The 2016 Future Champions Gauteng Roadshows

The City of Johannesburg will be hitting the road on Sunday, March 13 in celebration of the upcoming 2016 Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament that runs from March 14-19.
The tournament, one of the most prestigious Under-17 competitions in the world, will be hosted at the Nike Football Training Centre in Pimville, Soweto, with entrance to matches free to the public.
A total of 12 teams will compete for the coveted trophy in what is a major celebration of youth football.

As a proud partner to the event, the City of Johannesburg will be handing out posters and flyers this weekend to encourage the community to get behind the tournament and highlight some of the great activities and giveaways that will be taking place.

The roadshow will begin at the Nike Football Training Centre at 09h30, before moving on to the Bara Mall (09h30-10h30). The journey will end at the Maponya Mall (10h30-11h30

“The City of Johannesburg prides itself on being a premier destination for major sports events and the Future Champions Gauteng is no exception. We are calling on our football-loving communities to get behind the event and support not just our five local teams, but all the sides that have gathered from around the world. We will make sure we give them a typically warm South African welcome,” said Clr Chris Vondo, MMC Community Development.
The field in 2016 contains four former winners, including three-time champions Clube Atletico Mineiro of Brazil, Club Tijuana (Mexico), Shandong Luneng (China) and last year’s winners Torino (Italy).

They are each top-seeds in the four pools, where they have been joined by the three other international sides and the five local favourites.

Group 1 looks particularly enticing and will include a Soweto Derby between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs after these two giants of the South African game were paired together.
The duo will also face-off against Clube Atletico Mineiro in what will be a mighty challenge for them.

Group 2 sees Club Tijuana take on top Belgian outfit Club Brugge and South African side Mamelodi Sundowns in what is sure to be a fiercely contested pool.

Sundowns claimed their place in the international tournament with a commanding performance in the Future Champions Gauteng Cup that was played on March 6.

Group 3 will see Shandong Luneng play Spanish giants Atletico Madrid and local side Mpumalanga Black Aces.

Shandong won the Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament in 2010 but will be hard-pressed for a repeat against the academy side of Atletico that has produced so many world-class players in the past.

The final Group 4 sees defending champions Torino take on Ferroviário de Maputo, who return for a second year, as well as local side BidVest Wits.

The teams play each other in a round-robin format, with the top sides in each pool advancing to the semi-finals. The remaining eight teams will play-off to determine positions five to 12.

  • We had a wonderful football and cultural experience in Gauteng. The tournament and activities were very well organized and we found everyone involved extremely helpful and accommodating. We have all returned home with fantastic memories of our time in South Africa, both on and off the pitch, and have made many new friends as a result of the trip. I hope that we are invited to participate in future tournaments.

    Everton Academy Head Coach

  • The experience both on and off the field for our players during the Future Champions tournament in Gauteng was life-enriching for all those who participated. We were privileged enough to win this edition but what will be bringing us back in future is the cross-cultural education our players receive from spending time with athletes from all over the world. They are human beings before they are football players and enriching them with other cultures is as rewarding as the experience they receive on the field.

    Club Tijuana Director of Football

  • After twenty years of experiencing tournaments around the globe, Future Champions is hands down the best organized, well run International Tournament we have ever participated in. Bringing teams from dozens of different countries provided our boys exposure to cultural diversity they only read about in textbooks. It’s amazing how sport can be the cultural link that provides the opportunity to interact with each other and discover that our global community is a bit smaller than they realized. We had a football and cultural experience that will be cherished for the rest of our lives.

    Director of USYSA Select

  • For us to compete in Future Champions is much more than playing a series of matches. It is an opportunity to compete and contrast our level against the best teams from around the world and the possibility of living in another culture and environment for an unforgettable week, learning about the history of the fight for human rights.

    Director of Aspire Academy

  • The addition of a girls’ competition this year is a natural expansion for what has become a hugely popular event. Over and above the football, the players are also exposed to life-skills courses and HIV/AIDS awareness that could end up saving their lives in the future. We have had an amazing partnership with the Gauteng Province over the last decade and we thank each and every stakeholder for making the Future Champions Gauteng campaign such a huge success

    Tournament director