The Emory World Cup Tournament and International Festival will be Friday, April 18 from 7-11 p.m. at McDonough Field.

The event pays tribute to and is designed to build on the momentum of the 2014 FIFA World Cup being played in Brazil in June and July.

The purpose of the event is to bring the entire Emory campus together to celebrate and learn about the incredible national diversity of the students through food, music, friendly soccer competition, and fellowship," says Natalie Cruz, coordinator of international student life in the Division of Campus Life.

While the event will be centered around student soccer matches in the center of McDonough Field, there will also be music, dancing, international food, free giveaways, and activities throughout the festival and tournament.

There will also be tables representing many countries represented in the World Cup; countries represented by students at Emory; and international and cultural student organizations. Over 20 organizations will be represented at the event, along with Zumba and Latin dance demonstrations, several international performance groups, and more.

The tournament has 32 teams, but is still accepting teams who want to play in the competition. The tournament will be single-elimination, and games will be 10 minutes, in a more condensed field set-up.

"Soccer is an extremely popular sport at Emory and internationally," notes Cruz. “We hope that this festival will be a great way to end the year in a fun and celebratory way.”

Sponsors are the Office of International Student Life,Late Night @ Emory, and Emory Intramurals.