Women Tournament

Fussball Club Basel 1893, or simply FCB, is one of the heavyweights of Swiss football, alongside FC Zurich, GC and YB. Founded in 1893, the club based in Basel has won the league title 21 times, the Cup 14 times and the League Cup once.

Since 2009 and the takeover of FC Concordia Basel, the women’s team has also been competing in the AXA Women’s Super League (AWSL) as FC Basel 1893 Women. Their greatest success to date came in 2014 with their cup victory.

Their ambitions are just as high as those of the men’s team. Players from the region and beyond are encouraged to join FCB because they see the best prospects there. Over the past six months, there has been significant activity within the youth ranks of the women’s section. This has been driven by a clear objective: to establish a unified identity from the youngest youth levels right through to the AWSL team. In the competitive sector (U16 to U20), individual support has been significantly intensified, and at the Talent Management Hub, various coaches and managers work closely with selected players. Position-specific training, video analysis and individual fitness and health plans are now part of everyday life.

Some of them have experience with national youth teams, such as Selen Su Yarayen (Turkey), Romia Gagliano (England), Naira Schierz (Switzerland), Kristina Vilic (Croatia), Samia Nibouch (Morocco) and Anzelika Jotkina (Estonia), who has also played for her country’s senior team.

The FCB women aim to play dominant, possession-based football at every level. Will this already be evident at the Blue Stars Zurich Youth Cup?

Red Bull Salzburg entered Austrian women’s football in the summer of 2023. In collaboration with FC Bergheim, a girls’ U16 team marked the start. A year later, a women’s U20 team followed in the Austria-wide Future League, the Bundesliga’s youth competition. From the 2025/26 season, Red Bull Salzburg will take over the operations of Bundesliga club FC Bergheim and compete in the Admiral Bundesliga as “FC Red Bull Salzburg Women”.

The Blue Stars Zurich Youth Cup is expected to feature a number of U17 and U19 international players from Austria and Germany, as well as players who have already made appearances in the Austrian Women’s Bundesliga. The U20 side won the Austrian Future League title twice in a row.

Sporting Clube de Portugal (often referred to as Sporting Lisbon) was founded on 1 July 1906 and, together with Benfica and FC Porto, is one of the ‘Big Three’ of Portuguese football. The club is renowned for its first-class youth development programme, which has produced world stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Luís Figo. Sporting is a multi-sport club and, with over 30 sections (including futsal, roller hockey and athletics alongside football), has won a total of around 22,000 titles. The club is also renowned for its world-renowned Cristiano Ronaldo Academy.

Sporting nurtures its young female talents across various youth age groups, including U11, U13, U15, U17 and U19, as well as through a reserve team. The club also follows a policy of ‘securing’ its most promising talents with long-term professional contracts. A recent example is the contract extension until 2029 for 19-year-old striker Carolina Santiago, who has progressed through the various age groups since 2020 and now plays for the first team.

The female youth teams compete at both regional (younger age groups) and national level, with the U19s and the B team playing a key role in the transition to the first team.

FC Zurich Women represent the pinnacle of Swiss women’s football. Founded on 21 February 1968 under the name DFC Zurich as the first women’s football club in Switzerland, the FCZ women hold the records for Swiss league and cup titles. DFC Zurich eventually disbanded, whilst SV Seebach took on the leading role as the women’s football team in the city of Zurich and in Switzerland. However, FC Zurich re-established a women’s football section on 25 June 2008, when FCZ President Ancillo Canepa and FFC Zurich-Seebach President Tatjana Haenni agreed to collaborate. Since the 2008/09 season, the former Swiss record champions SV Seebach/FFC Zurich Seebach have been competing under the name ‘FC Zurich Women’ and have enjoyed numerous successes.

The FCZ Women are expected to field a squad comprising a mix of U18 and U20 players born between 2007 and 2010. Yasmine Amar, Claire Marc, Zoe Dönni, Rahel Hinder, Nevia Stoob and Shanae Tsawa are already part of the AWSL squad. Madlaina Riesch, Kira König, Siara Gmür, Soraya Bandia, Joya Kamber, Josephine Flammer, Anna Fernanda Steffen, Liana Murati, Rahel Hinder, Nevia Stoob and Shanae Tsawa have all played for the Swiss U16, U17 or U19 youth national teams. Finally, Yevheniia Bielova has already worn the Ukrainian U19 squad jersey.

BSC YB Women is the women’s football division of the Bern city club. The team plays in the AWSL and is one of the most historic – and, as multiple champions, one of the most successful – women’s teams in the country. The YB Women regularly represent Switzerland at European level.

The team’s history dates back to the 1970s, when the women’s section of FC Bern was founded. In 2005, the section gained its own legal status as FFC Bern. In 2009, it was integrated into BSC Young Boys.

The youth programme is a central component of this successful model. Broadly and systematically structured, it encompasses several age groups, with the U20s at the top level, as well as the U18s, U16s and U14s. YB thus covers the entire development pyramid in girls’ football – from entry level to the elite.

YB is known for giving young players responsibility at an early age. Young players are specifically groomed for the first team. Iman Beney made her breakthrough as a teenager, is a national team player and now plays for Manchester City. Noa Linn Münger has progressed through the youth national teams and is one of the regulars. 

In 2008, GC and FFC Schwerzenbach, which had been active in women’s football since the 1970s, began their partnership. In 2009, the team was integrated into Grasshopper Club Zurich.  For the 2023/24 season, the women’s team of Grasshopper Club Zurich took further significant steps and has since competed as GC Women’s Football.

For Grasshopper Club Zurich Women’s Football, youth development forms the foundation for sustainable success. GC is a training club and has always had a strong youth section. The club’s strategy is geared towards the successful development of young talent, both in sporting and commercial terms.

The aim is to offer each player, across all age groups, the best possible environment so that they can develop and progress optimally, both athletically and personally. For years, GC has been doing outstanding work and is one of the leading clubs in youth development. Every season, new talents are integrated into the AWSL team.

The AWSL team, as well as several youth teams from GC Women’s Football, not only train on the pitches of the GC Campus but also play their league matches there. Thanks to these state-of-the-art facilities, Grasshopper Club Zurich considers itself ideally equipped to achieve long-term success in both youth and professional football.

Having already been represented in competitive matches with its own girls’ teams since summer 2013, RB Leipzig also entered women’s football for the 2016/17 season. The women’s and girls’ section of RB Leipzig was also founded in 2016 and has since established itself in youth and women’s football. 

Participation in the Blue Stars Zürich Youth Cup serves as an opportunity for international comparison and the further sporting development of the players. RB Leipzig is travelling with a mixed squad comprising players from the U17 and U20 teams. The team consists partly of students from the sports school. The sports school and boarding school enable them to combine school and football in the best possible way. This provides them with a first-class education in both sporting and academic areas.

The squad is predominantly made up of players born between 2007 and 2010 and is managed by the existing coaching and support staff. The U20s follow the club’s philosophy, which is based on a modern, intense and dynamic style of play. The players are encouraged to be creative and to realise their full potential. Through innovative training and support measures, they are expected to develop continuously and grow into successful footballers.