2011 World Football Challenge
Herbalife World Football Challenge
The 2011 logo for the World Football Challenge
Tournament details
CountryCanada
United States
Teams13 (from 2 federations)
Final positions
ChampionsSpain Real Madrid[1]
Runner-upEngland Manchester United
Tournament statistics
Matches played14
Goals scored42 (3 per match)
Attendance583,764 (41,697 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo
(4 goals)
← 2009
2012 →

The 2011 World Football Challenge was the second World Football Challenge event, a series of friendly association football matches played in the United States and Canada in July and August.

Participants

The 2011 tournament increased in scale from the 2009 incarnation, bringing in thirteen teams from seven different countries. All the teams were either a member of the UEFA or CONCACAF federations. The field was highlighted by Spanish league and European champions Barcelona and English champion Manchester United. Club 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, the top-flight league for the host countries, United States and Canada. As another first, there were games played outside the United States, at Empire Field in Vancouver and BMO Field in Toronto.

North American clubs that competed in 2011 included Chicago Fire, Guadalajara, Club América, Los Angeles Galaxy, New England Revolution, Philadelphia Union, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Four representatives from Europe's top leagues of England and Spain, 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.

Team Location Confederation Professional League Notes
Manchester United Manchester, England UEFA Premier League 2010–11 Premier League champions
New England Revolution Foxborough, Massachusetts CONCACAF Major League Soccer 2010 North American SuperLiga runner-up
Real Madrid Madrid, Spain UEFA La Liga 2010–11 Copa del Rey holders
Los Angeles Galaxy Los Angeles, California CONCACAF Major League Soccer 2010 MLS Supporters' Shield holders
Club América Mexico City, Mexico CONCACAF Primera División de México 2011 Primera División de México Clausura Liguilla quarter-finalists
Manchester City Manchester, England UEFA Premier League 2010–11 FA Cup holders
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver, British Columbia CONCACAF Major League Soccer 2011 Canadian Championship runner-up
Guadalajara Guadalajara, Mexico CONCACAF Primera División de México 2011 Primera División de México Clausura Liguilla semi-finalists
Chicago Fire Chicago, Illinois CONCACAF Major League Soccer 2009 North American SuperLiga runner-up
Philadelphia Union Philadelphia, Pennsylvania CONCACAF Major League Soccer
Juventus Turin, Italy UEFA Serie A
Barcelona Barcelona, Spain UEFA La Liga 2010–11 La Liga and 2010–11 UEFA Champions League winners
Sporting CP Lisbon, Portugal UEFA Primeira Liga

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.[2]

Table setup

The format was a single table, accruing points as follows:

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). Each of the other seven clubs played three games and accrued points as normal.[2]

Table tiebreakers

In the event of a tie in the final table standings, the following tiebreakers were used in order:[2]

  1. Regulation goal difference
  2. Most goals for in regulation
  3. Fewest goals against in regulation
  4. Most goals scored in regulation in one match
  5. Drawing of lots

Standings

Pos Team Pld W PKW PKL L GF GA GD BP Pts
1 Spain Real Madrid (C) 3 3 0 0 0 9 2 +7 8 17
2 England Manchester United 3 3 0 0 0 9 3 +6 8 17
3 England Manchester City 3 2 1 0 0 5 2 +3 5 13
4 Italy Juventus 3 2 0 0 1 3 2 +1 3 9
5 Spain Barcelona 3 1 0 0 2 4 6 −2 4 7
6 Mexico Guadalajara 3 1 0 0 2 4 5 −1 3 6
7 United States MLS Western[a] 3 0 0 1 2 3 7 −4 3 4
8 United States MLS Eastern[b] 3 0 0 0 3 3 9 −6 3 3
9 Mexico Club América 3 0 0 0 3 0 5 −5 0 0
Source: World Football Challenge Standings[3]
Note: Sporting CP played only one game and did not accrue points.
(C) Champion
Notes:
  1. ^ MLS Western Conference composed of one game by the Vancouver Whitecaps and two games by the Los Angeles Galaxy
  2. ^ MLS Eastern Conference composed of one game each by the New England Revolution, Philadelphia Union, and Chicago Fire

