Danone Nations Cup

Danone Nations Cup
Founded	2000
Number of teams	32 qualifiers
Current champions	Germany (2016)
Most successful team(s)	France
Website	Official website

The Danone Nations Cup is the world's greatest football tournament for children between the ages of 10 and 12 (U12s category); it is organized every year since 2000 on the initiative of Groupe Danone.^[1]

Every year, 2.5 million children from over 34,000 schools and 11,000 clubs from around the globe take part in local, regional and then national Danone Nations Cup competitions, before the winners fly off to compete in the grand World Final. In each of the 32 participating countries, Danone's subsidiaries organize their national tournaments in partnership with the local Sports Federations and/or State Education and Sports Ministers.

For 10 years, the tournament has had Zinédine Zidane as its ambassador, benefiting from his commitment to high quality football and fair play.

History

Following the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, Danone decided to create an international football tournament for kids.

Danone Nations Cup World Final was in France (Paris or Lyon) until 2009. The World Finals of the 10th and 11th editions took place at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa: the same year as the FIFA Football World Cup. The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid in 2011 and the National Stadium in Warsaw in 2012 also hosted the competition. For the 14th edition, the thirty - two winning national teams headed to the legendary Wembley Stadium in London. In 2014, the World Cup of the young people will take place in Brazil.

Over the years, the tournament has established itself as a highly respected event with FIFA endorsement. It now enjoys a solid reputation within the world of professional football and partner organizations.

In 2013, the final was goalless (0-0) but France overcame Brazil after a penalty shoot-out. France won its 3rd Danone Nations Cup. South Africa and France are the only teams to have won the tournament 3 times each.

Tournaments

Year	Venue	Champion	Runner Up
2000	Parc des Princes, Paris	France	Turkey
2001	Parc des Princes, Paris	Réunion	Netherlands
2002	Parc des Princes, Paris	Argentina	Netherlands
2003	Parc des Princes, Paris	South Africa	Portugal
2004	Parc des Princes, Paris	Spain	Switzerland
2005	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	Russia	Turkey
2006	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	Réunion	Switzerland
2007	Stade de Gerland, Lyon	South Africa	France
2008	Parc des Princes, Paris	France	Russia
2009	Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg	South Africa	Switzerland
2010	Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg	Mexico	Uruguay
2011	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid	Brazil	Thailand
2012	National Stadium, Warsaw	South Korea	Japan
2013	Wembley Stadium, London	France	Brazil
2014	Arena Corinthians, São Paulo	Japan	Paraguay
2015	Stade de Marrakech, Marrakesh	Morocco	Mexico
2016	Stade de France, France	Germany	Japan