Lyon, Chelsea to play in Women’s ICC in U.S.

The 2022 Women’s International Champions Cup will feature Champions League winners Lyon and Women’s Super League champions Chelsea, organisers announced on Wednesday.

Hosts Portland Thorns and Mexico’s Monterrey will also compete in the annual club tournament, which will run from Aug. 17-20 at Providence Park.

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All four teams earned a spot in the field because of championships in their respective leagues. Lyon lifted the French title, as well as winning the Women’s Champions League for a record eighth time by storming past Barcelona in Turin last month.

Chelsea edged to the WSL title, while Monterrey won the 2021 Apertura title in Liga MX, and the National Women’s Soccer League’s Thorns were the Supporters Shield and Challenge Cup winners last year.

Portland is also the defending WICC champion. Last year, Morgan Weaver came off the bench and scored in the 87th minute to give the Thorns a 1-0 victory over Lyon.

“We are very happy to come into play against teams as good as Chelsea, Portland because we know we are going to have competitive games, and for the girls that’s very good, too, because they get to play in big games,” Lyon coach Sonia Bompastor said.

“So that’s important to be able to play against the best teams and to play in a country where women’s soccer is the most famous.”

New York-based Relevent Sports Group, which also puts on the International Champions Cup for men’s club teams, added the women’s competition in 2018. The inaugural event was held in the Miami area. The 2019 edition was in Cary, North Carolina, and hosted by the NWSL’s Courage. It was paused in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Portland blew us away last year with the club’s support and the electric excitement from some of the best soccer fans in the world,” Susie Fiore, head of the WICC, said in a statement.

The competition will be televised live in both English and Spanish on ESPN networks in the United States and will be broadcast globally in over 140 territories.