Two Spanish clubs begin competing in Shanghai this Sunday.
These are not the senior Real Madrid and Real Sociedad teams preparing for Champions League qualifying, but two sides from their women’s academies.
Real Madrid’s Juvenil team and a Real Sociedad U17 side will contest the first women’s edition of the Shanghai Future Star Cup. The field also includes the academies of Arsenal, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Paris FC, as well as China’s U17 national team and a Shanghai representative side.
The competition runs from Sunday 16 August to Saturday 22 August at the Yuanshen Sports Centre and Kangqiao Football Base.
Eight teams divided into two groups
The Future Star Cup was launched in 2022 as a boys’ academy tournament. The 2026 event is its fifth edition and includes a women’s competition for the first time.
The eight participants have been divided into two groups of four.
- Group A: China PR U17, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City
- Group B: Shanghai, Arsenal, Paris FC and Real Sociedad
Each team will play three matches during the group stage. The final is scheduled for Saturday 22 August.
Real Madrid and Real Sociedad cannot meet in the group stage. Any match between the two Spanish representatives would have to take place later in the tournament.
The eight entrants are not directly equivalent. China are fielding their U17 national team, Shanghai provide a local representative side and the other six teams come from European club academies.
This year’s men’s tournament ended without a final
The men’s competition was held from 3 to 9 August but could not be completed. Typhoon Dolphin forced the cancellation of the final between Arsenal and China’s U17 side, which organisers had already moved behind closed doors. It was not rescheduled and both teams were declared champions.
The storm led to close to 1,000 flight cancellations at Shanghai’s two airports, while several districts suspended outdoor activities.
The women’s tournament begins one week later in the same city, during the same typhoon season. As of Friday, organisers had not announced any changes to the schedule.
Real Madrid and Real Sociedad fixtures
Shanghai is six hours ahead of mainland Spain and seven hours ahead of the UK during the tournament.
Real Madrid have included the three matches in the pre-season schedule of their Juvenil side.
Real Madrid
- Sunday 16 August: China PR U17 v Real Madrid, 13:35 in mainland Spain and 12:35 in the UK —19:35 in Shanghai—
- Monday 17 August: Real Madrid v Manchester City, 10:00 in mainland Spain and 09:00 in the UK —16:00 in Shanghai—
- Wednesday 19 August: Bayern Munich v Real Madrid, 13:35 in mainland Spain and 12:35 in the UK —19:35 in Shanghai—
Real Sociedad
- Sunday 16 August: Real Sociedad v Arsenal, 10:00 in mainland Spain and 09:00 in the UK —16:00 in Shanghai—
- Monday 17 August: Paris FC v Real Sociedad, 10:00 in mainland Spain and 09:00 in the UK —16:00 in Shanghai—
- Wednesday 19 August: Shanghai v Real Sociedad, 10:00 in mainland Spain and 09:00 in the UK —16:00 in Shanghai—
The schedule released by the Shanghai Football Association lists the final for Saturday 22 August at 18:30 local time —12:30 in mainland Spain and 11:30 in the UK—.
Neither club has yet announced its travelling squad, so identifying the players involved would be speculative.
Real Madrid’s Juvenil side arrive after a 5-0 victory
Real Madrid’s Juvenil team began pre-season on 22 July.
Eric Moreno is entering his first season in charge, accompanied by assistant coach Álvaro Peña, fitness coach Alberto Castillo and goalkeeping coach Ignacio Ayuso.
The team will compete in the regional Primera División Autonómica Juvenil this season. Before travelling to China, they played their opening friendly against Villaviciosa de Odón and won 5-0.
Real Madrid will play three matches in four days in Shanghai and begin against a national team who have already secured their place at the next U17 Women’s World Cup.
The club have previous history in the competition, although not in its new women’s event. Real Madrid’s men’s U18 side won the 2024 edition after defeating Inter 3-0 in the final.
Real Sociedad face Arsenal, Paris FC and Shanghai
Real Sociedad’s group does not contain a national team. Instead, they will play the academies of Arsenal and Paris FC before completing the opening stage against the hosts.
All three matches kick off at 10:00 in mainland Spain and 09:00 in the UK. Like Real Madrid, they will complete their group fixtures within four days.
The trip gives the club’s youth side consecutive matches against English, French and Chinese opposition, a combination it cannot encounter in domestic competition.
China are preparing for the World Cup in October
Real Madrid’s opening opponents are using the tournament to prepare for the U17 Women’s World Cup.
China secured qualification by defeating India 3-0 in the AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup quarter-finals and reaching the last four of the continental competition.
The World Cup will be held in Morocco from 17 October to 7 November. China have been drawn in Group E alongside the United States, Samoa and Kenya.
Before travelling to Rabat, they will face Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City in Shanghai. Real Madrid’s opening match therefore provides a test against a national squad preparing for a World Cup two months later.
No broadcast has yet been confirmed for Europe
The organisers have not announced a broadcaster or stream confirmed to be available in Spain or elsewhere in Europe.
All 20 matches in the 2025 men’s tournament were shown on Chinese platforms including Great Sports, Huya, Bilibili, Douyin and WeChat. That distribution does not guarantee that the first women’s edition will use the same services or that its coverage will be accessible from Europe.
Real Madrid and Real Sociedad begin on Sunday in a tournament without a defending champion. For one week, two Spanish youth teams will test themselves against four other European academy sides, a local representative team and a national side preparing for the next U17 World Cup.
