TST 2026, Cagliari wins on its debut

Debut victory for Cagliari at The Soccer Tournament 2026 (TST), a 7-a-side football tournament in Cary, North Carolina (USA). The rossoblù came from behind to beat Villarreal 2-1 with a brace from Nainggolan. The Spaniards, with Pepe Reina in goal, took the lead in the 4th minute of the first half thanks to striker Xisco Nadal. In the second half the rossoblù came close to equalizing several times, first with Raterink (post), then with Mancosu and Grandu, until the deserved equalizer scored from a free kick by the “Ninja” in the 34th minute.

At the end of the two halves of eighteen minutes each, we went to the “Target Score Time”, a special time to give unpredictability and spectacularity to the match: with the match tied, the Tournament regulations provide for the “golden goal” rule, whereby the team that scores first wins. Just 40 seconds into the half, on a free kick from a central position taken by Vinciguerra, Nainggolan’s right-footed shot into the corner scored the winning goal.

Cagliari will return to the pitch tonight, at 1.15am (7.15pm local time), against Club America.

All matches will be broadcast on the TST YouTube channel (Click here), all updates will be published on the official Cagliari Calcio channels, with photos, videos and exclusive content from North Carolina.

CLICK HERE | Watch Cagliari vs. Club America

THE CAGLIARI ROSE AT TST 2026
Led by captain Andrea Cossu, the team can count on the experience and charisma of Radja Nainggolan, Marco Sau, Luca Ceppitelli and Matteo Mancosu, protagonists of a long history with the Club and in professional football. Also in the squad are Cagliari’s young players Vincenzo Sarno (goalkeeper), Nicolò Cavuoti, Nicola Grandu, Otheniel Raterink, Márton Prettenhoffer and Alessandro Vinciguerra. The team is completed by the additions of TST Alessio Buono (goalkeeper from Zeta Como of the Kings League), the Argentine Facundo Setti (futsal specialist), the Canadian Lucas Shaw, already present in 2025, and the American Ashraf Tendo Bedard-Khalid. The team’s coach will be Gian Marco Serra: a Sardinian 5-a-side football coach with long experience in regional futsal, he has played with Mediterranea Cagliari, Monastir and Serramanna, as well as having led the Sardinian Under 19 Representative Team. Athletic training is handled by Francesco Fois, already part of the medical staff of the Rossoblù First Team with a focus on recovery from injuries.