France winning the World Cup was a huge moment of celebration for millions of football fans out there. However, it wasn’t all joy for everyone since the fans of Croatia are still recovering after what they felt was an unfair defeat after the meddling of the referee. No matter what one side or the other says, the World Cup trophy had France written on it and that won’t change for another 4 years.
What Now for Football Fans?
Well, most of the football fans are now waiting for the start of the domestic championships with some very interesting changes made this summer. The biggest transfer this summer was definitely the move of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus after a stunning period with European Champions, Real Madrid. Interestingly enough, this won’t be even by far the biggest transfer in terms of money paid, however, it kept the headlines for weeks in a row.
But until we’ll watch Ronaldo shine in Italy, another great football tournament is just about to happen. And, weirdly enough, even though it incorporates all the major football teams in Europe, there are many fans that don’t know about it.
The International Champions Cup
Even though it’s already at the 6th edition and has teams such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munchen or Manchester United, the International Champions Cup is not that famous as an event. It’s probably due to the fact that the teams are not officially back from their summer holidays and rarely all the important players attend this event.
Even so, there are a lot of huge football players and the names of these huge teams alone should attract a lot of interest. If you are one of the football fans that didn’t know about the ICC until now, keep reading this and you will see why this can be your lifeline until the major football championships start.
What are the Teams Participating in the International Champions Cup?
There is a total of 18 teams that participate in the tournament. All of them are huge names in international football with many trophies won and a tradition that goes back centuries ago. Most of the teams come from England’s Premier League with a total number of 6 teams:
- Aresnal
- Chelsea
- Liverpool
- Manchester City
- Manchester United
- Tottenham
Italy is also participating to the ICC with four of its top clubs, as follows:
- Juventus
- Inter Milan
- AC Milan
- Roma
Next on the list comes Spain, a country that has dominated football for quite a long time until now. They also send their top three teams at the International Champions Cup:
- Real Madrid
- Barcelona
- Atletico Madrid
France and Germant both send two teams to the tournament and as a first, Portugal will have a team at this prestigious event. The teams that complete the panel are:
- Bayern Munchen
- Borrusia Dortmund
- Paris Saint Germaine
- Lyon
- Benfica
Where will the Matches Take Place?
Alright, now that you know the teams that will compete for the trophy, it’s time to take a look at the venues where you will be able to watch these titans clash. In case you’re thinking about watching one of the matches live, you should know that there is a total of 22 venues that will host this year’s matches.
15 of these venues are situated in the United States, 7 in Europe and a single one in Singapore, Asia. Singapore is also known for its luxurious casinos, so football fans can combine their passion with enjoying online casino pokies.
Perhaps being spread all over the world is a reason why this tournament isn’t enjoying more popularity among football fans. It seems designed mostly for publicity and promoting the teams in other regions rather than about football itself.
That doesn’t change the fact that there are a lot of people in those regions that are very interested I the phenomenon and it’s a win-win situation. The clubs get to round their budget while spectators all over the world get to witness high-quality football players doing what they do best.