The Kansas City Current will represent the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the US’s women’s professional competition, in the first-ever North American edition of the World Sevens Football Tournament.
The event takes place from Friday, 5th December to Sunday, 7th December, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and the Current will be joined by fellow NWSL club San Diego Wave – coached by former Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall.
The other clubs participating will be Canada’s AFC Toronto, Mexico’s Club América and Tigres Femenil, Brazil’s Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, and Colombia’s Deportivo Cali Femenino.
“Our team thrives on intensity, creativity, and competition which fit perfectly with the 7v7 style of play,” said Milan Ivanovic, KC Current assistant coach, in a statement. “This tournament is an incredible opportunity for our players to test themselves against some of the world’s best in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. We’re proud to represent Kansas City and the NWSL on the international stage and to continue pushing the women’s game forward.
“The growth of women’s football is accelerating globally, and events like World Sevens Football help showcase the skill and excitement that define our sport. We can’t wait to bring the KC Current energy to Fort Lauderdale.”
There will be a $5 million prize pool at the tournament, which will be broadcast via DAZN, although the Current did not say whether the matches would be shown worldwide. The event will be divided over four sessions with the semi-final, third-place and championship matches taking place on the Sunday.
World Sevens: Bayern Munich first champions
At the inaugural World Sevens in May this year, held in Portugal, Manchester United finished as runners-up to Bayern Munich.
“[My favourite part of the tournament] was just the players enjoying it,” United manager Marc Skinner said at the time.
“Smiles, laughter. As a coach, it’s very rare that you can get authentic moments to bring people together.
“We have pressure, stress – stress, it pulls people apart. This was a moment to pull people together and you can see from our team there was nothing manufactured from the things they did. It was pure enjoyment.
“That’s something I’m very proud of and I want us to be in this tournament next year because I think it creates great team spirit and great team bond.”
