The third edition of the FC Bayern World Squad will begin in 2023. The German record champions have been running the project, together with partner Volkswagen, since 2021. It sees Under 19 talents from all over the world offered the chance to fulfil their dream of becoming a professional footballer. A new head coach will be in charge from this year: former Bayern striker Roy Makaay will be lending his support to the young players together with the existing coaching team of World Cup winner Klaus Augenthaler and Christopher Loch. This year, the team will again prepare for the match against the FC Bayern U19s in the summer at an international training camp.
Andreas Jung, FC Bayern board member for marketing: “The FC Bayern World Squad has established itself as a great stage for talents. With this initiative, our club is promoting global football youth development together with Volkswagen. Players from countries that in some cases are structurally weak are given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. On top of that, we’re making a general contribution to cultural exchange as talents from different nations are brought together by a pioneering international project. The FC Bayern World Squad represents the core values of our club: diversity, tolerance and cohesion.”
Hasan Salihamidžić, FC Bayern board member for sport: “We’re very proud of how the FC Bayern World Squad project has developed on a sporting level during the first two years. Now we’re very keen to see if one or two talents have the potential to make the step up again this year and can use it as a springboard for their career. Roy Makaay, with his phenomenal experience as a player at the highest level for many years, will be a valuable aid to the talents.”
Roy Makaay, new head coach of the FC Bayern World Squad: “I’m looking forward to this unique challenge of working with young players from all over the world and different cultures. We want to get the best out of every player in this elite football project and offer them the best possible platform at FC Bayern to get closer to their dream of being a professional footballer.”
Volkswagen, as sponsor of the FC Bayern youth section, has been involved as partner of the FC Bayern World Squad since the start. “When such a unique international youth football programme is staged for the third time, it means it’s been very successful so far and everyone involved is more than satisfied,” said Stephan Franssen, Head of Sponsoring at Volkswagen. “For us, the FC Bayern World Squad combines many things that we stand for in football: it’s about diversity, talent development and a real chance to open the path to professional football. That fits perfectly with our wide-ranging involvement in football.”
In Daniel Francis, one player from the FC Bayern World Squad has already signed a professional contract with the German record champions – he’s currently on loan at Austria Klagenfurt. José Mulato and Jakov Žaja have also trained at Säbener Straße and have been playing in Major League Soccer with FC Dallas since this season. Six of last year’s 22 talents have made professional debuts for their clubs in the meantime, proving what a unique stage the FC Bayern World Squad project provides for talents from across the world.
Registration platform:
Football talents who were born in 2005 or 2006 and want to become part of the World Squad should send FC Bayern an application video of no more than 90 seconds, in which they demonstrate their individual abilities, by 6 April 2023. The registration form, conditions of participation and further information on the application criteria can be found via the following link:
www.fcbayern.com/worldsquad
Note on 2022 series:
The youngsters‘ complete journey, from training to the selection up to the match against the FC Bayern U19s in Munich, will again be documented in a multi-part series in late autumn this year, allowing fans to follow as the dreams of professional footballers take shape. Watch series 2 on YouTube here.
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