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Future Cup
The Future Cup (officially known as the ABN AMRO Future Cup, and previously known as the AEGON Future Cup) is an annual friendly international youth tournament which is organized by the Dutch football club AFC Ajax.[1] The tournament is created for under-17 youth teams, and is held at De Toekomst, every year during the Easter weekend.[2] The tournament has been contested by some of the strongest under-17 teams in football, with FC Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern Munich amongst the participating clubs.[3] The first five editions of the tournament were named after its main sponsor, the insurance company AEGON, before the Dutch state-owned bank ABN AMRO took over as the main sponsor of the event.[4] The tournament is broadcast on television in over 59 countries via Eredivisie Live, Eurosport and Fox Sports.[5][6][7] Qualification8 teams participate in the Future Cup every year.[8] Since Ajax are the tournament hosts, they are automatically entered, leaving 7 additional places available in the tournament.[9] Six of the spots can be filled with a simple registration of an under-17 team from any club, while national teams are also able to register, such as the China U-17 team did when it competed in the first edition of the competition.[10] The eighth and final position is filled by the winners of the Brazilian 'Craques Mongeral AEGON Future Cup - Um Torneio do Ajax' a parallel running competition for under-17 youth teams in South America which shares the same sponsor. The winner of that tournament is automatically seeded for the Future Cup in Amsterdam the next year, completing the 8 participants in the Cup challenge.[11] FormatThe draw takes place ahead of the last home match of the Ajax first team ahead of the Future Cup.[12] The 8 teams are then divided up into two groups during halftime of this match. The opening ceremony of the tournament takes place on the Friday evening before Easter, while the first matches are played on Holy Saturday. The first two group stage matches are played for each team on this day, while the last two group stage matches are then contested on Easter Sunday.[13] The finals are played on Monday, the second Easter day. The day starts with the matches for the 7th and 8th place, which are contested by the two teams who finished bottom of their groups.[14] Afterwards the two semi-finals are played.[15] The group winners of each group compete against the second place team of the other group, and after the two semi-finals the matches for 5th and 6th place are contested against the third place team from each group.[16] The matches for 3rd and 4th place are then contested amongst the losers of the Semi-finals, which is concluded by the Cup final, deciding the 1st and 2nd place.[17] The awards and trophies are awarded directly after the Final, at which all teams and coaches are present.[18] FinalsStatistics accurate as of ABN AMRO Future Cup 2024. [19]
PrizesThe winner of the Future Cup are obvious winners of the tournament. For this information please see the next segment below. Other prizes are however awarded in conclusion, which are handed out by prominent former and current Ajax members, with Frank de Boer, Martin Jol and Luis Suárez amongst those who have awarded the trophies.[20] The man of the tournament is selected and awarded the adidas Best player of ABN AMRO Future Cup award. Below is a list of the prize winners over the years:
Every year the prize adidas Top Scorer of ABN AMRO Future Cup is awarded to the top-scorer of the tournament. Since the 2023 tournament, the award has been renamed the Noah Gesser Trophy in honour of the U16 Ajax talent who had died in a car accident in 2021.[21] Below is a list of the top-scorers for each year:
StatisticsAppearances and best resultsStatistics accurate as of ABN AMRO Future Cup 2024.
All-time cup winners
All-time top-scorersStatistics accurate as of AEGON Future Cup 2024.
Participation by countryThe under-17 youth teams of the following clubs have participated in the Future Cup tournament in the past.
See alsoReferences
External links
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