Matches

All times are in the EDT time zone (UTC−4) (Local Times in parentheses).[4]
New England Revolution1–4Manchester United
Mansally 56' Report Owen 51'
Macheda 54', 61'
Park 80'
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough
Attendance: 51,523
Referee: Mark Geiger
Club América0–2Manchester City
Report McGivern 17'
Wright-Phillips 27'
AT&T Park, San Francisco
Attendance: 11,250
Referee: Hilario Grajeda
Los Angeles Galaxy1–4Real Madrid
Cristman 67' Report Callejón 31'
Joselu 40'
Ronaldo 53'
Benzema 58'
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles
Attendance: 56,211
Referee: Jorge González
Vancouver Whitecaps FC1–2Manchester City
Sanvezzo 30' Report Guidetti 68'
Wright-Phillips 84'
Empire Field, Vancouver
Attendance: 24,074
Referee: Mauricio Navarro
Guadalajara0–3Real Madrid
Report Ronaldo 73', 76' (pen.), 82'
Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego
Attendance: 38,211
Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Chicago Fire1–3Manchester United
Gibbs 13' Report Rooney 66'
Rafael 75'
Nani 82'
Soldier Field, Chicago
Attendance: 61,308
Referee: Terry Vaughn
Juventus1–2Sporting CP
Del Piero 80' Report Djaló 13', 36'
BMO Field, Toronto
Attendance: 10,028
Referee: Drew Fischer
Philadelphia Union1–2Real Madrid
M. Farfan 80' Report Callejón 2'
Özil 11'
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
Attendance: 57,305
Referee: Alex Prus
Los Angeles Galaxy1–1Manchester City
Magee 53' Report Balotelli 20' (pen.)
Penalties
Keat soccer ball with check mark
Birchall soccer ball with check mark
Juninho soccer ball with red X
Dunivant soccer ball with check mark
Stephens soccer ball with check mark
McBean soccer ball with red X
Gonzalez soccer ball with check mark
McCarty soccer ball with check mark
DeLaGarza soccer ball with red X		 6–7 soccer ball with check mark Milner
soccer ball with check mark Weiss
soccer ball with check mark Suárez
soccer ball with check mark Kolarov
soccer ball with red X Guidetti
soccer ball with red X Lescott
soccer ball with check mark De Jong
soccer ball with check mark Wright-Phillips
soccer ball with check mark Hart
The Home Depot Center, Carson
Attendance: 24,897
Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Juventus1–0Club América
Pasquato 42' Report
Citi Field, New York
Attendance: 20,859
Referee: Jorge González
Juventus1–0Guadalajara
Quagliarella 12' Report
Carter–Finley Stadium, Raleigh
Attendance: 16,124
Referee: Mark Kadlecik
Barcelona1−2Manchester United
Thiago 70' Report Nani 22'
Owen 76'
FedExField, Landover
Attendance: 81,807
Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Barcelona1–4Guadalajara
Villa 3' Report Fabián 60', 63'
Casillas 72'
Verduzco 90+3'
Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens
Attendance: 70,080
Referee: Baldomero Toledo
Barcelona2–0Club América
Villa 24'
Keita 90'		 Report
Cowboys Stadium, Arlington
Attendance: 60,087
Referee: Ricardo Salazar

Top goalscorers

Rank Name Team Goals
1 Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid 4
2 Spain José Callejón Real Madrid 2
Portugal Yannick Djaló Sporting 2
Mexico Marco Fabián Guadalajara 2
Italy Federico Macheda Manchester United 2
Portugal Nani Manchester United 2
England Michael Owen Manchester United 2
Spain David Villa Barcelona 2
England Shaun Wright-Phillips Manchester City 2
10 Italy Mario Balotelli Manchester City 1
France Karim Benzema Real Madrid 1
Mexico Giovani Casillas Guadalajara 1
United States Adam Cristman Los Angeles Galaxy 1
Italy Alessandro Del Piero Juventus 1
United States Michael Farfan Philadelphia Union 1
United States Cory Gibbs Chicago Fire 1
Sweden John Guidetti Manchester City 1
South Korea Park Ji-sung Manchester United 1
Spain Joselu Real Madrid 1
Mali Seydou Keita Barcelona 1
United States Mike Magee Los Angeles Galaxy 1
The Gambia Kenny Mansally New England Revolution 1
Northern Ireland Ryan McGivern Manchester City 1
Germany Mesut Özil Real Madrid 1
Italy Cristian Pasquato Juventus 1
Italy Fabio Quagliarella Juventus 1
Brazil Rafael Manchester United 1
England Wayne Rooney Manchester United 1
Brazil Camilo Sanvezzo Vancouver Whitecaps FC 1
Spain Thiago Barcelona 1
Mexico José Verduzco Guadalajara 1

Media coverage

References

  1. ^ "El Real Madrid se adjudica el World Football Challenge". AS. AS.com.
  2. ^ a b c "World Football Challenge Rules of Competition". MLS. Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on January 12, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  3. ^ "World Football Challenge Standings". MLS. Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2012.
  4. ^ "World Football Challenge Schedule". MLS. Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on January 8, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2012.

External links

World Football Challenge
Friendly association football tournaments in 2011
Categories