Eastern Michigan University’s World Cup tournament unites students

This summer, during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the world crowned Spain as its world champions after the country fought its way through the elimination rounds, defeating Argentina 1-0 in the final.

Official response and confirmed impact

But Eastern Michigan University needed to crown its own champion. On Nov.

5, 2026, EMU’s Middle East and North African Student Association hosted its very own World Cup, bringing out 16 teams and more than 100 participants.

Organizers divided the turf field inside the bubble into four smaller fields, utilizing the width of the field instead of the length.

Each individual field was sixty yards in length, with six foot goals on either side, as opposed to a regular eight foot goal on a standard field.

The tournament’s format was a 7-on-7 with substitutions.

Teams played a 20-minute game split into two 10-minute halves with a five-minute halftime.

Should two teams be tied at the end of the 20 minute game, they went to a penalty shootout to decide the winner.