The FC Bayern Youth Cup is one of the most prestigious youth football tournaments in Europe and offers young players an amazing platform to prove themselves at an international level. Once again this year, young players from all over the world will compete against each other in the World Finals on 18 and 19 October.
The road to the 2024 Youth Cup World Finals
The exciting journey to the World Finals of the 2024 FC Bayern Youth Cup began with regional selection tournaments organised in cooperation with international partners. In the national finals of the respective countries, the best young players competed against each other to win one of the 10 coveted places in their country’s team for the World Finals in October 2024.
This year also saw a team from Korea take part for the first time. As part of FC Bayern's Audi Summer Tour 2024, the players were selected through a selection tournament in Seoul, in which a total of nine teams took part. Under the supervision of FC Bayern legend and World Squad assistant coach Diego Contento, the 10 best youngsters prevailed and will travel to Germany from 15 to 20 October to take part in the World Finals.
The highlight of the tournament is the World Finals, which will be held on 18 and 19 October at the Adidas Home Ground in the Adi-Dassler Stadium in Herzogenaurach. In this decisive phase, the young players have the opportunity to prove themselves in front of the FC Bayern Campus coaches and scouts and compete for the coveted trophy. In the run-up to the tournament, the nine teams will travel to Munich and take part in training sessions at Säbener Straße.
2024 FC Bayern Youth Cup participants
The 2024 FC Bayern Youth Cup is the 11th edition of the tournament and once again attracted talented players from all over the world. The participating nations include the USA, Rwanda, Mexico, Nigeria, Argentina and India. New this year, in addition to the team from Korea, is the FC Bayern Campus Training team, which is representing Team Germany alongside with the team from ‘buntkicktgut’.
As an integral part of the FC Bayern Youth Football Pathway, the tournament builds a bridge between grassroots and competitive sport. The best talents are given the opportunity to progress to the FC Bayern World Squad or U19s or the Global Academy for U17s via the FC Bayern Pathway.
One of the biggest success stories of the FC Bayern Youth Cup is that of Victor Orakpo from Nigeria. He was named MVP of the Youth Cup in 2022 and was signed by French first division club Nice following his participation in the World Squad. Daniel Francis, also from Nigeria, followed a similarly successful path. As MVP of the 2019 FC Bayern Youth Cup, he secured a place in the FC Bayern World Squad and was later signed by the reserves in Munich. He is currently on loan at Wacker Innsbruck to gain his first experience in European professional football. With stories like these, the FC Bayern Youth Cup shows that it is far more than just a youth football tournament - it is the start of many careers in international professional football.
Youth players from the following nations ultimately prevailed and will form the field of participants for the 2024 FC Bayern Youth Cup:
Argentina
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third participation in World Finals
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2023: Third place
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Partner: Government of Misiones Province
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FC Bayern representative: -
India
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Eighth participation in World Finals
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2023: Eighth place
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Partner: BigHit (Sports pp)
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FC Bayern representative: Bernd Dreher
Mexico
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Third participation in World Finals
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2023: Fourth place
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Partner: -
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FC Bayern representative: Roy Makaay
Nigeria
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Fifth participation in World Finals
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2023: Winners
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Partner: VOE Foundation
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FC Bayern representative: Lars Weichert (head of international youth football), Christian Saba (FC Bayern Campus, former reserves player)
Rwanda
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Second participation in World Finals
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2023: Fifth place
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Partner: Visit Rwanda
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FC Bayern representative: Diego Contento
Korea
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First participation in World Finals
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Partner: Audi
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FC Bayern representative: Diego Contento
buntkicktgut
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11th participation in World Finals
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2023: Sixth place
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Partner: Buntkicktgut (foundation)
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FC Bayern representatives: Diego Contento & Klaus Augenthaler
Campus Training
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First participation in World Finals
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Partner: -
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FC Bayern representatives: Bernd Dreher & Klaus Augenthaler
USA
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11th participation in World Finals
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2023: Seventh plac
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Partners: Princeton FC & South Tangi Youth Soccer Association (STYSA)
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FC Bayern representative: -
fcbayern.com is taking a regular look at how some of Bayern’s loan players are getting on away from Munich this season:
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