The 5-Stripes are back and ready to conquer. This past week MLS released the details of their World Cup style tournament to continue the season. MLS came to an agreement with players and clubs.

Here’s the breakdown of the tournament: 

Location: ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Orlando, Florida 

All MLS teams will travel to Orlando and stay in Disney Resorts. Teams also must travel at least seven days before their first match. 

Dates: July 8 to August 11

Groups will start play July 8. Broadcasting times will be announced in the coming days. The Round of 16 will be July 25 to July 28, Quarterfinals will be played July 30 and August 1, Semifinals on August 5 and August 6 and ending with the final on August 11. 

Group Stages: 

The tournament has been broken down into six groups with three groups for the Western Conference and three for the Eastern Conference. Western Conference is broken down into three groups with four teams in each group. Eastern Conference will have one group with six teams and one group with four teams. Group A, the group of 6 teams will only play three out of the possible five group opponents where groups with four teams will play each of their opponents The top two in each group along with the four best third place teams advance to the 16-team knockout stage.

Safety Protocols: 

Besides traveling to Orlando at least seven days before their matches, teams will be tested every other day for COVID-19 leading up to matches, and then the day prior to their matches. During matches, players are asked not to kiss the soccer ball or exchange kits post match. On the bench, coaches, staff and players will be required to wear masks. For more details, please visit HERE.

Stakes:

All group stage matches will count as points towards the 2020 regular-season standings. Atlanta United currently has 6 points for the season from winning their first two matches of the year. The winner of the tournament will clinch a 2021 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League spot. Also, players will have the opportunity to earn additional bonuses from the MLS is Back Tournament 1.1 million dollar prize pool. 

Post Tournament:

MLS plans for teams to return to their cities and play a revised schedule for the rest of the season with the 25th MLS Cup playoffs and MLS Cup. This schedule will be developed at a later date.