As the 2026 USA, Canada, and Mexico World Cup approaches, Chinese football achieves a highlight moment on the distant European stage. The team that won the championship is the Chinese "Boy Football" Football Juniors 2014 (U12) team.
On June 2 Beijing Time, the Italy SIGISMONDI International Youth Cup concluded. Led by Dong Lu, the Chinese Football Juniors 2014 (U12) team went through seven grueling matches, defeating the Premier League powerhouse Everton youth squad 5-4 in a penalty shootout. With a dominant performance of seven wins from seven games, 21 goals scored and only 2 conceded, they lifted the championship trophy, becoming the first Asian team to reach the summit since the event was founded, with the Five-Star Red Flag flying high on the European U12 "Little World Cup" stage.
This tournament brought together 48 top youth training teams from around the world. Youth squads from multiple long-established European clubs such as Everton, Fiorentina, Copenhagen, and Braga all participated, making the tournament highly competitive. In the group stage, the Chinese Juniors surged forward, defeating Italy TTT 2-0, sweeping Denmark Copenhagen 5-0, and crushing GGR 7-0. They kept a clean sheet in three matches, scoring 14 goals, and advanced strongly to the knockout stage as group winners.
Entering the knockout stage, the team continued to play steadily, displaying maturity and resilience beyond their years.
They defeated the Italy Serie A Fiorentina squad 3-1 in the Round of 16 and secured a 1-0 win against Braga in the Portuguese Super League in the Quarter-finals. They defeated Copenhagen 2-0 again in the Semi-finals. With 6 matches played and only 1 goal conceded, they strongly entered the final. The final was a showdown of champions. Everton scored first in regular time. Just as everyone thought victory was slipping away, the Chinese Juniors quickly leveled the score within 6 minutes, dragging the match into a grueling penalty shootout.
Finally defeating the Everton U12 squad, they won the tournament championship with seven wins in seven matches, using their impressive record to validate the growth potential of grassroots youth training.
About the Chinese Football Juniors 2014 Team
The Chinese Football Juniors 2014 Team is composed of a group of young players born in 2014 (currently 12 years old). The English alias is Chinese Football Boy 2014. It is a grassroots youth training boys' football team founded by Dong Lu in 2017.
Unlike the selection mode of various sports schools and football association squads, the members of the Football Juniors 2014 Team are recruited through open nationwide auditions. Selection has no restrictions on household registration or region. Children of appropriate age from all over the country can sign up for trials.
Players selected for the team do not need to pay training fees. The club will not sign restrictive long-term bundled contracts that limit player development, reserving the children's right to choose themselves to the maximum extent.
In terms of daily training mode, the team adopts a characteristic mode of dispersed schooling and phased concentration. Young players stay in their registered residence to attend school normally, and daily basic training relies on local venues and coaches. The whole team organizes a centralized training camp every three to four months. After the training ends, they move to domestic and foreign events in a batch, adhering to the training philosophy of using matches as training.
BYD Makes a Great Contribution
Behind the Chinese Football Juniors winning the championship is a new energy vehicle brand providing silent support, using green transportation to escort the dream.
Team operating funds do not rely on government allocation, mainly supported by revenue sharing from event streaming platforms and corporate commercial sponsorships. BYD, as a core partner sponsor, has long-term supported and guaranteed the team's expenses for away competitions and training camps.
Since officially sponsoring the Chinese Football Juniors in 2025, BYD has supported grassroots youth training with solid actions. Every time the Football Juniors go abroad to play matches, besides regular transportation vehicles which are all handled by BYD, BYD also connects with high-quality overseas football resources like the Italian Serie A to help children broaden their horizons and accumulate international match experience.
Earlier this month, BYD escorted another batch of Chinese Football Juniors to depart for Brazil and Mexico, continuing their overseas study and training journey. This attitude of "doing practical work" is exactly BYD's consistent approach.
Football and cars, seemingly two unrelated fields, have surprising similarities—both require technical accumulation and long-term persistence and long-term investment, neither has a shortcut.
BYD's support for football, like R&D, is a long-term strategic layout, definitely not a short-term game, investing in the future of Chinese football.
Nowadays, BYD has become the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer. Products have entered 119 countries and regions globally. The overseas dealer network has exceeded 2,000 stores. The European market achieves a dual-line layout for mass and high-end consumers.
May 2026 new energy vehicle exports 160,644 units, accounting for 41.9% of the total sales of 383,453 units in the month, an 80.7% year-on-year increase, creating a historical high for monthly exports. January to May BYD overseas cumulative sales reached 614,470 units. At the same time, established production bases in Thailand, Brazil, Hungary, etc. 2026 export target adjusted from 1.3 million units to 1.5 million units.
Regarding overseas production bases, BYD has already formed four core manufacturing bases:
① Thailand Rayong Factory (Production started July 2024, annual capacity 150,000 units) focuses on right-hand drive models radiating ASEAN, localization rate reaches 70%, employee localization exceeds 90%;
② Brazil Camaçari Factory (Production started July 2025) covers 4 million square meters, initial capacity 150,000 units. By the end of 2026, it will expand to 300,000 units, becoming the largest EV manufacturing center in Latin America;
③ Hungary Szeged Factory (Production started Q1 2026) serving as the European headquarters, annual capacity 150,000 units, can avoid EU 38.1% anti-subsidy tariff, delivery cycle shortened from 45 days to 15 days; Uzbekistan Factory Phase 1 capacity 50,000 units, Phase 3 plan reaches 300,000 units, covering Central Asia and Eastern Europe markets.
In terms of logistics, BYD has formed a self-operated RoRo fleet, having invested 8 large RoRo ships (including 3 with 9,200 vehicle slots, the largest in the world). Annual capacity exceeds 1 million units. It has already shed reliance on third-party logistics, significantly reducing sea freight costs (by approximately 50%) and improving delivery efficiency.
As the 2026 USA-Canada-Mexico World Cup approaches, the Chinese Football Juniors' championship victory has shown us a spark of hope. And BYD's staunch support is adding fuel to this spark, so that one day it can ignite into a vast fire, illuminating the future path of Chinese football.
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