Logan Murdock

USA TODAY NETWORK–Tennessee

Less than two weeks after the U.S. national team attracted a state-record soccer crowd of 47,662 at Nissan Stadium, an even bigger soccer crowd might be coming to Nashville.

Organizers are expecting as many as 60,000 to watch the International Champions Cup match between Manchester City and Tottenham on July 29.

Organizer Charlie Stillitano said more than 45,000 tickets have been sold. He expects the attendance to reach as high as 60,000, just short of the stadium's listed capacity of 69,143.

"The event's been tracking very well," he said.

The predicted figure is based on data points taken from Ticketmaster, which makes its projections based on the average number of tickets sold for the event per day.

"I think it'll be great for the town, and I think it'll be great for us," Stillitano said.

Attendance for soccer matches in Nashville has risen steadily since the city's first soccer match in 2006, when the the U.S. national team fell 1-0 in a friendly match against Morocco in front of 26,141. Since that game, the stadium has had soccer crowds of 44,835, 40,287 and most recently 47,662 for the Gold Cup.

"This market is very Premier League centric and very U.S. Soccer centric," Stillitano said. "The fans have responded really well to it."

A group in Nashville has applied for an expansion Major League Soccer franchise. The group led by businessman John Ingram officially applied for expansion in January. The city is one of 12 finalists for two expansion bids expected to be awarded in December.

The group hopes to build on strong attendance numbers the city has shown in years past for soccer. The city's strong local TV ratings for Premier League games, combined with the high attendance marks, makes it a perfect candidate for expansion, Stillitano said.

"I think that Nashville's demonstrated itself as one of those cities that is really a strong market for MLS," Stillitano said. "This (game) will only reinforce that."

The match will feature one of the best coaches in the history of soccer, Pep Guardiola. Guardiola, a former midfielder, has two Spanish Super Super Cups, two Champion League wins and three Spanish championships as the manager of FC Barcelona.