Tournament
The Special Olympics Unified Cup Detroit 2022 is the second-ever international Special Olympics football (soccer) tournament. Special Olympics is a movement led by the vision of Special Olympics athletes. With athletes at the helm of this world-class event as leaders and decision-makers, the Unified Cup Detroit 2022 showed the world how Special Olympics can build and shape a culturally, socio-economically, and intellectually diverse program.
Through the lens of Detroit, the whole world saw how Special Olympics connected people from all backgrounds to build a more inclusive future globally.
2022 Unified Cup Schedule for Men's & Women's Competition
At the Draw Ceremony on 13 May, teams were drawn and placed into three groups – A, B, and C.
The groups were drawn as follows:
Women's Group A
Egypt
Serendib (Sri Lanka)
USA
Women's Group B
Guatamala
Namibia
Slovakia
Women's Group C
Burkina Faso
Mexico
UAE
Men's Group A
Korea
Morocco
USA
Nigeria
Men's Group B
Romania
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Jamaica
During the first two days of competition, teams competed in Group Stage matches against each of the other teams in their group.
Following the Group Stage, teams advanced to the Medal Round and were placed into divisions based on their performance in the Group Stage. The top team from each group and the next highest seeded team advanced to Division 1. Division 2 consisted of the following four highest seeded teams. The three teams who finish last in their group and the next lowest-seeded team competed in Division 3.
All teams competed in Semi-Finals on Thursday, 4 August. Winners in Division 1 and 2 advanced to compete in Finals on Saturday, 6 August, in their respective Divisions, at Keyworth Stadium. Division 1 and 2 consolation matches and Division 3 Finals took place Friday, 5 August.