Generation Adidas Cup

Generation Adidas Cup
Founded	2007
Region	United States; Canada
Number of teams	12 (international division)
Current champions	Valencia (U15) (1st title); Philadelphia Union (U17) (3rd title)
Most successful club(s)	D.C. United ; River Plate ; (3 titles)

The Generation Adidas Cup (previously known as the SUM U-17 Cup) is a competition run by Major League Soccer for all U-17 MLS academy teams. As part of the Homegrown Initiative, the Generation Adidas Cup focused on player development while providing elite competition for those involved. From 2014 onwards international club sides have been invited to the competition to test MLS academies against foreign opposition, Stoke City of England became the first international winners of the tournament in the same year.^[1]

The tournament served as a springboard into the professional game for some top prospects, such as Tristan Bowen (Los Angeles Galaxy), Julien Ngoy (Stoke City), Andy Najar (D.C. United), Bryan Leyva (FC Dallas), Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Victor Ulloa (FC Dallas), and Sebastian Saucedo (Real Salt Lake).

Competition

The tournament initially consisted of four groups made up of four teams from foundation to 2012, with the top team from each group advancing to the single-game knockout stages. For the 2013-2014 season a new format was introduced, early in the season a qualifying tournament for domestic teams was held with the top nine sides plus three invitational foreign sides qualifying for the finals of the tournament in 2014.

The 2014 finals was contested with three groups of four teams with one foreign side in each group, with the group winners and the best runner-up advancing to the knock out stage. A second "domestic" division is contested for MLS clubs with did not qualify for the finals proper.

For 2015 the "International Division" was renamed as the "Champions Division". As before there were three groups of four teams, however the number of foreign teams per group was increased to two meaning only the top six MLS academy teams qualified. The secondary domestic division was renamed as the "Premier Division" and one foreign team was invited to compete in each group.

Seattle Sounders FC became the first MLS team to win the new Champions Division, defeating Valencia CF in the 2019 final.^[2] The entire tournament was streamed on Twitch.^[3]

Match format

Games consist of two 35 minute halves. In the group stages, when there is a draw, a penalty shoot out is held to award an extra point. Draws after normal time in the knockout stages are settled with a penalty shoot out with no extra time played.

Finals

Year	Winners	Score	Runners-up	Host
2007	D.C. United	3–0	Kansas City Wizards	Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colorado
2008	Real Salt Lake	1–1 (5–4p)	D.C. United	Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colorado
2009	D.C. United	1–1 (6–5p)	FC Dallas	Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colorado
2010	D.C. United	0–0 (5–4p)	Real Salt Lake	Robertson Stadium, Houston, Texas
2011	Los Angeles Galaxy	2–0	FC Dallas	Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas
2012	Philadelphia Union	2–2 (4–3p)	Toronto FC	Starfire Sports Complex, Tukwila, Washington
2014^[4]	Stoke City	1–1 (4–2p)	Real Salt Lake	Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
2015^[5]	River Plate	1–0	Eintracht Frankfurt	Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
2016^[6]	River Plate	2–0	Universidad de Chile	Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
2017^[7]	River Plate	2–1	Flamengo	Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
2018	Flamengo	1–0	Atlético Paranaense	Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
2019	Seattle Sounders FC	1–0	Valencia	Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
2020	Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2022 (U-15)	Portland Timbers	2–0	Valencia	Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
2022 (U-17)	Seattle Sounders FC	2–0	Tigres UANL	Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas
2023 (U-15)	Austin FC	1–1 (7–6p)	Philadelphia Union	IMG Academy Field, Bradenton, Florida
2023 (U-17)	Philadelphia Union	1–0	FC Dallas	IMG Academy Field, Bradenton, Florida
2024 (U-15)	Valencia	2–0	Toulouse	IMG Academy Field, Bradenton, Florida
2024 (U-17)	Philadelphia Union	2–2 (5–4p)	LA Galaxy	IMG Academy Field, Bradenton, Florida