Zurich will once again host youth squads from clubs around the globe for the 75th Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup. The annual event allows select sides to showcase their young talent in a tournament mean to provide those rising stars with valuable experience.
The Youth Cup takes on the feel of a weekend tournament for kids, with squads playing up to three short matches per day. There will be 25 matches played over two days, which includes round-robin group play followed by playoffs.
Manchester United, Zenit St. Petersburg and Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund are the top clubs to send youth squads to the event. It's a good learning experience for players still in the early stages of their development.
The defending champions, Zurich, return in search of back-to-back titles. United were the last club to have their youth squad accomplish that feat in 2004 and 2005. A full list of winners can be found by visiting the FIFA tournament page.
All squads will play a total of five matches. The first four will be against clubs in their group. Where they finish in that stage will determine their opponent in the playoff round, which will be used to place all 10 sides.
Although the tournament doesn't make much of an impact on a worldwide or even European scale, it's important because the players taking part are looking for their big break. A strong showing in the Youth Cup could be exactly what they need to take the next step.
Furthermore, attendance from clubs like United, Zenit and Dortmund shows that elite clubs believe it can be a good building block for their youth squads.
Knowing that, let's take a look at the clubs comprising each of the two groups along with a schedule for group play. All match info is courtesy of FIFA.com.
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