The bulk of Everton’s U18s players are in South Korea this week as the club is one of four European participants in the K-League International Youth Cup, 2024
The venue is Incheon, just west of Seoul, and the competition runs from 28 September to 4 October, featuring games between K-League youth sides and elite European teams.
Now in its second year, the Youth Cup is organized by the Korea Professional Football League in association with the Incheon Metropolitan City Football Association, and enjoys sponsorship from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Korea Sports Promotion Foundation, and Incheon Metropolitan City.
This year, 12 teams are participating, comprising 5 K-League youth teams (FC Seoul, Suwon Samsung, Busan I’Park, Incheon United, Jeonbuk Hyundai), 4 prestigious European clubs (Everton FC, FC Augsburg, Real Sociedad, RCD Espanyol), and 2 Asian teams (Kashiwa Reysol, Shandong Taishan), alongside Bupyeong High School, invited by the Incheon Metropolitan Football Association.
Only players in the Under-17 age bracket, born after 1 January 2007, will take part in the shortened 70-minute games. The teams will be divided into two groups for the initial round, followed by the final where the top teams from each group will clash. Group stage matches will unfold at Incheon Munhak Stadium and Incheon Asiad Auxiliary Stadium, culminating in the final on 4 October 4 at Munhak Stadium.
Fixtures and Results so far (with links to YouTube match streams):
28 September @ 15:00 RCD Espanyol 1 – 2 Everton U17s
29 September @ 16:00 Everton U17s 1 – 4 Jeonbuk Hyundai
30 September @ 15:00 Everton U17s 1 – 3 FC Seoul