SAN DIEGO – The 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship presented by Rady Children’s Hospital is set to begin here tonight with the Opening Ceremony and first match between the United States and Canada, expected to draw a crowd of nearly 20,000. The rivalry game – a rematch of the gold medal match from the last men’s championship in 2018 – is set for 7 p.m. PT at Snapdragon Stadium, and will be televised on ESPN2 in the United States and around the world via ESPN Internation.
This year’s event, the 14th edition of the men’s championship, features 30 teams vying for the sport’s biggest prize. All 107 games of the world championship will be carried on ESPN platforms in the U.S., and in a record 185+ territories via ESPN International.
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World Lacrosse CEO Jim Scherr said: “We are excited to celebrate what we believe is our most competitive men’s championship yet. We’re expecting lacrosse to showcase itself yet again as a premier sport to a global audience and are excited for fans to enjoy a first-class experience.
“Thank you to the San Diego Seals for their significant efforts in staging this championship, and to San Diego State and the University of San Diego for hosting us on their beautiful campuses.”
In addition to tonight’s festivities, San Diego State University’s newly constructed Snapdragon Stadium will also host the semifinals, medal games and Closing Ceremony. Meanwhile, the University of San Diego’s Torero Stadium will host many featured tournament games with a capacity of 6,000.
All remaining games will take place on SDSU’s campus among four adjacent fields, anchored by SDSU Sports Deck, the 1,500-seat home of the university’s soccer programs.
The United States is hosting the event for the fourth time after previously doing so in 1982, 1988 and 2014. The host will be looking for its second consecutive title and to avenge the 2014 loss in the gold medal game on home soil in Denver to rival Canada. The two teams battled to the wire in 2018 in Israel, when the United States scored the title-winning goal with one second remaining.
The 30 teams are split into six pools of five, with the top five nations in the rankings making up Pool A. The top two Pool A teams will advance directly to the quarterfinals, while the remaining three teams from the pool will join the top nine teams from pools B-F (five first-place finishers and four second-place finishers) in the first round of the playoffs on June 27 to determine the remaining teams in the quarterfinals, which take place June 28.
