The Soccer Tournament boasts $1m prize, U.S. legends, Premier League pedigree and Hollywood headliners

When the organizers of The Basketball Tournament -- the wildly successful, $1 million winner-take-all competition -- announced in October that they were expanding to soccer, they were optimistic the concept would have broad, even global, interest. With less than a month before first The Soccer Tournament will be hosted in Cary, North Carolina, though, it would have been hard to image the type of talent that would take part in Year 1.

Along with several prominent American players -- including Landon Donovan, Jimmy Conrad, Jermaine Jones and other United States men's national team veterans -- the tournament has attracted players with international and World Cup experience from all over the world. It's not just retired players, either. Cesc Fabregas, the 2010 World Cup winner with Spain and one of the best midfielders of his generation, is coming with his current team -- Italian side Como 1907, which competes in Serie B -- with the intent of going for the $1 million prize.

"It's really exciting for us because it's obviously the first time that we go as a club to the United States to compete," Fabregas told ESPN. "And we're trying to bring the best team we can to do well and try to win because obviously that's always the final objective."

Fabregas isn't the only World Cup winner who will take part. Retired goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller, a member of Germany's 2014 World Cup, will represent Borussia Dortmund alongside a team of former BVB players and other club representatives.

Then there's the US Women, which has several former U.S. women's national team players with World Cup winners and Olympic goal medals in their trophy cases.

Two Premier League clubs will be there -- West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers -- along with pro clubs from Mexico (Necaxa), Israel (Hapoel Tel Aviv) and lower tiers of the English football pyramid (Wrexham and Hashtag United). There will be college alumni teams (Indiana and Duke) and others that were formed specifically for TST.

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Roster building and preparation varies significantly as this is all unplowed ground for TST's first iteration.

Here is some more about what to expect from June 1-4.

How were the teams selected?

When TST was announced in October, an initial wave of slots were award to teams that responded quickly. At the time, organizers were unsure of the caliber of teams that would apply to get in. Once it was clear there was significant interest, slots were issued more deliberately to a diverse group of teams that either had broad appeal or could field high-level talent -- and oftentimes both.

How were the teams put together?

This is where it starts to get interesting. Most teams have one person as the primary organizer -- the general manager, if you will -- or in many cases the responsibility is shared between a few people. The processes to fill a roster have varied greatly. Former pros -- the likes of Mike Magee, Jimmy Conrad, Clint Dempsey, Heather O'Reilly, A.J. DeLaGarza -- tapped into their address books, recruiting former teammates, teammates of those teammates, friends of friends ... that sort of thing.

The process for the pro clubs was similar. Take Dortmund and West Ham, for example. This isn't a case in which they're sending first-team players. It'll be mostly retired players who played for the club or have some other connection (academy players, coaches, etc.). Como could be the exception.

How is the tournament structured?

World Cup style: 32 teams, eight groups of four. The round-robin group stage is followed by the knockout rounds. Only the winning team will collect any prize money: the entire $1 million.

What are the rules of the games?

Each team fields seven players, including the goalkeeper. Field dimensions will be, at most, 65 yards in length and 45 yards in width, and matches will be played with 18.5-by-6.5-foot goals.

Similar to the "Elam Ending" employed in TBT, each game will finish with what TST calls "Target Score Time." After two 20-minute halves are played, an untimed period begins to determine a winner by reaching a target score, which will be one goal more than whatever the team with the lead had at the end of regulation. There can be no draws. No offside. Kick-ins instead of throw-ins. There is more, but those are the basics.

What are the groups?

The full list of teams and groups is listed below, but the full rosters have yet to be released. Several well-known players are committed and will be unveiled in the coming weeks, and each team gets three mystery players they don't have to announce until just before the tournament begins. Each group carries some appeal, but groups B and G look particularly difficult.

Group A

Borussia Dortmund: A mixture of retired club legends, academy players and other club representatives will play for the German giants, including Weidenfeller, who won two Bundesliga titles and was a World Cup champion with Germany in 2014. The team will also feature Dede -- who made more than 300 appearances for BVB and a single cap for Brazil -- and American social media influencer Noah Beck, a former college soccer player.

Hoosier Sevens: A team of made up mostly of former Indiana University players, many of whom played on the 2012 NCAA national championship team. Twice-capped USMNT forward Josh Gatt is the most accomplished player on the roster, which has several ex-pros with MLS, USL and other experience.

Kingdom FC: Brothers Paulie and Cody Calafiore, known mostly from their appearances on several reality television shows, built a roster of players with college experience and some ex-pros. Paulie had a brief spell with the Colorado Rapids and Kyle Parker was drafted by the Columbus Crew.

Newtown Pride FC: Based in Sandy Hook, Conn., Newtown won the National Amateur Cup in 2019 and will field a team with college and low-level pro experience.

Group B

Blade & Grass: The team will feature several players with Premier League and international experience, including former USMNT players Geoff Cameron and Brek Shea. Longtime Leicester City and Watford player Jordan Stewart, who finished his career in the United States with the San Jose Earthquakes and Phoenix Rising, is also on the roster. Other prominent names will be announced in the coming weeks.

DMV Diplomats: A team that started with one guy from the Washington D.C./Maryland area, the DMV Diplomats have since grown to include players with international experience from all over the world. Mark Gonzalez and Jose Pedro Fuenzalida both appeared on World Cup rosters for Chile (Gonzalez scored in a 1-0 win against Switzerland at South Africa 2010), while Miroslav Stoch went to the 2010 World Cup with Slovakia at 20 years old.

Villita FC: A deep roster of players with professional experience in MLS and Liga MX, including active pros in indoor and futsal.

Wolverhampton Wanderers: The Premier League side is building a team that combines former club players, academy players and others through a tryout process. Those names will be rolled out in the coming weeks.

Group C

Club Necaxa: The Mexican side will be bringing several former Necaxa players, several of whom played for multiple Liga MX teams. At 47 years old, former Mexico international Paulo Chavez is on the team.

Hapoel Tel Aviv: A mix of club legends and academy players will represent one of Israel's biggest professional clubs in North Carolina.

SLC FC: Hailing from Canada, the bulk of SLC's roster has experience in MLS, USL, NASL, Canadian Premier League and college soccer. Chris Mannella has three caps for Canada.