Youth Cup opens Belgian pathway for elite young talent

The Youth Cup gives Belgium’s elite young players a national competition built around development as well as trophies. Introduced from the 2025-26 season, it covers the men’s U19 and women’s U18 categories, with every participating team guaranteed a continued route through the tournament regardless of its opening results.

The men’s competition features 24 clubs divided into four groups of six, based on youth-licence rankings. Each team plays eight matches against different opponents, with the results forming one overall table. The top 12 enter the Gold Cup and the remaining 12 move into the Silver Cup. The leading teams in each section receive direct quarter-final places, while the other qualifiers begin in the last 16. The last 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals are all single matches. The Gold Cup and Silver Cup finals are scheduled for May 15, 2027. R. Antwerp FC won the Gold Cup last season, while Sporting Charleroi took the Silver Cup.

The WU18 tournament has 18 clubs, including amateur sides facing professional academies. There is no preliminary round this season. Each team plays six ranking-phase matches, split evenly between home and away fixtures. The top four reach single-match semi-finals, with their table position deciding home advantage, before the final in May 2027. OHL were last season’s WU18 winners after defeating SV Zulte Waregem.