11th International Cup U17 Kicks Off at Aspire

Doha, Qatar: The 11th edition of the International Cup U17 Football Championship is set to begin on Monday 19th January at Aspire Academy in Doha, with eight international teams and academies competing in the tournament, which runs until January 29.The participating teams have been divided into two groups.

Group A features Aspire Academy, Mohammed VI Academy from Morocco, Rangers FC of Scotland, and Tunisia’s Étoile du Sahel. Group B includes FC Barcelona of Spain, Paris Saint-Germain of France, Japan’s Kashiwa Reysol, and Vietnam’s PVF Academy. The opening day will see Aspire Academy take on Mohammed VI Academy at 3:30 p.m., followed by a match between Rangers FC and Étoile du Sahel at 5:50 p.m.
The group stage will follow a single round-robin format, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semifinals, which will be played in a knockout system. Winners of the semifinals will contest the final, while the losing teams will play for third place. Teams finishing third and fourth in their groups will compete in classification matches to determine positions from fifth to eighth.
The tournament is organized by Al Kass Sports Channels in collaboration with the Qatar Football Association, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, Aspire Zone Foundation, Aspetar, and QatarEnergy, and features clubs representing multiple continents.

Matches will be broadcast live on Al Kass open channels and the Shoof platform, with studio coverage available in both Arabic and English.

The organizing committee has finalized all preparations, and a technical meeting was held on Sunday afternoon, chaired by tournament director Ali Jassim Al-Miftah, to review technical and organizational matters in the presence of team representatives, the referees committee, and the technical committee.