LAFC and Major League Soccer today announced the schedule and broadcast details for all 54 matches of the MLS is Back Tournament beginning on July 8 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando. LAFC, the top seed in Group F, will kick off its participation on Monday, July 13 against the Houston Dynamo at 5:00 on FS1 / TUDN and ESPN App / KFWB 980.
In the Club’s second Group Stage match, the Black & Gold will face the Galaxy on Saturday, July 18 at 7:30 p.m. PT (ESPN / ESPN Deportes and 710 AM ESPN / KFWB 980), before playing the final match of the first round against the Portland Timbers on Thursday, July 23 at 7:30 p.m. PT on ESPN 2 / ESPN Deportes and 710 AM ESPN / KFWB 980.
The Group Stage presented by Heineken will consist of 16 consecutive days of games with each MLS club playing three matches against teams within their drawn groups. All group stage match results will count in the 2020 MLS regular season standings, as well as toward qualification to the MLS is Back Tournament Knockout Stage presented by Audi.
The tournament will continue in the Knockout Stage presented by Audi with eight Round-of-16 matches, played as doubleheaders on four consecutive evenings (July 25-28), followed by four Quarterfinal matches (July 30-Aug 1), two Semifinal games (Aug. 5-6) and the MLS is Back Tournament Final on August 11 at 5:00 p.m. PT (ESPN/ESPN Deportes). The tournament champion will earn a spot in the 2021 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League.
In addition to the schedule announcement, MLS today confirmed a change to the tournament’s competition structure. The top three teams from Group A, the six-team group, will advance to the Knockout Stage presented by Audi. Those three teams will be joined by the top two teams from the remaining five groups, as well as the next three highest ranked teams from the Group Stage presented by Heineken (the fourth-placed team in Group A is eligible to advance) based on points, goal difference, goals for, fair play points.
As part of the preparations for the tournament, MLS clubs begin arriving today at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort. The resort sits just 3.5 miles from the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex where all 26 MLS teams will train for and compete in the MLS is Back Tournament.
