UEFA Friendship Cup 2025: more than a tournament

This year’s men’s instalment of the UEFA Friendship Cup was a truly global affair, bringing together eight teams representing five confederations to UEFA headquarters in Switzerland.

Like our other youth competitions, the UEFA Friendship Cup offers young footballers a unique opportunity to sample international football and test themselves against other playing styles, but adds invaluable opportunities for cultural exchange and spending time with other teams off the field.

"It’s a great experience. It means everything," said Australia player Alessio Genova. "It’s always an honour to represent your country, especially in a sport you love and against countries from around the world. Listening to the national anthem being played, with my family in the crowd – you get goosebumps from it."

‘Through good development, we get results’

While the USA will rightly celebrate their victory, the UEFA Friendship Cup is as much about development, both footballing and personal, as results.

"It’s wonderful to come to European soil and play against top international competition but, for us, it was about the development side of things, exposure to something new and helping the players grow," explained USA coach Marlon LeBlanc.

"We don’t have the opportunity week-in, week-out to see, say, the quality of player of France, or the style of the Argentinian game. To expose players at Under-18 level to an event like this is going to serve them in later years," added LeBlanc. "Sure, we want to get results, but we also believe that through good development, we get results."

His Senegalese counterpart, Papa Ibrahima Faye, put it neatly: "In the development of youth football players, tournaments like this are so important."

‘Fair play, every time’

Faye summed up the ethos the UEFA Friendship Cup is built on. "In sport, sometimes you can win, and sometimes you can lose. Football is, for me, a game, not a war. Fair play is the main thing, every time."

That commitment to unity was apparent throughout the tournament, during which on-pitch competitiveness dovetailed with a spirit of friendship and solidarity. The teams stayed in the same hotel, took part in cultural tours together between matchdays – such as a trip to Lausanne's Olympic Museum – and attended expert-led educational sessions at UEFA HQ, all offering the players learning opportunities, travel experiences and a chance to bond with their peers.

Australia players at an educational session at UEFA HQUEFA

"We had a really heated and hard game with Argentina. At full time, every single Argentina player hugged and congratulated our players as they walked off the pitch," said the USA’s LeBlanc. "To see the players come together was really satisfying. The smiles on both teams’ faces were fantastic."

Collective growth

Offering teams a rare chance to travel, compete and coexist for an extended period of time is central to the aims of the UEFA Friendship Cup. "Being in this environment where we’re all together for two weeks, we don’t typically get this," explained LeBlanc. "It allows us to grow as a group."

What’s more, alongside being able to test their players with competitive match-play, the coaches have the chance to learn from each other, too.

"We had a night where all the coaches got to come together; you’d have thought we’d known each other our entire lives," said LeBlanc. "It’s an interesting time in the world right now. I think everybody is really proud of the fact that you can bring all of these different nations together and they can sit together, dine together and create new friendships."