22 players totaling more than 1300 U.S. senior national team caps on the men’s and women’s team, among countless other players with high-level professional experience.
“Never did we anticipate a field this strong and this diverse in our first year,” said TST founder and CEO Jon Mugar. “Fans in Cary will experience electrifying play by legends donning some of the biggest brands in the world. Our launch speaks not only to the passion for the sport in America, but also the strength of seven-a-side soccer. We have no idea who or what style of play will walk away with $1 million dollars!”
Like the World Cup, TST’s 32-team field is split into eight groups of four teams. The pairings are as follows:
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 FC
Details on each group:
Group A: Legendary German club Borussia Dortmund headlines TST’s Group A, bringing a team to North Carolina that features club legends like goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller in addition to teenage soccer star turned social media influencer Noah Beck. Hoosiers Army is representing Indiana University’s prestigious men’s soccer program, and their roster includes several players from their 2012 national championship team. Kingdom FC is organized by reality TV stars Cody and Paulie Calafiore. Paulie, a one-time member of the Colorado Rapids, will suit up for the team. Newtown Pride, an amateur club located in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, are just the second National Amateur Champion to ever directly qualify for the U.S. Open Cup.
Group B: EPL side Wolverhampton’s team will include former legends, talented academy prospects from the UK and USA and select players from their “Golden Chance” tryouts. Blade & Grass FC includes multiple players with EPL experience such as former USMNT stars Geoff Cameron and Brek Shea (Stoke City) in addition to Jordan Stewart (Leicester City, Watford). Villita FC’s squad will primarily star players from the MASL’s San Diego Sockers. DMV Diplomats features players hailing from the greater DC Metropolitan area.
Group C: Liga MX’s Club Necaxa, which features an ownership group that includes the likes of Mesut Ozil, MLB pitcher Justin Verlander, and former NBA star Shawn Marion, will field a team of mostly former Necaxa standouts, including Paulo Chavez, who had 30 caps for the Mexican national team from 1997-2000. Hapoel Tel Aviv, an Israeli Premier League team with previous Champions and Europa League experience, comes to TST with a roster of Tel Aviv legends and academy players. SLCFC, Canada’s sole representative in this year’s field, consists of some of the best talent from the Canadian Futsal National Team and League1 Ontario. Semi-professional club Virginia Dream features former University of Virginia soccer players and natives to the DMV area.
Group D: EPL stronghold West Ham’s roster is loaded with memorable former Hammers, most notably Carlton Cole, Marlon Harewood and Matt Jarvis. Dallas United will bring Dallas together with a unique partnership between viral Twitch streamer Castro1021 and Dallas Soccer Alliance. The squad will be comprised of some of the top players from the Dallas area. Culture by Mo Ali is led by former pro soccer player turned content creator and trainer, Mo Ali, whose roster includes a commitment from former LA Galaxy and Houston Dynamo center back Leonardo. Far East United’s group of veteran players comes from many countries across Southeast Asia including representatives from the national teams of the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.
Group E: Fresh off promotion into the English Football League, the Wrexham Red Dragons will look to carry their momentum into TST. The Welsh club made famous in the US by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s takeover will include players prominently featured in the first season of Welcome to Wrexham, like player-coach and former EPL veteran David Jones. Historic Italian Serie B club Como 1907, whose new ownership group includes legends of the game Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas, will look to bring TST’s $1M prize home to Italy. Fabregas, who currently plays for Como’s first team, will join their TST roster as a player-coach. US Women, led by former US Women’s Nation team star Heather O’Reilly, reunites many former USWNT stars for TST. The roster includes names like O’Reily, Lori Lindsey, Kristine Lilly, and Cat Whitehill, but their coaching staff may be even more impressive. Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, and Heather Mitts are among the staff looking to lead US Women to TST glory. One of the younger teams in the field, Say Word FC will pay homage to North Carolina and all the Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the country.
