Auckland school teams prepare for two-week world cup tournament in China

posted in: Events, News |

Two New Zealand school teams are preparing to take part in a schools’ world cup tournament in China.

Westlake Boys High School will compete in a 36-team boys tournament while Baradene College will be one of 20 teams to contest the girls’ competition.

Main photo: Westlake Boys High … drawn in a group against schools from Saudi Arabia, Uganda, England and Hungary.

Both Auckland schools will play at the International School Sport Federation (ISF) Football World Cup in Dalian, China. from May 14-28, 2024.

The tournament is a new event originating from ISF World School Championships which have been held since 1972, and will bring together teams from around the world.

In 2023, Westlake won four titles, including the national secondary schools’ premier tournament which led to the invitation to the cup event in China.

Baradene won the girls’ premier NZ Secondary Schools tournament.

Boys’ tournament draw

Westlake have been drawn in Group E against teams from Saudi Arabia, Uganda, England and Hungary.

Group A
China 1
Czech Republic 2
Bulgaria
AEFE Mauritius
Group B
Czech Republic 1
China 3
Ukraine
Bangladesh
Group C
Croatia
Guinea
Belgium
India
Group D
Morocco
China 2
Serbia
Macao, China
Namibia
Group E
Saudi Arabia
Uganda 3
England 1
Hungary
NEW ZEALAND
Group F
Brazil
Uganda 2
Germany
Mexico
Turkmenistan
Group G
Benin
Uganda 1
Chinese Tapei
Kenya
Group H
Qatar
Chile
England 2
Turkey
Thailand

Girls’ tournament draw

Baradene will play in Group A, and will face teams from China (2), Morocco and Bangladesh.

Group A
China 1
China 3
Morocco
Bangladesh
NEW ZEALAND
Group B
Chinese Tapei
China 2
Turkey
Ukraine
Guinea
Group C
Brazil
Uganda 2
Czech Republic
Canada
Nigeria
Group D
Germany
Uganda 1
England
Ghana
Kenya

Westlake touring party

Westlake Boys High have named the following touring party for the tournament:

Kai Barratt
Finn Carpenter
Bill Cui
Cameron Deamer
Mikey Gambitsis
Levi Hill

Ray Ishihara
Jayden Kim
James Lee
Karter MacKenzie
Conall McLean
Troy Putt

Matthew Rodrigues
Nikola Stoychev
Hamish Strong
Carlos Takayama
Charlie Taylor
Jack Young

Head coach: Dave Wright
Assistant coach: Nick Dale
Team manager: Logan Douglas
Logistics manager: Simon Tyndal

To raise funds for their trip, Westlake have set up a Givealittle page which you can visit here:

The venue

The tournament will be staged in the Chinese coastal city of Dalian. which has a population of 7.5 million.

The venues for the tournament include the Dalian Suoyuwan Football Stadium, the Dalian Sports Centre and the Dalian Football Youth Training Base.

The Dalian Suoyuwan Football Stadium.
The Dalian Football Youth Training Base.
The Dalian Sports Centre.

The event

ISF football competitions originate from ISF World School Championships (WSC), which have been staged 27 times in 51 years. starting in 1972.

In 2022, when celebrating the 50th anniversary of ISF WSC Football, a new event, the ISF Football World Cup was launched, with PR China winning the hosting rights for the first three tournaments in 2024, 2026 and 2028.

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