Ambitious Youth World Cup tournament launches in U.S. ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup

By Sean Maslin
SoccerWire Staff Writer

Miami, FL – Soccer Mania has taken over North America. Coming off of a successful Club World Cup and with the men’s World Cup less than a year away, the spotlight has never been brighter on the global game here in the United States. With next year’s World Cup being the largest in history, the 2026 FIFA Miami Host Committee is looking to spread that impact onto the youth game by hosting the Miami 2026 Youth World Cup.

In what is being billed as a ‘Legacy Project’ for the 2026 World Cup, the Miami Host Committee is aiming to bring together more than 2,000 youth teams for the tournament overall. The Miami 2026 Youth World Cup powered by the 2026 FIFA Miami Host Committee, is the largest-ever attempted grassroots event in American soccer history. Many top-level youth teams have already committed to participate, including MLS academies such as Orlando City Academy.

“We wanted to develop a youth tournament that gets players and families excited about the World Cup, but also provides them with a high level of competition to start their seasons,” said Tournament Director Mayowa Owolabi.

Play kicks off in September with Boys and Girls U8-U18 teams competing in matches across four different regions, in both Recreational and Competitive brackets. Games in the group stage in each age group will take place across five different weekends in four states:

• Richmond, Virginia (September 19-21)
• Florida (September 26-28)
• Salt Lake City, Utah (October 2-5)
• Florida (October 10-12)
• Phoenix, Arizona (November 13-16)

For the competitive brackets, the top team in each region will advance to the Knockout Rounds (March 12-15) with the Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Championship being decided on May 28-31 in Miami. As for the Recreational teams, their group winners will move directly on to Championship play with matches being played March 12-15 in Miami.

“From the beginning, many of the conversations that we had involved wanting to spread [the event out] and make it as big as possible,” said Owolabi. “We really wanted to hit the four corners and touch every region of the country and from there move it into Knockout Stages and then the Championship round in Miami. But from the beginning we really wanted to make it accessible to everybody. So having it in multiple locations on multiple dates gives us that access that avoids high school and club conflicts.”

Accessibility was a major reason for the inclusion of recreational teams into the competition, providing a more inclusive event for players of all levels.

“With grassroots football here in the United States there is so much of a drive around money,” said Christopher Corey, who is the Liaison to World Cup 2026 for the City of the Miami. “Well, this legacy program is for all kids. When you say ‘competitive soccer tournament’ the first thing that people think is ‘competitive travel’ right because that is where the money is.”

“But the recreational portion of it, the kids that just want to play and might not be trying to be professional footballers, they are going to be left out,” Corey continued. “That really wasn’t acceptable to us and did not go with the philosophy and the theme of the legacy program which was all kids being able to touch and feel the World Cup. Not just the kids that can afford to go to a World Cup game or play in an MLS Academy. All kids and that was really important to us.”

In addition to opening up play to more teams, the Youth World Cup organizers placed an emphasis on reducing the tournament fees. Entry fees are just $300–$750 per team.

“For us, our theme for running this project has been to make sure that it is inclusive for all kids,” added Corey. “With some of these tournaments the fees start to cost $1,500-$1,600. That’s going to keep out a lot of kids that are in grassroots that are in towns that don’t have big youth clubs.”

The tournament will be accessible and affordable for teams of all levels, and it will also seek to live up to its same as a true World Cup style competition. The final rounds of competition in Miami are expected to feature some of the best youth players in the world, including those from top professional academies and even Youth National Teams. Top-performing teams will be awarded the opportunity to attend FIFA World Cup matches, and even get honored on the field in front of the crowd.

“Starting with the Youth World Cup and leading into the World Cup, this is an initiative that no one has ever seen before in the United States with how inclusive this event will be,” said Corey. “With the World Cup, it’s so organic because it’s once in a lifetime. A country may only get to host the World Cup every 30-40 years, if they’re lucky. So that fervor comes and we have a real unique opportunity to get kids out and engaged about the game.”

More information on the tournament can be found at https://theyouthworldcup.com/