The 2011 World Football Challenge was the second

World Football Challenge The World Football Challenge was an international club association football Exhibition game, exhibition competition featuring club teams from Europe and North America, that was held from 2009 until 2012, when it was replaced by the International C ...

event, a series of friendly

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

matches played in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in July and August.

Participants

The 2011 tournament increased in scale from the 2009 incarnation, bringing in thirteen teams from seven countries. All the teams were either members of the

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...

confederations. The field was highlighted by Spanish league and European champions

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and English champion

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

. América was the only team that returned from the 2009 competition. This tournament for the first time also included five teams from

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

, the top-flight league for the host countries, Canada and United States. As another first, there were games played outside the United States, at

Empire Field Empire Field was a temporary Canadian football and soccer stadium built at Hastings Park in the Canadian city of Vancouver, British Columbia. Located on the site of the former Empire Stadium, the 27,528 spectator venue was constructed while a ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

and

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Constructed on the former Exhibition Stadium site and first opened in 2007, it is the home field of Toronto FC of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Toronto Ar ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

(both in Canada). North American clubs that competed in 2011 included Chicago Fire, Guadalajara, América, Los Angeles Galaxy, New England Revolution, Philadelphia Union, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Four representatives from Europe's top leagues of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, all of whom won their country's blue ribbon competitions in the 2010–11 season joined the North American clubs, those being: Spanish and European champions Barcelona, FA Cup winners Manchester City, Premier League champions Manchester United and Copa del Rey winners Real Madrid.

Venues

Event rules

The event rules differed considerably from the 2009 event, due to differences in the number of teams.

Match rules

Match rules followed the Laws of the Game, with a few notable exceptions. * In the event of a tie after the regulation 90 minutes, a penalty shootout immediately followed. These penalties did not accrue points in the table as a regulation goal or penalty would. * Cautions and sending offs did not carry into the next competitive game, however, a player may have been suspended for their club's next WFC match. * Teams had a roster of 25 players, and clubs were able to substitute eleven players during the course of the match rather than the standard three.

Table setup

The format was a single table, accruing points as follows: * Three points for a regulation victory * Two points for a penalty shootout victory * One point for a penalty shootout loss * No points for a regulation loss * One point for each goal scored (up to three per match) Sporting CP, who played only one game, did not accrue points, but their opponent, Juventus, were able to in their matchup. The five Major League Soccer teams were split up into two different "clubs" for the purposes of the table, the MLS Eastern Conference (containing the Chicago Fire, New England Revolution, and Philadelphia Union), and the MLS Western Conference (containing the Los Angeles Galaxy, who played two games, and the Vancouver Whitecaps FC). Each of the other seven clubs played three games and accrued points as normal.

Table tiebreakers

In the event of a tie in the final table standings, the following tiebreakers were used in order: # Regulation goal difference # Most goals for in regulation # Fewest goals against in regulation # Most goals scored in regulation in one match # Drawing of lots

Standings

Matches

:''All times are in the EDT

time zone A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, Commerce, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between Country, countries and their Administrative division, subdivisions instead of ...

(UTC−4) (Local Times in parentheses).'' ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Top goalscorers

Media coverage

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:World

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2011–12 in Spanish football 2011–12 in English football 2011–12 in Mexican football 2011–12 in Italian football 2011 Major League Soccer season