With the Women’s World Cup, Copa America, Nations League, AFCON and more taking place this summer, don’t miss out on the biggest and best action
European club football is drawing to a close, with Liverpool and Tottenham’s Champions League final clash marking the end of the competitive season, but that doesn’t mean that the football ends with them.
This summer is set to be jam-packed with nonstop competitive football action across the globe, from the UEFA Nations League finals kicking off in Portugal to the Copa America taking place in the middle of the summer along with the Africa Cup of Nations.
Elsewhere, the U.S. women’s national team will try to win a historic fourth World Cup title this summer in France.
Goal has outlined the best of the football tournaments set to take place this summer to ensure you don’t go through any kind of withdrawal.
Copa America
The 46th edition of the Copa America will take place across June and July as South America’s biggest and best teams will fight it out for continental glory.
Argentina are set to face off against Colombia and Ecuador in the group stage, while Uruguay will take on Chile in the first round of the competition. Stars such as Alisson, Neymar, Gabriel Jesus and Roberto Firmino are set to take to the stage this summer, though the jury is still out on whether or not Lionel Messi will feature after a disappointing World Cup summer with Argentina in Russia.
This summer’s competition will be held in Brazil for the first time since 1989, and the Selecao will be hopeful that they are more successful on home turf following the disappointment of the 2014 World Cup.
Chile are two-time defending champions, following victories in 2015 and 2016.
Read our complete guide to the tournament along with a full match schedule here.
The 32nd edition of the AFCON will take place this summer from June 21 to July 19, after having been postponed a week to allow Muslim players a break following Ramadan.
Following defending champions Cameroon being stripped of their hosting rights due to CAF being unsatisfied with their preparations, Egypt has since been chosen as the new host country.
Premier League stars such Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Naby Keita and Riyad Mahrez are set to battle it out for continental triumph.
Read our complete guide to the tournament along with a full match schedule here.
This year’s Women’s World Cup will be held in different cities across France in June and July as Jill Ellis’ side aim to lift a tremendous fourth World Cup title.
The tournament will come just one year after the France men’s team won the tournament in Russia, and so the women’s side – who are hosts this summer – will hopefully be inspired to follow in the footsteps of Kylian Mbappe and N’Golo Kante.
England, Scotland and Argentina are to battle it out in a mouthwatering Group D tie, while the defending champions in the U.S. women’s national team will have to overcome Chile and Sweden in the opening round.
Read our complete guide to the tournament along with a full match schedule here.
This year’s Gold Cup tournament will be held from June 15 to July 7 across various venues across host countries United States and Costa Rica, with the USMNT defending champions of the tournament.
The Gold Cup is the biennial international men’s football championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region overseen by Concacaf, with the likes of Mexico, Canada, and Panama set to battle it out. The winner of the Gold Cup will play the title holders USMNT, though if the USMNT win, they will automatically qualify for the Confederations Cup as 2017 and 2019 champions.
Read our complete guide to the tournament along with a full match schedule here.
The 22nd edition of the biennial U21 European Championship takes place across two weeks from June 16 to June 30 in Italy, the international youth football championship organised by UEFA for the national teams of Europe.
Twelve teams will play in the tournament, with players born on or after January 1, 1996 are eligible to participate. It will serve as a European qualifying tournament for the Olympic football tournament, with the top four highest finishers qualifying for the 2020 Summer Olympic men’s football tournament in Japan.
Germany are the defending champions of the competition, with hosts Italy battling it out with Spain, Belgium and Poland in the opening group stages.
The ICC (International Champions’ Cup) is an annual club association football exhibition competition involving teams from Europe playing pre-season friendly matches, originally played in the United States and Canada but recently expanding across venues in Australia and Asia.
European heavyweights such as Real Madrid, Inter, Bayern, Juventus and Manchester United are set to take part this summer across a host of countries around the world.
You can view the full schedule of ICC fixtures below.
| Date | Match | Time (UK / US ET)* | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 16 | Fiorentina vs Chivas | 2am / 9pm | SeatGeek Stadium, Bridgeview, Illinois |
| Jul 17 | Arsenal vs Bayern | 4am / 11pm | Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California |
| Jul 20 | Man Utd vs Inter | 12:30am / 7:30pm | Singapore National Stadium, Singapore |
| Jul 20 | Arsenal vs Fiorentina | 11pm / 6pm | Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Jul 20 | Benfica vs Chivas | 9pm / 4pm | Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California |
| Jul 20 | Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid | 1am / 8pm | NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas |
| Jul 21 | Juventus vs Tottenham | 12:30am / 7:30pm | Singapore National Stadium, Singapore |
| Jul 21 | Real Madrid vs Arsenal | 12am / 7pm | FedExField, Maryland |
| Jul 23 | Bayern Munich vs Milan | 2am / 9pm | Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Kansas |
| Jul 23 | Chivas vs Atletico Madrid | 2am / 9pm | Globe Life Park in Arlington |
| Jul 24 | Juventus vs Inter | 12:30am / 7:30pm | Nanjing Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, China |
| Jul 24 | Fiorentina vs Benfica | 1am / 8pm | Red Bull Arena, Harrison, New Jersey |
| Jul 25 | Tottenham vs Man Utd | 12:30am / 7:30pm | Hongkou Football Stadium, Shanghai, China |
| Jul 26 | Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid | 12:30am / 7:30pm | MetLife Stadium, New Jersey |
| Jul 28 | Milan vs Benfica | 8pm / 3pm | Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts |
| Aug 3 | Man Utd vs Milan | 5:30pm / 12:30pm | Principality Stadium, Cardiff |
| Aug 4 | Tottenham vs Inter | 3pm / 10am | Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London |
| Aug 10 | Atletico Madrid vs Juventus | 5pm / 12pm | Friends Arena, Stockholm |
2018 witnessed the introduction of the new UEFA Nations League competition, which has been an adventurous attempt by UEFA to revamp international football in Europe.
This summer, the winners of the four groups of League A progress to the finals to be held across two venues in Portugal where they will fight it out to become the inaugural Nations League champions. Portugal will take on Switzerland in the first semi-final and Netherlands will face against England – poised to use the momentum of their impressive World Cup 2018 campaign – in the second.
Read all about the first edition of the UEFA Nations League and in-depth information about the whole tournament here.
| Date | Match | Time (UK / US ET) | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 5 | Semi-final: Portugal vs Switzerland | 7:45pm / 2:45pm | Estadio do Dragao, Porto |
| Jun 6 | Semi-final: Netherlands vs England | 7:45pm / 2:45pm | Estadio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimaraes |
| Jun 9 | Third-place play-off | 7:30am / 2:30am | Estadio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimaraes |
| Jun 9 | Final | 7:30am / 2:30am | Estadio do Dragao, Porto |
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