| ABN AMRO Future Cup | |
| Founded: | 2010 |
| Region: | Worldwide |
| Number Of Teams: | 8 |
| Current Champions: | Ajax (6th title) |
| Most Successful Club: | Ajax (6 titles) |
| Broadcasters: | ESPN Eurosport Ziggo Sport |
The Future Cup (officially known as the ABN AMRO Future Cup, and previously known as the AEGON Future Cup) is an annual friendly international youth tournament which is organized by the Dutch football club AFC Ajax.[1] The tournament is created for under-17 youth teams, and is held at De Toekomst, every year during the Easter weekend.[2] The tournament has been contested by some of the strongest under-17 teams in football, with FC Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern Munich amongst the participating clubs.[3] The first five editions of the tournament were named after its main sponsor, the insurance company AEGON, before the Dutch state-owned bank ABN AMRO took over as the main sponsor of the event.[4] The tournament is broadcast on television in over 59 countries via Eredivisie Live, Eurosport and Fox Sports.[5] [6] [7]
8 teams participate in the Future Cup every year.[8] Since Ajax are the tournament hosts, they are automatically entered, leaving 7 additional places available in the tournament.[9] Six of the spots can be filled with a simple registration of an under-17 team from any club, while national teams are also able to register, such as the China U-17 team did when it competed in the first edition of the competition.[10] The eighth and final position is filled by the winners of the Brazilian 'Craques Mongeral AEGON Future Cup - Um Torneio do Ajax' a parallel running competition for under-17 youth teams in South America which shares the same sponsor. The winner of that tournament is automatically seeded for the Future Cup in Amsterdam the next year, completing the 8 participants in the Cup challenge.[11]
The draw takes place ahead of the last home match of the Ajax first team ahead of the Future Cup.[12] The 8 teams are then divided up into two groups during halftime of this match. The opening ceremony of the tournament takes place on the Friday evening before Easter, while the first matches are played on Holy Saturday. The first two group stage matches are played for each team on this day, while the last two group stage matches are then contested on Easter Sunday.[13] The finals are played on Monday, the second Easter day. The day starts with the matches for the 7th and 8th place, which are contested by the two teams who finished bottom of their groups.[14] Afterwards the two semi-finals are played.[15] The group winners of each group compete against the second place team of the other group, and after the two semi-finals the matches for 5th and 6th place are contested against the third place team from each group.[16] The matches for 3rd and 4th place are then contested amongst the losers of the Semi-finals, which is concluded by the Cup final, deciding the 1st and 2nd place.[17] The awards and trophies are awarded directly after the Final, at which all teams and coaches are present.[18]
Statistics accurate as of ABN AMRO Future Cup 2024. [19]
| Year | Date | width=225 | Winner | Result | width=225 | Finalist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 ABN AMRO Future Cup | 2024 | 1 April 2024 | Ajax  | 2–1 |  Partizan | |
| 2023 ABN AMRO Future Cup | 2023 | 10 April 2023 | Nordsjælland  | 3–0 | Ajax | |
| 2020–22 | — | – | Cancelled* | – | ||
| 2019 ABN AMRO Future Cup | 2019 | 22 April 2019 | Juventus  | 2–1 | Ajax | |
| 2018 ABN AMRO Future Cup | 2018 | 2 April 2018 | Ajax | 2–0 | Juventus | |
| 2017 ABN AMRO Future Cup | 2017 | 17 April 2017 | Ajax | 2–0 |  Bayern Munich | |
| 2016 ABN AMRO Future Cup | 2016 | 28 March 2016 | Arsenal | 0–0 (4-3 pen.) |  Anderlecht | |
| 2015 ABN AMRO Future Cup | 2015 | 6 April 2015 | Anderlecht | 0–0 (4-3 pen.) | Ajax | |
| 2014 AEGON Future Cup | 2014 | 21 April 2014 | Ajax | 2–1 | ||
| 2013 AEGON Future Cup | 2013 | 1 April 2013 | Anderlecht | 2–0 | ||
| 2012 AEGON Future Cup | 2012 | 9 April 2012 | Ajax | 2–2 (5–3 pen.) | ||
| 2011 AEGON Future Cup | 2011 | 25 April 2011 | Anderlecht | 1–0 | ||
| 2010 AEGON Future Cup | 2010 | 5 April 2010 | Ajax | 1–0 |
The winner of the Future Cup are obvious winners of the tournament. For this information please see the next segment below. Other prizes are however awarded in conclusion, which are handed out by prominent former and current Ajax members, with Frank de Boer, Martin Jol and Luis Suárez amongst those who have awarded the trophies.[20] The man of the tournament is selected and awarded the adidas Best player of ABN AMRO Future Cup award. Below is a list of the prize winners over the years:
| bgcolor=DDDDDD | Year | bgcolor=DDDDDD | Player | bgcolor=DDDDDD | Club: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Ajax | ||||
| 2023 | Nordsjælland | ||||
| 2019 | Anderlecht | ||||
| 2018 | Ajax | ||||
| 2017 | Ajax | ||||
| 2016 |  Barcelona | ||||
| 2015 | Ajax | ||||
| 2014 | Ajax | ||||
| 2013 | Anderlecht | ||||
| 2012 | Ajax | ||||
| 2011 | Anderlecht | ||||
| 2010 | Ajax |
Every year the prize adidas Top Scorer of ABN AMRO Future Cup is awarded to the top-scorer of the tournament. Since the 2023 tournament, the award has been renamed the Noah Gesser Trophy in honour of the U16 Ajax talent who had died in a car accident in 2021.[21] Below is a list of the top-scorers for each year:
| Year | Topscorer | Club | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 |  Rafael Camacho Oumar Camara Jinairo JohnsonDivine Mukasa Lazar Radosavljević | Sporting CP Paris Saint-German Ajax Manchester City Partizan | 3 | |
| 2023 |  Winsley Boteli | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 4 | |
| 2019 | Anouar Ait El Hadj | Anderlecht | 4 | |
| 2018 |  Naci Ünüvar | Ajax | 5 | |
| 2014 | Oluwaseyi Ojo Harry Wilson | Liverpool | 4 | |
| 2013 |  Václav Černý Aaron Leya Iseka | Ajax Anderlecht | 3 | |
| 2012 | Elton Acolatse Ademir Candido Marco Pinato Alperen Doğan | Ajax Desportivo Milan Beşiktaş JK | 3 | |
| 2011 |  Nicholas Pasifakis Patrick Foss | Ajax Cape Town D.C. United | 4 | |
| 2010 | Dominik Goßner | Bayern Munich | 6 |
Statistics accurate as of ABN AMRO Future Cup 2024.
