| International Cup |
| The International Cup tournament will begin on Week 4 of the MLS season and will conclude in a Cup Final on week 15. Round One Group Standings & Results Round Two Group Standings & Results Round of 16, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals, Finals - See Below ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note - Scores will be posted the day before the MFLS deadline for the following week's rosters. Any scoring changes by MFLS that take place during head to head cup competitions will be used only if they are made 24 hours before the MFLS deadline for the following week's rosters. Changes made after that will not be used to change the outcome of a match. The Tie Breaker for all elimination rounds will be total MFLS points for the season. The team with the higher MFLS points will win the tie. If this does not resolve the tie, then the most recent week's score will be used. If necessary, preceding weeks will be used until the tie is broken. Ties in group play standings will be broken using total points scored during the 3 matches. Round One - Regional Qualification - Weeks 4, 5, & 6 Consists of group play to determine the top 6 USA teams, and the top 10 world teams who will advance to the Second Round. Seeding for Round One will be based on MFLS point standings on April 23rd. USA region - 8 teams USA teams will be drawn into 2 groups of 4. Teams will be drawn from 4 pools based upon MFLS point rank between all USA teams. Pool 1: teams ranked 1 through 2 Pool 2: 3 - 4 Pool 3: 5 - 6 Pool 4: 7 - 8 Each of the 2 qualifying groups will consist of one team from each pool. The draw will take place on April 23rd, and the resulting groups will be published on this web site. Every team will play its three group opponents once on a round-robin basis during MLS weeks 4, 5, & 6. The exact schedules for Round One will also be available here on April 23nd. A Win will be worth 3 points in the group standings, while a Tie will be worth 1 point, and a Loss worth 0 points in the standings. The Top 3 teams from each group will advance to the Second Round. In cases where there is a tie in standings points, total MFLS points scored during the 3 matches will break the tie. If there is still a tie, total MFLS points for the season will be used. In all 6 USA teams will advance to the Second Round. World region - 13 teams The top World team in MFLS points on April 23rd will receive an automatic berth in the Second Round (bye) and will not participate in Round One. The remaining 12 World teams will be drawn into 3 groups of 4. Teams will be drawn from 4 pools based upon MFLS point rank between all World teams. Pool 1: teams ranked 2 through 4 Pool 2: 5 - 7 Pool 3: 8 - 10 Pool 4: 11 - 13 Each of the 3 qualifying groups will consist of one team from each pool. The draw will take place on April 23rd, and the resulting groups will be published on this web site. Every team will play its three group opponents once on a round-robin basis during MLS weeks 4, 5, & 6. The exact schedules for Round One will also be available here on April 23rd. A Win will be worth 3 points in the group standings, while a Tie will be worth 1 point, and a Loss worth 0 points in the standings. The Top 3 teams from each group will advance to the Second Round. In cases where there is a tie in standings points, total MFLS points scored during the 3 matches will break the tie. If there is still a tie, total MFLS points for the season will be used. In all 10 World teams will advance to the Second Round. Round Two - International Group Play - Weeks 7, 9, & 10 Consists of group play to determine the top 8 teams who will advance to the Quarter-Finals. The remaining 16 teams (6 USA & 10 World) will be drawn up into 4 groups of 4. These groups will be labeled alphabetically Group A through Group D. Each of the 4 groups will consist of one team from each of the following 4 pools. Pool 1: The 2 USA group winners, and the 2 second place USA teams Pool 2: The World bye team and the 3 World Group winners Pool 3: The remaining 2 USA teams, and the top 2 second place World teams (based on standings points; if there is a tie, total points scored in the 3 games of the first round will be used) Pool 4: The remaining 4 World teams The draw for Round Two will take place on May 13th and the resulting groups will be published on this web site. Every team will play its three group opponents once on a round-robin basis during MLS weeks 7, 9, & 10. The exact schedules for Round Two will also be available here on May 13th. A Win will be worth 3 points in the group standings, while a Tie will be worth 1 point, and a Loss worth 0 points in the standings. The Top 2 teams from each group will advance to the Quarter-Finals. In cases where there is a tie in standings points, total MFLS points scored during the 3 matches will break the tie. If there is still a tie, total MFLS points for the season will be used. Quarter-Finals & Semi-Finals - Paired teams will play each other twice. The team with the higher aggregate score during those 2 weeks will advance. In the event of a tie, the team with the higher total MFLS points for the season will advance. (Remember that these totals reflect scores taken at each deadline. Corrections for the first leg made after the first deadline will not be reflected.) Quarter-Finals - Weeks 11 & 12 Match 1: OPRF Huskies (USA) vs. Japhy's Boys (USA) 41 : -3 Match 2: Outsiders (USA) vs. Rapids Striker (Singapore) 74 : 41 Match 3: fc bling bling (Netherlands) vs. Zurich Lake Gnomes (USA) 38 : 65 Match 4: Hotspur (USA) vs. Gaetjens & Borghi (USA) 64 : 19 Semi-Finals - Weeks 13 & 14 Scores after first leg Match 5: OPRF Huskies (USA) vs. Hotspur (USA) 62 : 60 Match 6: Outsiders (USA) vs. Zurich Lake Gnomes (USA) 76 : 77 Final & Consolation match - The Final consists of one game to determine the Cup Winner and one to determine Third place. In the event of a tie, the match will be replayed in Week 16. In the event of another tie, the match will be replayed in Week 17. In the unlikely event of another tie, the team with the higher MFLS points on the season will be declared the Cup winner. Third Place - Week 15 Hotspur (USA) vs. Outsiders (USA) 6 : 12 Final - Week 15 OPRF Huskies (USA) vs. Zurich Lake Gnomes (USA) 45 : 15 Additional rules: 1 - If MFLS fails to report scores on games that actually took place, AND if the number of games unreported by MFLS is 50% or greater of the total number of games actually played that week, AND if the total number of games reported by MFLS is less than 3, THEN the Cup matches for that week will either be postponed OR the deadline for the scores will be extended. The Commissioner will make a ruling depending on the conditions at the time. 2 - If MLS postpones games so that those games are no longer played in the same fantasy week, AND if the number of postponed games is 50% or greater of the total number of games scheduled for that week, AND if the total number of actual games played is less than 3, THEN the Cup matches for that week will be postponed. The Commissioner will make a ruling with regards to rescheduling the Cup matches depending on the conditions at the time. |