Danone Nations Cup Comes to New York
Youth soccer in the USA is receiving more international acclaim than ever before. The annual Danone Nations Cup World Final is coming to New York this September as teams from across the globe seek to hoist the title at New Jersey’s Red Bull Arena.
RELATED COVERAGE: DANONE NATIONS CUP IN USA – HUGE YOUTH SOCCER TOURNAMENT
The 2017 event welcomes the inaugural girls’ tournament, while Germany returns to defend its title in the boys’ division.
Youth Soccer News: In the USA we are more familiar with Danon — the yogurt company many of us grew up eating before the yogurt aisle exploded with so many competing variations. What few know is that this friendly yogurt company — Dannon — is a subsidiary of Danone, a leading global food and beverage company that is a strong supporter of youth soccer.
Danone is bringing together 33 diverse nations which will be represented in this year’s Danone Nations Cup World Final held September 22-24, 2017 — now, for the first time, held in the USA.
Making the competition U.S. debut, the 2017 tournament will host nearly 500 young players at New Jersey’s Red Bull Arena, home to Major League Soccer’s New York Red Bulls, giving fans in and around the tri-state area the chance to attend, watch and cheer on their favorite countries.
Each year, the Danone Nations Cup brings together millions of children aged 10 to 12 from around the globe to compete in the world’s largest youth soccer tournament for this age range.
Throughout the past year, 2.5 million players from more than 34,000 schools and 11,000 clubs worldwide played a series of local, regional and national Danone Nations Cup events, striving for the chance to represent their country on World Final Day.
The 32 countries competing in this year’s boys’ tournament represent all corners of the world:
Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Sénégal, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Uruguay, the UAE and the United States.
2017’s World Final also marks the inaugural girls’ tournament, giving girls aged 10-12 the opportunity to play against other internationally recognized teams as Danone crowns the first ever girls’ World Final Champion.
The six countries competing in this inaugural girls’ tournament are Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, Spain and the United States.
“Every year, the World Final brings together children from diverse backgrounds for a day of competition and friendship that will undoubtedly shape their lives for years to come. We’re thrilled that this year we’ll continue that tradition in the United States,” said Emmanuel Faber, CEO of Danone.
“For the first time, the 2017 tournament will welcome both a boys and girls team from five countries and we’re expecting our most spirited competition yet – one that builds on the tournament values of fun, comradery, teamwork, tolerance and respect.”
Last year, Germany took home the World Final championship in a tough matchup against the team from Japan. They’ll be back again this year to defend their title against 31 other boys’ teams who will travel to the United States for their chance to be crowned 2017 World Final Champions.