| Nr. | width=200 | Club | width=45 | Apps | width=45 | First App. | width=200 | Best result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 12 | 2010 | Winners | |||||
| 12 | 2010 | |||||||
| 5 | 2015 | |||||||
| 2 | 2016 | |||||||
| 2 | 2023 | |||||||
| 2. | 4 | 2010 | Runners-up | |||||
| 2 | 2010 | |||||||
| 2 | 2010 | |||||||
| 1 | 2012 | |||||||
| 1 | 2024 | |||||||
| 3. | 5 | 2017 | Third place | |||||
| 4 | 2010 | |||||||
| 4 | 2013 | |||||||
| 3 | 2010 | |||||||
| 2 | 2017 | |||||||
| 1 | 2015 | |||||||
| 4. | 2 | 2018 | Fourth place | |||||
| 1 | 2011 | |||||||
| 1 | 2013 | |||||||
| 1 | 2019 | |||||||
| 5. | 3 | 2011 | Fifth place | |||||
| 2 | 2011 | |||||||
| 1 | 2012 | |||||||
| 1 | 2018 | |||||||
| 1 | 2019 | |||||||
| 1 | 2023 | |||||||
| 6. | 2 | 2013 | Sixth place | |||||
| 1 | 2011 | |||||||
| 1 | 2013 | |||||||
| 1 | 2015 | |||||||
| 1 | 2016 | |||||||
| 1 | 2024 | |||||||
| 7. | 1 | 2012 | Seventh place | |||||
| 1 | 2014 | |||||||
| 1 | 2015 | |||||||
| 1 | 2016 | |||||||
| 1 | 2018 | |||||||
| 1 | 2019 | |||||||
| 1 | 2023 | |||||||
| 8. | 2 | 2023 | Eighth place | |||||
| 1 | 2010 | |||||||
| 1 | 2014 | |||||||
| 1 | 2016 | |||||||
| bgcolor=DDDDDD | Cups | bgcolor=DDDDDD | Club | bgcolor=DDDDDD | In: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 2010, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2024 | ||||
| 3 | 2011, 2013, 2015 | ||||
| 1 | 2023 | ||||
| 1 | 2019 | ||||
| 1 | 2016 |
Statistics accurate as of AEGON Future Cup 2024.
| Nr. | width=200 | Player | width=190 | Nationality | width=45 | Goals | width=190 | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 7 | Ajax | ||||||
| 2. | Dominik Goßner | 6 | Bayern Munich | |||||
| 3. | 4 | Borussia Mönchengladbach | ||||||
| 4 | Anderlecht | |||||||
| Nicholas Pasifakis | 4 | Ajax Cape Town | ||||||
| Patrick Foss | 4 | D.C. United | ||||||
| 4 | Liverpool | |||||||
| 4 | Liverpool | |||||||
| 9. | 3 | Ajax | ||||||
| 3 | Anderlecht | |||||||
| 3 | Ajax | |||||||
| 3 | Desportivo Brasil | |||||||
| 3 | Milan | |||||||
| 3 | Beşiktaş JK | |||||||
| 3 | Sporting CP | |||||||
| 3 | Paris Saint-German | |||||||
| 3 | Ajax | |||||||
| 3 | Manchester City | |||||||
| 3 | Partizan | |||||||
The under-17 youth teams of the following clubs have participated in the Future Cup tournament in the past.
Boca Juniors
Sydney FC Anderlecht Corinthians Desportivo Brasil Fluminense São Paulo
Toronto FC
China U-17 Nordsjælland Paris Saint-Germain Bayern Munich Borussia Mönchengladbach Schalke 04
Right to Dream
Olympiacos
J. League U-17 Sagan Tosu
Pachuca Ajax Benfica Porto Sporting CP Partizan Ajax Cape Town Atlético Madrid Barcelona Sevilla FC Beşiktaş JK Fenerbahçe Galatasaray D.C. United FC Dallas