Tenth Barça Academy World Cup gets under way with more than 50% more participants

The tenth Barça Academy World Cup presented by Allianz got started this morning with the opening ceremony at the Estadi Johan Cruyff and the first games at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper. The year there were more than 1,660 boys and girls aged 6 to 14 years in the terraces, 50% more than the post-pandemic edition of last year, and with more than 4,000 relatives arriving from four continents. The opening ceremony was presided by the club’s first vice-president and of the sports area, Rafael Yuste, and by the sporting director of the Barça Academy project, Sergi Barjuan. 

The 2023 edition is bringing together 152 teams from 19 countries representing 34 Barça Academies and Barça Academy Camps, and until next Thursday 6 April, day of the finals and closing ceremony, will be playing 553 matches. The big change this year is the introduction of a tournament only for girls, with 102 players and 10 teams playing at U12 (4) and U14 (6) level, along with the boys playing U8, U10, U12 as usual and the mixed U14 category. 

The ceremony included different performances that have promoted the values that the club promotes at all of its sports academies, namely humility, effort, ambitions, respect and team-work, and will have produced some very special memories for a tournament that has now featured over 12,500 players from 33 countries over the years. The sporting pledge was delivered by three specially selected players from the Barça Escola Barcelona, Barça Academy Mexico City and the Barça Academy PRO New York.

There was also special recognition for four Barça Academy projects that have been running for more than ten years, namely Barça Academy Dubai (founded in 2008), Barça Academy Fukuoka (2009), Barça Academy Warsaw (2011) and Barça Academy Delhi (2012).

The Barça Academy World Cup presented by Allianz 2023 is being played at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper and on the Camp Municipal de Sant Joan Despí. The Thursday finals will be played on pitch 7, except for the girls’ U14 final, which will be in the Estadi Johan Cruyff itself just before the closing ceremony and the prize-giving ceremony.