The Danone Nations Cup is a football tournament for children between the ages of 10 and 12 (U12s category); it is organized every year since 2000 on the initiative of Groupe Danone.[1]

Danone Nations Cup
Organising bodyDanone
Founded2000
RegionWorldwide
Number of teams32 (qualifiers)
Current championsBoys:  Mexico
(3rd title)
Girls:  Spain
(1st title)
(2019)
Most successful team(s)Boys:  Mexico  France
(3 titles each)
Girls:  Brazil  France  Spain
(1 title each)
WebsiteOfficial website
(in English, French, and Spanish)
2019 (B), 2019 (G)

Every year, 2.5 million children from over 34,000 schools and 11,000 clubs from around the globe take part in local, regional and then national Danone Nations Cup competitions, before the winners fly off to compete in the grand World Final. In each of the 32 participating countries, Danone's subsidiaries organize their national tournaments in partnership with the local Sports Federations and/or State Education and Sports Ministers.

For 10 years, the tournament has had Zinédine Zidane as its ambassador, benefiting from his commitment to high quality football and fair play.

History

edit

Following the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, Danone decided to create an international football tournament for kids.

Danone Nations Cup World Final was in France (Paris or Lyon) until 2009. The World Finals of the 10th and 11th editions took place at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa: the same year as the FIFA Football World Cup. The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid in 2011 and the National Stadium in Warsaw in 2012 also hosted the competition. For the 14th edition, the thirty - two winning national teams headed to the legendary Wembley Stadium in London. In 2014, the World Cup of the young people took place in Brazil.

Over the years, the tournament has established itself as a highly respected event with FIFA endorsement. It now enjoys a solid reputation within the world of professional football and partner organizations.

In 2013, the final was goalless (0-0) but France overcame Brazil after a penalty shoot-out. France won its 3rd Danone Nations Cup. South Africa, France and Mexico are the only teams to have won the tournament 3 times each.

Results

edit

Boys

edit
Year Venue Champion Runner Up Third Place Fourth Place
2000   Parc des Princes, Paris   France   Turkey   Ukraine   Poland
2001   Parc des Princes, Paris   Réunion   Netherlands   France   Argentina
2002   Parc des Princes, Paris   Argentina   Netherlands   South Africa   Germany
2003   Parc des Princes, Paris   South Africa   Portugal   France   Austria
2004   Parc des Princes, Paris   Spain    Switzerland   South Africa   Turkey
2005   Stade de Gerland, Lyon   Russia   Turkey   Mexico   Czech Republic
2006   Stade de Gerland, Lyon   Réunion    Switzerland   Argentina   Indonesia
2007   Stade de Gerland, Lyon   South Africa   France   Turkey   Réunion
2008   Parc des Princes, Paris   France   Russia   Germany   Czech Republic
2009   Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg   South Africa    Switzerland   Brazil   Japan
2010   Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg   Mexico   Uruguay   Brazil   France
2011   Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid   Brazil   Thailand   Chile   Russia
2012   National Stadium, Warsaw   South Korea   Japan    Switzerland   Argentina
2013   Wembley Stadium, London   France   Brazil   Japan   Republic of Ireland
2014   Arena Corinthians, São Paulo   Japan   Paraguay   Chile   Russia
2015   Stade de Marrakech, Marrakesh   Morocco   Mexico   France   Netherlands
2016   Stade de France, Saint-Denis   Germany   Japan   Spain   Brazil
2017   Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ   Mexico   Argentina   Morocco   Romania
2018   RCDE Stadium, Barcelona   Brazil   Hungary   France   Bulgaria
2019   RCDE Stadium, Barcelona   Mexico   Spain   France   Indonesia
2020
2021

Participating nations

edit
Legend
Team  
2000
 
2001
 
2002
 
2003
 
2004
 
2005
 
2006
 
2007
 
2008
 
2009
 
2010
 
2011
 
2012
 
2013
 
2014
 
2015
 
2016
 
2017
 
2018
 
2019
Years
  France 1st 3rd 1
  Turkey 2nd R16 1
  Ukraine 3rd 1
  Poland 3rd GS 1
  Romania GS QF 1
  Bulgaria GS GS 1
  South Africa GS QF 1
  Italy GS R16 1
  Réunion 1st 1
  Netherlands 2nd 1
  Argentina 4th 1
  Mexico QF 1
  Canada QF 1
  Spain R16 1
  Brazil R16 1
  Tunisia R16 1
  Australia R16 1
  Germany R16 1
  Morocco R16 1
  Czech Republic GS 1
  Japan GS 1
  Russia GS 1
  Portugal GS 1
  United States GS 1
  Belgium GS 1
  Indonesia GS 24th 26th 11th 4th 29th 28th 6th 16th 33rd 23rd 8th 7th 14th 11th 8th 11th 4th 1
Total (12 Teams) 8 24

Girls

edit
Year Venue Champion Runner Up Third Place Fourth Place
2017   Red Bull Arena, Harrison, NJ   Brazil   Canada   United States   France
2018   RCDE Stadium, Barcelona   France   Italy   Spain   United States
2019   RCDE Stadium, Barcelona   Spain   France   Argentina   Japan
2020
2021

Participating nations

edit
Legend
Team  
2017
 
2018
 
2019
Years
  United States 3rd 1
  Canada 2nd 1
  France 4rd 2nd 1
  Italy GS GS 1
  Brazil 1st 1
  Spain GS 1st 1
  Argentina 3rd 1
  Japan 4th 1
  Uruguay GS 1
  South Africa GS 1
  England GS 1
Total (12 Teams) 6 8

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Details tournament - rsssf.com
edit