The Toronto FC Academy’s U-19 squad will head to Dallas, Texas, to compete in the prestigious Dallas Cup presented by Coca-Cola, which will take place from Sunday, March 23 to Sunday, March 31. Led by Head Coach Dino Lopez, the team will compete for the 2024 Gordon Jago Super Group title. The U-19 team will head into its fifth Super Group showing (2013, 2017-2019) since they made their inaugural appearance in the 2013 Super Group and look to break out of the group stage for the first time in program history. The invitation-only tournament welcomes teams from all over the world, with clubs being represented at the U-12 through U-19 level, all competing for the Boot and Ball trophy.
“The Dallas Cup Super Group is considered one of the premier U19 competitions in the World,” said Toronto FC U-19 Head Coach Dino Lopez. “This competition provides the club with benchmark games to assess our players against international opposition and the opportunity to develop our players and staff. In the group stage, we compete against CF Monterrey (Mexico), Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany) and São Paulo FC (Brazil). These clubs represent three very different playing styles with different player profiles. We could not ask for a better opportunity for our players to adapt, grow and compete. We’re very excited about the challenge and can’t wait to get started.”
TFC joins the tournament as part of the 2024 U-19 Gordon Jago Super Group with 11 other teams. Toronto FC Academy is one of three teams with Major League Soccer (MLS) affiliations, alongside FC Dallas and St. Louis CITY SC. The other clubs come from the youth affiliations of Liga MX (3), Campeonato Brasileiro Série A from Brazil (2), the English Premier League (1), Primera División de Costa Rica (1), the Danish Superliga (1) and Bundesliga (1). A full list of the 2024 Super Group teams is listed below:
- Botafogo (BRA)
- São Paulo FC (BRA)
- Toronto FC (CAN)
- L.D. Alajuelense (CRI)
- FC Midtjylland (DEN)
- Fulham FC (ENG)
- Eintracht Frankfurt (GER)
- CF Monterrey (MEX)
- Santos Laguna (MEX)
- Tigres UANL (MEX)
- FC Dallas (USA)
- St. Louis CITY SC (USA)
The tournament schedule was released earlier this month, which placed TFC in a highly competitive bracket. The U-19’s are set to face CF Monterrey from Liga MX, three-time Super Group champions São Paulo FC from Brazil, and German club Eintracht Frankfurt. A full breakdown of the schedule can be found here.
Historically, in the Super Group bracket division, TFC has squared off against Eintracht Frankfurt once before in the 2017 Dallas Cup and once against CF Monterrey at the 2019 Dallas Cup. São Paulo FC and Toronto FC will look to compete for the first time in the Super Group showdown.
Aiming to move beyond the group stage for the first time in program history, TFC will open the tournament on Sunday, March 24, against CF Monterrey at 12:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. CT, followed by a 11:00 a.m. ET/10:00 a.m. CT kick-off on Monday, March 25, against Eintracht Frankfurt, and will round out the group stage on Wednesday, March 27, against São Paulo FC with a 11:00 a.m. ET /10:00 a.m. CT start time. The semi-finals and finals are set for Friday, March 29 and Sunday, March 31, respectively.
More information on the Dallas Cup presented by Coca-Cola can be found here.
Toronto FC U-19 Roster
Adonis BOTSINIS
Benjamin CHOUDHRY
Matteo CORREIA
Noah DE BLASIS
James FIDALGO
Kristjan FORTIER
Philip IGBINOBARO
Ethan KANG
Emile KISSE
Michael LEE
Tyler LONDONO ZAPATA
Alexander O’BRIEN
Lucas OLGUIN
Chimere OMEZE
Adam PEARLMAN
Tristan PUSZTAHEGYI
Theo RIGOPOULOS
Jourdan SPENCE
Lazar STEFANOVIC
Bradley TAKAMO
