Top 10 Football Academies In The World

Top 10 Football Academies In The World:- All young footballers dream of making it to the big leagues one day but only the best are able to make that dream a reality. It takes devotion, hard work, and time to learn and develop the skills to become a great player. Most kids play football in the street or park but eventually need to join a youth academy to progress towards playing for a first-team. Globally, there are thousands of football academies but only a few have a world-renowned reputation.

In this list, we have mentioned the Top 10 football academies in the world. These 10 youth academies considered to be the best football academies in the world. These academies are the route for the youth to be professional footballers and achieve their goals in life. Through these academies, many players come out to play for their country and club-like Messi, Ronaldo, etc.

No.1 Barcelona Academy

La Masia de Can Planes, usually shortened to La Masia. In English, it translated to ‘The Farmhouse’ and is the term used for the FC Barcelona youth academy. The academy has more than 300 young talented and has a big influence on the success of the club. La Masia has produced numerous young players that have made it to top clubs around the world. In 2010, the three nominees for the Ballon d’Or came out of the Barcelona youth academy; Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, and Xavi. No other youth academy does better than one located in Barcelona and this makes La Masia the best of all football academies.

Founded:- 2010.
Head coach:-Vivek Rawat.
League:- I-League U18, Senior division I-league.
Headquarter:- New Delhi, India.
Key people:-

No.2 Athletico Bilbao

The youth academy of Athletico Bilbao is called the ‘Cantera’ and has the goal of developing players from childhood through to the integration into the first team. The club has come to rely almost exclusively on their youth academy as they only allow players native to the Basque region in their squad. This youth academy, developing players from childhood through to the integration of the best prospects into the adult teams.

Founded:- 1971.
Head coach:-Andoni Galiano.
League:- Division de Honor.
Headquarter:- Lezama, Spain.
Key people:- Aitor Elizebi(president).

No.3 Ajax

Ajax’s youth football academy is famous all over the world for producing young talent. More recently, the AFC Ajax Youth Academy produced players like Donny van de Beek, Christian Eriksen, Frenkie de jong, Justin Kluivert, and Matthijs de light. Sports complex De Toekomst is the name of the training ground of AFC Ajax. With a capacity of 5, 000 it serves as home grounds for the reserve team and Jong Ajax. The Ajax youth academy also produced different Belgian players.

Founded:- 18 March 1900.
Head coach:-Saïd Ouaali.
League:- Eredivisie.
Headquarter:- Amsterdam.
Key people:- Hennie Henrichs(Chairman).

No.4 Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich Academy is the youth academy for the German football club Bayern Munich. The Youth Academy was created in 1902 and its mission is to educated young players so that it will be possible for FCB to keep a global position in club football. Notable players coming out from the Bayern Munich Youth academy include Bastain Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller. Bayern Munich has scouts all over the world, though most of the scouting is done within the vicinity of the city of Munich.

Founded:- 1995.
Head coach:-Julian Nagelsmann.
League:- Bundesliga.
Headquarter:- Munich, Germany.
Key people:- Jochen Sauer(Director).

No.5 Sporting Lisbon

The sporting youth Academy occupies 5th place in terms of youth training in European football, in a study undertaken by the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES). A total of 54 players produced at the Sporting Academy can be found across European teams, eight of which are still playing at Sporting Lisbon. The academy has produced more than 100 players who have gone to represent Portugal at the National level and also featured prominently in their later club.

Founded:- 1 July 1906.
Head coach:-Rúben Amorim.
League:- Primeira Liga.
Headquarter:- Lisbon.
Key people:- Frederico Varandas(President).

No.6 Santos FC

The Santos Football club reserve and academy consist of the reserve and academy teams of Santos FC. The main objective of their youth academy is to discover talented young players who have future potential to play for Santos’ first team. The Santos youth academy is our pick from the best football academies in Latin America. Santos football academy is responsible for over 100 young talented players in 5 different categories: U-11, U-13, U-15, U-17, U-20. The biggest name that comes out of the Santos youth academy is Pele, who began his career at Santos.

Founded:- April 14, 1912.
Head coach:-Rúben Amorim.
League:- Copa SP de Junior.
Headquarter:- Santos, Brazil.
Key people:- Edihno, Aarao Alves, Elder Campos(Manager).

No.7 GNK Dinamo Zagreb Academy

The GNK Dinamo Zagreb Academy was founded on 27 December 1967. The youth academy now holds a record relating to the FIFA World Cup. No other club has had more home-grown players in a FIFA World Cup final than Dinamo Zagreb’s Youth Academy. 14 players in the current Croatia National team played for Dinamo Zagreb during their football career. In 2011 the Dinamo Zagreb Academy was awarded one of the 6 Best Youth Academies in Europe by UEFA. Marko Pjaca (Juventus), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), and Sime Vrsaljko all emerged from the GNK Dinamo Zagreb Academy, putting it seventh on our list of the best football academies in the world.

Founded:- 27 December 1967.
Head coach:-Igor Cvitanovic.
League:- Druga HNL.
Headquarter:- Croatia.
Key people:- Mirko Barisic(chairman), Igor Cvitanovic(Manager).

No.8 Club Atlético River Plate

Club Atletico River Plate is considered among the most successful Argentinian football clubs, the River Plate Football Academy has many scouts searching for talents on the street of Argentina. The youth academy was created in 1901 and is recognized all over the world for the number of talents that have emerged throughout it. The lower divisions of the River Plate, also known as “El Semillero” are considered to be the most fruitful of Argentina and are seen as one of the best training schools of Latin America.

Founded:- 25 May 1901.
Head coach:-Marcelo Gallardo.
League:- Argentine Primera Division.
Headquarter:- Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Key people:- Rodolfo D’Onofrio(chairman).

No.9 FK Partizan Academy

The FK Partizan Youth School, also known as the Belin-Lazarevic-Nadoveza youth school, is the youth academy for Serbian football club Partizan Belgrade. The school is well known for its dedicated work with youngsters. Its training philosophy is not only the development of football players but also to care for their growth and personality forming, While also teaching sporting spirit and loyalty to the club. Lazar Markovic and Andrija Zivkovic are probably the two biggest names to develop there recently.

Founded:- 1950.
Head coach:-Vladimir Markovic.
League:- The Serbian League.
Headquarter:- Serbian.
Key people:- Vanja Radinovic(Director).

No.10 Anderlecht FC

There are many European top players who came out of the Anderlecht youth academy, which is located in Neerpede. An important factor in guiding the young players is the focus on working together with local schools after the father of Romelu Lukaku asked Anderlecht if they could provide his son school accommodation and football education. The most famous player to emerge from the Anderlecht youth academy includes former Man City legend Vincent Kompany and Inter striker Romelu Lukaku.