12 Elite Youth Training Teams Gathered In Kunming, The 3rd LALIGA Hope Cup Officially Kicked Off

The third edition of the LALIGA Hope Cup has kicked off in Kunming, China, as Spanish football shines in the international arena this summer and the 2024-25 LALIGA season begins.

Witnessed by nearly 1,000 audience, the 12 participating teams were all present for the pre-match opening ceremony. After the Yunnan folk dance performance, Juan José Herrera de la Muela, Cultural Counselor, Embassy of Spain in China, and Sergi Torrents, LALIGA Greater China Director, delivered speeches; Chinese athletes' representatives, Spanish athletes' representatives, and representatives of the referees took the oath of office. Finally, Yu Hongying, Deputy Director of Yunnan Provincial Sports Bureau, announced the official opening of the third LALIGA Hope Cup. In addition, leaders and partners from the General Administration of Sport of China, the Chinese Football Association, the Kunming Municipal Committee, the Standing Committee of the Kunming Municipal People's Congress, the Kunming Municipal Government, as well as China Sports Future Investment (Beijing) Co attended the ceremony.

The opening match was played between defending champions Real Betis and Hubei Football Association. After a fierce battle, Real Betis beat the Hubei Football Association 2-1 to open the tournament.

A total of 5 teams from LALIGA and 7 local Chinese youth teams are participating in the tournament, namely Atlético de Madrid, Sevilla Fútbol Club, Real Betis, Club Atlético Osasuna, Villarreal CF, who are leading the development of youth training in China, and Yunnan Province Football Association, Henan Football Association, Hubei Football Association,  Jiangsu National Game Football Team, Chongqing Football Association, Shandong Taishan Football Club and  Evergrande Football School. 12 teams will compete in 26 matches in the group and knockout stages between August 24 and 28 to determine the finalists. The past two editions of the LALIGA Hope Cup in 2019 and 2023 were won by FC Barcelona and Real Betis respectively, and the winner of this year's tournament is also highly anticipated. In addition, this year's tournament is supported by the world-renowned sports brand PUMA as the official equipment sponsor to provide professional equipment to help players present the best performance on the field.

LALIGA believes in the power of football to change society, and has always practiced social responsibility and focused on the development of football youth training. Today, LALIGA has the largest number of homegrown players and the highest market value of homegrown players among the five major European leagues. According to the data of the 2023-24 season, the proportion of young players' playing time in LALIGA is as high as 19.4%, which is also ranked first among all major leagues. The national program launched by LALIGA to further promote the development of grassroots LALIGA and optimize the talent development system, the Youth Academies’ Plan, has also reached its third season so far. Furthermore, its LALIGA Academy program is dedicated to establishing a network of football academies on all five continents to cultivate international football talents. In recent years, LALIGA has also established closer cooperation with the Chinese market, and the two sides are committed to jointly promoting the cultural and industrial exchanges of football between China and the West, as well as the cultivation of youth training talents. The “LALIGA Hope Cup” is part of the long-term strategic agreement between LALIGA and the Kunming Municipal People's Government and China Sports Future, and this high level youth tournament with a full range of supporting services has attracted more and more outstanding teams and athletes to participate in it, and some of the players who have participated in the tournament are now showing their talents in the top professional matches.

Juan José Herrera de la Muela, Cultural Counselor, Embassy of Spain in China, said: “This tournament is an outstanding example of friendship and cooperation between China and the Spanish, and thus establishes a platform for sports and cultural exchanges between China and Spain. Gavi, who currently plays for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national football team, is also participating in the tournament in 2019. The Embassy of Spain in China has always been committed to promoting cultural exchanges between the people and governments of China and Spain, as well as supporting cooperation between the sports industries of the two countries, of which the LALIGA Hope Cup is an exemplary program.”

“We are very pleased to see that the 'LALIGA Hope Cup' has come to its third tournament, with more and more outstanding teams and players participating, practicing football skills in the matches and exchanging each other's culture off the field. The players experience a professional atmosphere, which paves the way for them to play at a higher level in the future. I am confident and looking forward to the future of the 'LALIGA Hope Cup'.” said Sergi Torrents, LALIGA Greater China Director.

The 26 matches of the five-day tournament will be broadcast live through the official Jitterbug, Weibo and Bilibili accounts of the LALIGA, the official Weibo of the participating clubs of the LALIGA, Zhibo8, iQiyi Sports, Tencent Sports, Leisu Sports, Qiukedao, Youku and LALIGA+. At the same time, the opening ceremony unveiling game and the closing ceremony final will be synchronized live broadcast through Xinhua News Agency Live Cloud, Zhangshangchuncheng, Baidu, Douyu, Huya, Longzhu, YY and other platforms. The teams participating in the “LALIGA Hope Cup”are representative of the youth training of Chinese and Spanish football, which means that the participating players have the highest level of the same age group. What kind of performance will the potential young players give on the field? We will wait and see!