Kevin De Bruyne's youth tournament, KDB Cup, goes global in 2023.
The Best Youth Tournament in the World:
While Kevin De Bruyne was at the Ballon d’Or ceremony last year picking up his prize for 3rd best player in the world, Barcelona’s Gavi won the Golden Boy Award. The two have an unlikely connection in that Gavi is just another example of stars that have made their mark at De Bruyne’s U15 youth tournament, The KDB Cup, alongside players like Jamal Musiala, Charles de Ketelaere, and Eric Garcia, to name a few. Now in its 6th iteration, De Bruyne’s passion project has steadily been cementing itself as the “best youth tournament in the world”, according to scouts from Roc Nation Sports International.
KDB Cup Goes Global:
This year, the KDB Cup is taking it up a level by going global, with Mamelodi Sundowns and Palmeiras competing as the first-ever non-European sides. “When I played youth tournaments, I never played teams from outside of Europe. So to get a team from Brazil is a little bit crazy. I’m excited to watch them play,” says Kevin De Bruyne. And maybe his ex-teammate, Gabriel Jesus, will be tuning in. “I know Gabby [Jesus] played there…maybe I have to text him.”
For Mamelodi Sundowns, this will be the first time outside of South Africa for these kids. “I think it will be a great experience for them not only to play football against other teams but to see another part of the world and to have a life experience,” says De Bruyne. They will compete against a mix of global powerhouses and European and Belgian teams. This year’s draw also included Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Odense Boldklub, RB Leipzig, Manchester City, Ajax, PSG, KAA Gent, and Club Brugge.
While the tournament goes global, De Bruyne is also happy to see Belgian teams have the opportunity to compete. “I want the Belgian youth involved because competing against the top international clubs is good for them. And to be fair, there’s always a couple of Belgian teams who do well, so that’s good.” De Bruyne spent time coaching the Man City U14s while receiving his coaching badges and saw some players he coached play in the tournament last year. “They had their best result. So maybe it was the coaching,” he jokes. 
Powered by Veo:
The KDB Cup is powered by Veo to equip teams with video and analytics after games as well as to enable friends, family, and fans to live-stream the tournament for free on the Veo Live App. The partnership between the KDB Cup and Veo was facilitated by Roc Nation Sports International and has already seen great results. Last year people from over 104 countries tuned in to see the next generation of stars at the KDB Cup on Veo Live, with over 50,000 viewers during the course of the weekend.
“It’s great having both sides of the video and analytics for the coaches and players there and the live-streaming so that people who cannot travel there can watch. I’m very excited, and I want the tournament to show the best version of itself…the rest speaks for itself.”
Follow @veocamera for all the build-up to the KDB Cup, and tune in live on June 10th and 11th for a free Champions League appetiser.
