The World Schools Football Cup brought young players together from across the Gulf in Barcelona last week, resulting in some remarkable performances that they can take immense pride in.
Schools representing countries from across the world competed at the state-of-the-art Mediterranean Sports Village, creating a hive of football over three days of top class action. With over 60 teams, including five Gulf schools, from 20 countries the competition was fierce as these aspiring football stars were playing to lift the prestigious World Schools Football Cup trophy.
Before the on-pitch excitement happened, a special guest appeared at the event, bringing entertainment to the young footballers. TikTok sensation and football freestyler, John Farnworth, dazzled the audience by showcasing his remarkable skills, setting the stage for an electrifying opening ceremony.
Over the course of the weekend, the young Gulf footballers had the unique opportunity to fine-tune their football freestyling abilities with the Guinness World Record holder himself as Farnworth was in attendance throughout the tournament.
The next day marked the first full day of football, with each school’s students happy to take to the venue’s top-quality pitches, their faces filled with smiles and determination.
With players used to competing against the same range of schools and clubs in the UAE and Middle East, the World Schools Football Cup gave the squads the chance to go toe to toe with players and teams from all four corners of the globe, testing their abilities and styles of play against many new opponents during three days of play.
The competition ended with the crowning of champions in various age categories, including U13, U15, U17 and open age groups, with four overall age group winners to be celebrated at the end of this exciting event.
Gulf Students Find Success on the Pitch
One school that went on to become World Schools Football Cup champions was Safa Community School. Through a tremendous display of hard work, this school took home not one but two trophies back to Dubai. The purple and yellow faithful would be victorious in both the U13 Boys and U15 Girls categories whilst in sunny Spain.
A member of the U13 Boys Safa Community School team, Sam, explained just what an incredible opportunity it was to compete at the global football cup.
“It’s an amazing experience to see how different countries teach and coach their students to see how they can play against us. The matches and playing against other teams has been my favourite experience.”
The colours maroon and white, representing French School Doha, were proudly shown on the world stage. The Qatar based school had strong performances as their students competed against teams from Ireland, Germany, England, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Tanzania and South Korea in the U17 Boys category.
Many in attendance praised how great the atmosphere was at the Mediterranean Sports Village, including GEMS Wellington Al Khail coach, Joe. He would go on to say:
“It gave students an opportunity to gain some independence, meet new people from different parts of the world, and just having the opportunity to play in these facilities is inspiring.”
For further information on the official World Schools Football Cup results, please download the official WSG Football Cup app on the App Store or Google Play.
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You can hold on to your favourite memories of this year’s event by purchasing photos here.
We are proud to be an official partner of the both the World School Games Event Series, which hosts The World School Football Cup.
And don’t forget, the World Schools Football Cup is just one of six events throughout the year the World School Games Event Series puts on. If you’d like to find out more about our multisport, netball, football and basketball events please see here.
Lastly, well done to everyone involved in The World Schools Football Cup 2023! We look forward to seeing everyone back next year!