Vancouver Whitecaps FC Girls Elite REX, in partnership with BC Soccer, have been invited to play at the prestigious Blue Stars FIFA Youth Cup in Zürich, Switzerland. The girls from the BMO Whitecaps FC Academy will take part in the tournament this coming Thursday, May 20 and Friday, May 21.
The U-20 tournament has seen the likes of George Best, David Beckham, Gerard Pique, Nani, Paul Scholes, Kaka, Pep Guardiola, Xherdan Shaqiri and
many others
participate. This year will be their second ever women’s tournament after a successful first edition in 2018. Overall, 2019 will mark the 80th anniversary of the tournament.
Competing with the ‘Caps will be Inter Milan (Italy), VfL Wolfsburg (Germany), defending champions BSC Young Boys Bern (Switzerland), as well as FC Zurich (Switzerland), and the hosts FC Blue Stars Zurich (Switzerland).
Did you know?
VfL Wolfsburg has been one of the top women's soccer clubs in Europe, making it to the UEFA Women's Champions League Final on four occasions and winning the prestigious continental championship in both 2018 and 2016.
Tournament facts
- The games are played in two 20-minute halves (25 for the final).
- The top two teams from each group progress to the semifinals, where the Group A winners will meet the Group B runners-up - and vice versa - for a place in the final. The remaining two sides go head-to-head in the match for fifth place.
- On the men's side, Manchester United have won the invitational tournament a record 18 times. Only four non-European clubs have ever managed to lift the trophy: Brazil's Sao Paulo were the first to do so in 1999, and were followed by Boca Juniors (Argentina), Gremio and Atletico Paranaense (both Brazil).
Group A
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
VfL Wolfsburg
FC Blue Stars Zurich
Group B
Inter Milan
BSC Young Boys
FC Zurich
Thursday, May 30
vs. FC Blue Stars: 12:40 p.m. local / 3:40 a.m. PT
vs. VfL Wolfsburg: 3:10 p.m. local / 6:40 a.m. PT
Semifinals: 6:05 p.m. local / 9:05 a.m. PT
Friday, May 31
5th place match: 12:05 p.m. local / 3:05 a.m. PT
3rd place match: 2:40 p.m. local / 5:40 a.m. PT
Championship Final: 6:50 p.m. local / 9:50 a.m. PT
A special thanks to
Park'N Fly
for their support of the team on the trip. For more information on the tournament visit
youthcup.ch
.