Group F: Hashtag United is a UK-based football and esports club, founded by Spencer Owen. The team initially played exhibition games around the world, including at Wembley, and then moved into the world of non-league football in 2018. The club recently won the Isthmian League and were promoted to the 7th tier in England. Former United States National Team stars Jimmy Conrad and DaMarcus Beasley are joining forces to bring Conrad & Beasley United. The duo played together in the 2006 World Cup among many other appearances as members of the USMNT. Beasley will serve as GM, while Conrad will participate in a player-assistant coach role. Their roster also features legendary MLS striker Dwayne De Rosario. Nati SC is an alumni team of original FC Cincinnati players who guided the club from its USL debut in 2015 to its adoption in the MLS in 2018. However, the club also features a different kind of Cincinnati football star — Chad OchoCinco Johnson — the former NFL wide receiver and soccer fanatic who once trialed with Sporting Kansas City. Gracie FC, led by Gregor Gracie of the legendary Gracie MMA family, leaves the octagon for the pitch with a roster that includes Brazilian and Brazilian-American ballers.
Group G: American soccer legend Clint Dempsey will coach a team filled with former USMNT & MLS players, all sharing a common goal of becoming TST’s first champion. The Team Dempsey roster includes former US teammates Eddie Johnson and Jermaine Jones, in addition to longtime MLS and El Salvador international winger Arturo Alvarez. Expect a friendly rivalry between Team Dempsey and Sneaky Fox FC, who’s organized by former MLS MVP Mike Magee. Magee’s roster includes former LA Galaxy teammate Alan Gordon, record setting MLS goalkeeper Nick Rimando, and Watford stalwart center back Jay Demerit. Staying in the MLS and LA Galaxy family, Zala FFF is organized by AJ DeLaGarza. The FFF stands for fútbol, football & futsal, as DeLaGarza plans to have representatives of each on his team. He’s off to a good start on the fútbol side, as his roster includes longtime New England Revolution forward Lee Nguyen. Jackson TN Boom’s roster looks to represent the unique and hard working city of Jackson, Tennessee. Jackson TN Boom is the sister team of the long-time TBT (The Basketball Tournament) team, Jackson TN Underdawgs.
Group H: Charlotte FC, the only official representative of the MLS in this year’s TST, will play to honor the late Anton Walkes, with all of the winnings to be donated to the AW5 Family Fund. The club became the 28th franchise in MLS when they joined the Eastern Conference in 2022 and they expect to pack the house for TST due to their close proximity to Cary, where TST games will be played. Duke Sevens will be representing the Duke University Men’s Soccer program in TST. Located less than 30 minutes from Cary, Duke Alumni will hope to have their games feel like a true road game for their opponents. The team will be coached by the current Duke soccer head coach John Kerr and sponsored by the famous Duke Sports Medicine program. NCFC is a USL team who will have a definitive home field advantage in TST, playing in its own stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. The team is known for its dedicated fanbase, regularly packing its 10,000-seat stadium. The Raleigh Rebels FC will be representing Raleigh, NC, as the two-time Omega Ball champs make the short trip down to Cary. This squad is no stranger to winning, having competed and won championships in the NISL and Queen City Cup.
All teams will play three group stage games, spanning the course of Thursday, June 1, and Friday, June 2. The top two teams from each group (16 total) will advance to the knockout stage, which will commence the evening of June 2. Round of Eight and Round of Four games will both be played on Saturday, June 3.
TST’s $1 million, winner-take-all championship game will take place on Sunday, June 4.
All TST games will take place at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. Games will be played on six different fields all at the same time, including the main stadium, which will be split into two different fields. TST is set to provide a great experience to fan outside of high-quality soccer, with a festival full of exhibitors, family activities, food trucks, a beer garden that overlooks two of the fields, and multiple different VIP hospitality options, one of which includes an on-field cabana that sits between the two fields in the main stadium.
All TST games will be available to watch live during the course of the event, with viewing information to be revealed in the coming weeks.
The full game schedule for TST can be viewed at thetournament.com, and tickets for all TST games are on sale now at thetournament.com/tst-tickets. For more information, please contact info@thetournament.com.
