Beginning Thursday, July 24, the biggest and most exciting soccer tournament in the North America this summer kicks off as eight stellar teams travel to play across the US and Canada.

The 2014 edition of the International Champions Cup features Real Madrid, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Liverpool, Manchester City, AC Milan, AS Roma and Olympiacos. The tournament features two groups. Each team plays a minimum of three games. And then the winners of the two groups will play in the final on August 4 in Miami to determine who the 2015 champion will be.

The cities where the tournament will take place are:

• Miami,
• Toronto,
• Berkeley,
• Denver,
• Pittsburgh,
• Chicago,
• Washington DC,
• Dallas,
• New York,
• Philadelphia,
• Ann Arbor,
• Charlotte, and
• Minneapolis.

Tickets are available for most of the matches, but don’t delay. For example, the Ann Arbor game between last year’s champions Real Madrid and Manchester United sold out in hours, and it’s going to be the most attended soccer game in the history of the sport in the United States, with an attendance surpassing 100,000 people.

Listed below is each team and the squad they’re bringing to the tournament, as well as the tournament schedule.

 

GROUP A

 

AS Roma

AS Roma appointed a new manager at the start of the 2013-2014 season, Rudi Garcia, who enjoyed a successful start to his career in Rome by setting a record in winning 10 games in a row. AS Roma will be competing in the Serie A for the 62nd season in a row and 82nd overall.

Goalkeepers: Bogdon Lubont, Morgan De Sanctis, Tomas Svedkauskas, Lucasz Skorupski

Defenders: Petar Golubovic, Ashley Cole, Leandro Castan, Alessio Romagnoli, Mehdi Benatia, Michele Somma, Mihai Balasa, Urby Emanuelson, Elio Capradossi

Midfielders: Radja Nainggolan, Kevin Strootman, Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi, Miralem Pjanic, Seydou Keita, Leandro Paredes, Salih Ucan

Forwards: Juan Manuel Iturbe, Adem Ljajic, Marco Borriello, Mattia Destro, Alessandro Florenzi, Gervinho, Stefano Pettinari, Antonio Sanabria

 

Manchester United

After a disappointing 7th place finish in the Premier League last season, Manchester United’s new manager Louis van Gaal has a lot to accomplish in his first season at Old Trafford. With virtually the entire first team squad traveling to the International Champions Cup, the effort Manchester United puts forth should be a good barometer of what the team will accomplish this season.

Goalkeepers: David de Gea, Anders Lindegaard, Ben Amos, Sam Johnstone

Defenders: Rafael Pereira da Silva, Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Luke Shaw, Tyler Blackett, Michael Keane

Midfielders: Matty James, Ander Herrera, Tom Cleverley, Darren Fletcher, Ashley Young, Wilfried Zaha, Shinji Kagawa, Juan Mata, Antonio Valencia, Nani, Jesse Lingard

Forwards: Danny Welbeck, Wayne Rooney, Will Keane, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez

 

Inter Milan

After a poor 2012-2013 season, Inter appointed a new head coach in Walter Mazzarri who led Inter to finish 5th in the Serie A during the 2013-2014 season. They’re considered the second most supported team in Italy.

Goalkeepers: Tommaso Berni, Juan Pablo Carrizo, Samir Handanovic

Defenders: Marco Andreolli, Juan Jesus, Ibrahima Mbaye, Andrea Ranocchia, Matias Silvestre, Nemanja Vidic, Danilo D’Ambrosio, Dodo

Midfielders: Jonathan, Saphir Taider, Yuto Nagatomo, Fredy Guarin, Mateo Kovacic, Rene Krhin, Zdravko Kuzmanovic, Diego Laxalt, Yann M’Vila, Joel Obi, Ezequiel Schelotto

Forwards: Federico Bonazzoli, Ruben Botta, Mauro Icardi, George Puscas

 

Real Madrid

Real Madrid enjoyed a successful end to the 2013-2014 season by winning the Champions League by a score of 4-1 for a record setting 10th time, the second biggest margin of victory in a UEFA Champions League final.

And now that the club has signed James Rodriguez for a record £63million, the anticipation is that the Colombian attacking midfielder may join up with the Real Madrid squad at some point on the US tour.

Goalkeepers: Diego López, Jesús and Pacheco

Defenders: Pepe, Carvajal, Coentrão, Arbeloa, Nacho, D. Llorente and Derik

Midfielders: Bale, Xabi Alonso, Isco, Illarra, M. Llorente, Medrán, Lucas and Mascarell

Forwards: Sobrino and De Tomás

 

GROUP B

 

A.C. Milan

A.C. Milan struggled during the most recent season. The team changed managers halfway through January going from Massimiliano Allegri to Mauro Tassotti and most recently hired Filippo Inzaghi as the new head of the Rossoneri. Despite all the troubles within the club, Milan finished eighth in Serie A and should be one to watch before the season officially starts — especially with controversial striker Mario Balotelli leading the line.

Goalkeepers: Christian Abbiati, Michael Agazzi, Gabriel

Defenders: Ignazio Abate, Michelangelo Albertazzi, Alex, Daniele Bonera, Kevin Constant, Mattia De Sciglio, Philippe Mexes, Adil Rami, Stefan Simic, Cristian Zaccardo, Cristian Zapata

Midfield: Zan Benedicic, Bryan Cristante, Michael Essien, Alessandro Mastalli, Andrej Modic, Sulley Muntari, Marco Pinato, Andrea Poli, Riccardo Saponara

Forwards: Mario Balotelli, Davide Di Molfetta, Stephan El Shaarawy, Keisuke Honda, Hachim Mastour, Jeremy Menez, M’Baye Niang, Giampaolo Pazzini

 

Olympiacos

Olympiacos is considered as the most successful club in Greek history, and could be one of the surprises of the tournament.

