International academies of professional clubs choose the Donosti Cup

The Donosti Cup 2026 will once again feature a strong presence of international academies linked to some of the world’s leading football clubs, reflecting the continued growth and consolidation of global expansion projects in professional youth football.

This edition will include teams from the Barça Academy in the United States and Mexico, the Real Madrid Academy in Japan and the United States, the Villarreal Academy in Australia and the Philippines, the Inter Academy in Dubai, the PSG Academy in the United States, as well as an official school from CD O’Higgins.

These are official academies and schools based outside the clubs’ home countries, which develop their own training programmes based on each club’s methodology. They are not part of the clubs’ professional youth academies in the strict sense, but rather international development structures aimed at player training and at promoting each club’s sporting identity worldwide.

Alongside them, the tournament will also feature official youth academies of European professional clubs such as SL Benfica, Sporting Clube de Portugal and FC Fleury 91, which are directly integrated into their respective clubs’ youth development systems.

The coexistence of international academies, official academies, schools and amateur clubs from around thirty countries reinforces the global nature of the Donosti Cup, which continues to establish itself as one of the main meeting points in international grassroots football.