The III VCF Academy World Cup came to a conclusion on Sunday, and provided those involved with some unforgettable memories from their time in Valencia.

“We feel at home here,” said Diego Bonato, coach of the competition's runners-up, VCF Academy of Canada.

“It is a good way to see the representatives of the other VCF Academies, see familiar faces from previous years, meet some new people and see that we are all working in the same way,” he added.

Iván Beroiz from The Bridge SC in Jordan -winners of the Silver final- commented: “For the boys this is the best moment of the season. Having these experiences and coming to this type of well-organised tournaments, then having a good result, means we are very happy for them.” The Bridge SC is a project in Amman of which the VCF Academy is a technical partner.

Players and families from Canada, Houston, Chicago, Seattle, Greece, Cyprus, Belgium, Holland and Jordan all came to the event, which included not just games but also training sessions, activities, visits to Mestalla and sights in the city of Valencia, and the traditions and food of the city. The 2024 edition of the VCF Academy World Cup is the third for a competition that is consolidating itself as a standout tournament for Under-12s teams.

The competition is part of the VCF Academy Programs that each year includes some 5,000 children from 50 countries amongst their respective activities.

Participants in the tournament posed for a group photo together at the Ciudad Deportiva.

The 2024 edition was the third edition of the VCF Academy World Cup, which is consolidating itself as a reference tournament for the different U12 teams from around the world, most of which are linked to the different international projects that Valencia CF carries out through the VCF Academy Programs, which help to expand the Valencia CF brand and what its colors symbolize worldwide. This Internationalization Strategy has been a finalist in the World Football Summit Awards 2023.

In 2023, more than 5,000 players and 400 coaches from more than 50 countries around the world participated in the various VCF Academy Programs to learn more about the VCF Academy's playing methodology, the fourth best in Europe in the training of players to compete at the elite level.

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