What is The Messi Cup? The new competition organised by the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner

Martin Macdonald

• 25 Feb 2026 06:30 CST
• 3 min read

Nieuws

The inaugural Messi Cup took place at the end of 2025, showcasing some of the best young footballers on the planet.

Back in October, the Argentine superstar announced the creation of the new competition, posting on Instagram:

"Thrilled to finally share this with you — this December, Miami will host a very special youth football tournament featuring some of the top clubs from around the world. The future of the game will be on full display, and it’s more than just matches — we’ve got an incredible few days planned with lots of other exciting activities. This is about the next generation. Hope you like it! This is the #MessiCup."

The first Messi Cup featured eight under-16 teams: Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, River Plate, Inter Milan, Newell’s Old Boys, Chelsea, and Inter Miami.

Initial group stage fixtures took place at Inter Miami's Florida Blue Training Center before knockout matches commenced in Chase Stadium.

Naturally, Messi's beloved Barcelona and first club Newell's Old Boys feature - but there was no place for another former club Paris Saint-Germain.

Another Argentine side, River Plate, won the tournament after defeating Atletico Madrid 2-0 in the final, while Manchester City finished in third and fourth, respectively, after a playoff.

River also had the top goalscorer of the tournament in their ranks as Bruno Cabral impressively found the back of the net on seven occasions.

"The Messi Cup is where today’s game meets tomorrow’s players," said Tim Pastore, CEO of Messi's media company, 525 Rosario.

"It is an opportunity to celebrate talent, culture, and community, while creating legacies and bonds that will endure well beyond the pitch."

A prestigious new tournament

In a podcast appearance with Miro de Atrás, Messi explained that it was important to create this new competition so that younger players can experience different cultures even if they are just starting out in the game.

"It occurred to us for the same thing that I told before, to give the boys the opportunity to live the experience," he said.

"That they make the trip, that they go to another part of the world, that they live with other cultures. May those of our club [Inter Miami] have the opportunity to compete with guys from outside. It's a nice age, it's there at the limit, it's fair. A very nice atmosphere was lived, they lived together for a week, things that I had to live.

"It came out as a test."

The Argentine also pledged to continue growing the competition so that more teams from more countries can compete, though admitted there are some logistical and scheduling issies to overcome.

The idea is that it is bigger and that more teams come from more countries," he continued.

It's a little difficult because the calendars don't match much. We brought River, but the idea is also Boca, Newell's, Rosario Central. It's not that we brought River just because and not Boca, but that's how it came out. We want it to be marked as a date and that the clubs have it on the agenda."

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