Kashima Antlers - LALIGA Youth Tournament

Japan and Asia are taking centre stage as LALIGA continues its commitment to building the future of football through structured international youth development

TOKYO, Feb. 26, 2026 /LALIGA=Kyodo JBN/ --Across world football, LALIGA clubs are widely recognised as leading developers of talent. Their academy-based model has supported Spain’s position at the top of both the FIFA Men’s and Women’s World Rankings and continues to produce players who perform at the highest level of the game. The development pathway that has shaped world-class talents such as Takefusa Kubo is rooted in a long-term commitment to methodology, education and competitive structure. Today, that same philosophy is being implemented internationally, with Asia and Japan in particular becoming an important focus.

Across Asia, this approach has been demonstrated through the LALIGA Youth Tournament, which has grown into a significant grassroots platform in the region. Following editions in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Cambodia, the most recent tournament in Thailand brought together 84 teams from eight countries, representing its largest and most diverse edition to date. With participation from leading academies across Asia, including Japan’s Kashima Antlers – who were crowned U14 champions – Shonan Bellmare, Giravanz Kitakyushu and Tochigi SC, the tournament contributed to the development of a cross-border youth football network grounded in professional standards.

Building on this foundation, LALIGA’s long-term commitment to structured player development now extends to Japan through the Next Gen Draft.

Launched globally by LALIGA and EA SPORTS, the 2026 edition will be held in Japan for the first time on March 14–15. The programme is designed as a multi-phase development process that combines international scouting, professional training methodology and an evaluation framework based on both performance and personal values. Participants will compete in a 5v5 tournament assessed by official LALIGA scouts before selected players receive training from UEFA PRO-licensed coaches.

Eight young players from Japan will ultimately be selected to travel to Spain for a fully funded LALIGA experience, where they will train and compete within the environment of elite European football.

Through recurring youth tournaments across Asia and the introduction of the Next Gen Draft in Japan, LALIGA continues to apply its proven development model internationally, connecting local talent to a global football pathway built on structure, education and long-term vision.

About LALIGA

LALIGA is the largest football ecosystem in the world. It is a private sports association composed of the 20 public limited sports companies (SADs) and clubs of LALIGA EA SPORTS and the 22 of LALIGA HYPERMOTION, and is responsible for organising professional football competitions in Spain. LALIGA has over 258 million followers globally across social networks, on 16 platforms and in 20 different languages. With its headquarters in Madrid (Spain) it has the most extensive international network of any sports property and is present in 35 countries through 8 offices. The organisation carries out its social work through its foundation FUNDACION LALIGA and was the world's first professional football league to establish a league for intellectually challenged footballers: LALIGA GENUINE Moeve.

Source: LALIGA