The Greek team should feature a lot of Greek-Americans supporters following the team around the country, too.

Squad: Roberto, Megyeri, Choutesiotis, Maniatis, Saviola, N’Dinga, Dominguez, Kasami, Kolovos, Samaris, Elabdellaoui, Bouchalakis, Fuster, Holebas, Papadopoulos, Abidal, Siovas, Manolas, Masuaku, Salino, Diamantakos, Papazoglou, Ghazaryan, Yatabaré, Dossevi, Bong, Avlonitis.

 

Manchester City

Manuel Pellegrini had a successful first season as manager of Manchester City and the defending Premier League Champions head to America with a lot to prove before the upcoming season begins.

Goalkeepers: Willy Caballero, Richard Wright, Ian Lawlor

Defenders: Micah Richards, Dedryck Boyata, Gael Clichy, Karim Rekik, Aleksandar Kolarov, Matthias Bossaerts, Matija Nastasic, Jason Denayer

Midfielders: Fernando, Samir Nasri, Scott Sinclair, Javi Garcia, Jesus Navas, Jack Rodwell, Bruno Zuculini, Emry Huws

Forwards: Stevan Jovetic, John Guidetti, Kelechi Iheanacho

 

Liverpool FC

As the second place finishers who just lost one of their best strikers in Luis Suarez, Liverpool have a lot to prove before the upcoming Premier League season begins where they will be competing in the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 2009-2010 season.

Loic Remy, if signed in the next 48 hours, could make his debut later this week.

Goalkeepers: Simon Mignolet, Pepe Reina, Brad Jones, Adam Phillips

Defenders: Daniel Agger, Sebastian Coates Jon Flanagan, Tiago Ilori, Glen Johnson Martin Kelly, Mamadou Sakho, Jose Enrique, Martin Skrtel, Kolo Toure, Andre Wisdom, Danny Ward, Jack Robinson

Midfielders: Joe Allen, Emre Can, Phillipe Coutinho, Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana, Lucas Leiva, Lazar Markovic, Raheem Sterling, Connor Coady, Suso, Jordan Ibe, Joao Carlos Teixera

Forwards: Fabio Borini, Rickie Lambert, Daniel Sturridge

 

SCHEDULE

All times listed below are EST

July 24, 2014
AC Milan vs. Olympiacos @ 8pm; ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN.com and FOX Soccer 2Go.

July 26, 2014
AS Roma vs. Manchester United @ 4pm; FOX, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN.com and FOX Soccer 2Go. 
Inter Milan vs. Real Madrid
@ 6pm; FOX Sports 2, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN.com and FOX Soccer 2Go.

July 27, 2014
Manchester City vs. AC Milan @ 4pm; FOX Sports 1, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN.com and FOX Soccer 2Go.
Liverpool vs. Olympiacos @ 5pm; FOX Sports 1, ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN.com and FOX Soccer 2Go.

July 29, 2014
Inter Milan vs. Manchester United @ 7pm; NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra, ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN.com
AS Roma vs. Real Madrid @ 8:15pm; FOX Sports 2 and FOX Soccer 2Go, ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN.com

July 30, 2014
Manchester City vs. Liverpool @ 7pm; FOX Sports 1 and FOX Soccer 2Go, ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN.com

August 2, 2014
AS Roma vs. Inter Milan @ 1pm; FOX Sports 2 and FOX Soccer 2Go, ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN.com
Manchester City vs. Olympiacos @ 2pm; FOX Sports 2 and FOX Soccer 2Go, ESPN Deportes+
Real Madrid vs. Manchester United @ 4:06pm; FOX and FOX Soccer 2Go ESPN Deportes, WatchESPN.com
Liverpool vs. AC Milan @ 6:30pm; NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra, ESPN Deportes+

August 4, 2014
Group A winner vs. Group B winner @ 8pm; FOX Sports 1, ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN.com

 

During some of the games, there will be halftime acts. The Fray will be featured at the August 2 Manchester United and Real Madrid CF match, which will be held before a record-setting, sold-out crowd at the University of Michigan. DJ Martin Garrix will perform with a revolutionary LED video mapping show in Miami on August 4 for the Guinness International Champions Cup Finals.

The August 2 halftime act will showcase The Fray, featuring guitarist and singer Joe King, guitarist Dave Welsh and Ben Wysocki on the drums. The band recently performed alongside Pussy Riot as part of Amnesty International’s Bring Human Rights Home show at Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Fray achieved national success with their 2005 debut, featuring the hit singles “Over My Head (Cable Car)” and “How to Save a Life,” which went double-platinum. The band also earned a 2010 Grammy nomination for their self-titled release.

The August 4 show will feature DJ Martin Garrix, whose song “Animals” has been a mainstay on 2014 charts as one of the biggest EDM tracks. The halftime show will also display lasers, fireworks and spectacular LED video mapping. The Guinness International Champions Cup Finals also will boast a fan fest, complete with a player walk, beer garden, free face painting, a live band and DJ, interactive soccer activities, food trucks and giveaways.