China's U17 women's national football team will compete in the Tomorrow's Stars Champions Cup women's group, with their opening match against Real Madrid.

Blogger Yang Yi posted that the 2026 Shanghai Tomorrow's Stars Champions Cup (Women's Group) will be held from August 16th to 22nd at Yuanshen Sports Center and Jiushi Kangqiao Base. The roster for the opening match between China U-17 Women's Football Team and Real Madrid has also been officially announced!

This marks the first time in the five-year history of the Shanghai Tomorrow's Stars Champions Cup that a women's football competition has been added. Eight top youth training teams from China and abroad will compete fiercely in Shanghai, jointly writing a new chapter in youth women's football exchanges. From Real Madrid to Bayern Munich, then to Manchester City and Arsenal, as well as Real Sociedad and Paris FC, these six European club youth teams represent the highest level of women's football youth training in the world today.

Since its inception five years ago, the Shanghai Tomorrow's Stars Champions Cup has consistently aimed to create a world-class youth football tournament, becoming an important symbol of Shanghai's development into a globally renowned sports city. The addition of a women's football competition for the first time will not only further enrich the tournament's structure but also provide a valuable platform for Chinese youth female football players to compete against world-class teams without leaving China.

As the opening match of the 2026 Shanghai Tomorrow's Stars Champions Cup (Women's Group), the match between China U17 Women's Football Team and Real Madrid Women's Football Team will kick off at 19:35 on Sunday, August 16th at Yuanshen Sports Center.

This Chinese U-17 women's national football team is coached by former Asian Footballer of the Year Ma Xiaoxu. She led the team to the semi-finals of the U-17 Women's Asian Cup in May, securing a place in the U-17 Women's World Cup. In this tournament, they are grouped with the youth academies of three European powerhouses: Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City. For the Chinese U-17 women's national team, who will be competing in the U-17 Women's World Cup in Morocco in October, facing these high-level European club teams is an excellent opportunity to test their training results and adapt to the high-intensity competition.

In terms of roster, the nearly 30-player squad is a testament to the diversified exploration of youth training in Chinese women's football – a convergence of various paths including sports and education integration, club development, and local youth training centers. Liu Yuxi from Sichuan is the team's core striker, consistently contributing crucial performances in the U17 Women's Asian Cup, scoring twice against North Korea in the semi-finals, and contributing a goal and an assist in the group stage match against Myanmar and the quarter-final against India. Ju Zhitong, a young player from Chongqing who started in the small town of Xiushan, and Li Qixian from Jiangsu, have also both scored twice in the U17 Women's Asian Cup. Ye Xinyi, who grew up in the Shenzhen youth training system, captained the Guangdong U16 women's football team to the finals of the 15th National Games U16 Women's Football Tournament, and also captained the Chinese U16 women's football team to a runner-up finish at the 2025 Montagu Cup International Football Invitational Tournament.

The roster also includes rising stars from Shanghai – in the 2025 National Games U16 Women's Football Final, Shanghai U16 Women's Football Team defeated Guangdong U16 Women's Football Team 1-0 to win the championship. Defender Cai Xinlin, who won a penalty in the second half, and midfielder Cheng Wandi, who withstood the pressure and converted the winning penalty, were the two key contributors to the victory. Like the men's team, the young women's football team is experiencing a talent boom, and we look forward to this U17 women's team finding its core players.

Real Madrid Women is a relatively young team. Founded as an independent club in 2014, it was promoted to the Spanish Women's Premier League in 2019 and officially acquired by Real Madrid in 2020, becoming part of the Galácticos system—one of the latest European powerhouses to establish a women's football presence, and also one of the fastest-growing teams in recent years.

Despite its relatively short history, Real Madrid Women's Football Club has leveraged the club's top-tier global brand influence and resource network to systematically build a complete youth development system and establish a high-standard, international training model. In just six seasons, they have won five Spanish Women's Super League runner-up titles, firmly establishing themselves among the top teams in European women's football. Eight Real Madrid players were part of Spain's winning squad at the 2023 Women's World Cup. Their youth academy has also seen explosive growth – the Spanish U19 Women's Football Club achieved five consecutive European Championship titles, with six Real Madrid academy graduates in their winning squad, and three more promising young players are expected to join the first team in the summer of 2026.

The 18 U17 players who have come to Shanghai are the latest products of this youth training pipeline. Among them, players like Eitana Caballero and Elena Gijada have already been selected for the Spanish women's national team, demonstrating the rapid rise of Real Madrid Women's youth training. At 19:35 on August 16th, at the Yuanshen Sports Center, this young fleet will officially set sail in front of Chinese fans.