The 2011 World Football Challenge was the second World Football Challenge event, a series of friendly association football matches played in Canada and the United States in July and August.
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 or CONCACAF confederations. 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, the 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, Chivas de 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.
The event rules differed considerably from the 2009 event, due to differences in the number of teams.
Match rules followed the Laws of the Game, with a few notable exceptions.[2]
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]
In the event of a tie in the final table standings, the following tiebreakers were used in order:[2]