"Asia's Only Train to Portugal" Jeonbuk to compete in the Iber Cup "World-class prospects and growth opportunities."

*This content was translated by AI.

Prospects who will be responsible for the future of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC will once again challenge Europe's high wall. To strengthen its international competitiveness, it will stage the world's most prestigious youth competition, the IberCup.

Jeonbuk announced in a press release on the 1st that it will form a joint team of Jeonbuk Hyundai U18 (Jeonju Yeongsaeng High School) and U15 (Dongdaebu Geumsan Middle School) to participate in the Iver Cup Cascais 2026 in Lisbon, Portugal from April 1 to 5. Established in Portugal in 2009, the Iber Cup is considered one of the best international youth competitions for promising players from around the world.

In this year's tournament, 26 teams from around the world, including Jeonbuk, the only Asian team invited, Werder Bremen (Germany), UD Almeria (Spain), and Portugal's prestigious FC Alberta, will clash for the championship cup. Jeonbuk will play the second game against U.S. Youth Soccer starting with FC Alberca's first game on April 1, and the third game against German powerhouse Werder Bremen on the 2nd. After that, it will enter the round of 16 tournaments depending on the group stage performance.

The team consisted of a total of 18 players, including 12 first-year U18 students and six third-year U15 students, which are the core of the Jeonbuk youth system. The strategy is to form a combined team of players in the high school stage adaptation period and top middle school players who are about to enter high school to experience European soccer, which is physically and technically superior, as a catalyst for growth.

This is part of Jeonbuk's project to foster global youth talent, following the Oten Innovation Cup 2025 and the GA Cup 2024 in the U.S., hosted by PSV Eindhoven (the Netherlands), which participated last year. Rather than simply sticking to the performance of the tournament, he focused on confirming his competitiveness and acquiring advanced soccer culture by bumping into world-class prospects.

"The Iber Cup is a competition involving high-quality teams from all over the world, and it will be a great asset for players," said Lee Do-hyun, head of Jeonbuk, through the club. "We hope that this experience will help the players grow to the next level and lay the foundation for them to compete in Jeonbuk B team and A team in the future."

The Jeonbuk Hyundai Youth Union team, which has completed its local adaptation, will begin its full-fledged tournament schedule starting with the first game on the 1st of next month.

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*This content was translated by AI.