Tournaments: A glance at northwest Spain’s Mediterranean International Cup (MIC)

The MIC is an international youth tournament held every Easter on the “Costa Brava” on Spain’s Northeast coast which, in the words of organizers, “counts on the participation of the best clubs and national teams of the world.”

Entrants from across the planet are grouped into five age classes: A-U19; B-U16; C-U14; D-U12 11-a-side; E-U12 7-a-side. The top-finishing 16 to 32 teams from round-robin group play in each of the five classes advance to a knockout stage that culminates in cup final matches.

+READ: Chivas USA U-14s shine in Spain’s MIC tourney, push Barcelona to final whistle 

The MIC celebrated its 15th edition from March 31-April, welcoming teams from the likes of Manchester United, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and a range of clubs and academies from Africa, the Middle East and nearly every other corner of the earth. High-profile matches draw crowds of spectators upwards of 5,000.

The tournament’s notable past participants include Lionel Messi, Neymar, Oscar, Juan Mata, Gio dos Santos, Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas. MIC officials describe their aims as “the same goal since the beginning: offering any youth football player the chance to meet and compete against the most famous clubs of the world.”

Costs, accomodations and other information can be found at the event’s website.

North American teams participating in MIC 2015

Category A (U19/96 born): Futbol Club Central Los Angeles, Real Madrid AC, Rapides CSCO (Canada, reached quarterfinals)

Category B (U16/99 born): Inter Stars New York, Eurostar Football Academy (Canada), USA Soccer Stars (reached Round of 16), US Region 1 Select (reached quarterfinals)

Category C (U14/01 born): FC Central Los Angeles, USA Soccer Stars (reached Round of 32), Next Gen USA (reached Round of 32), Chivas USA (reached quarterfinals)

Category D (U12/03 born, 11-a-side): Albion SC White (reached quarterfinals), FC Central Los Angeles, Strikers FC (reached quarterfinals), USA Soccer Stars (reached Round of 16), Total Futbol Academy (reached quarterfinals)

Category E (U10/03 born, 7-a-side): Next Gen USA (reached Round of 16), Manhattan Kickers FC (reached Round of 32)

*For classes A, B, C and D, each team can register two players born from July before the year of their age class.

**For E class, each team can register one player born from July before the year of their age class.