Coca-Cola Cup 2026: a record 172,748 young players in Europe’s largest mini-football tournament

703 tournaments in five countries, from the first qualifiers in January to the International Finals in Split, made 2026 the biggest Coca-Cola Cup season ever.

The Coca-Cola Cup, Europe’s largest mini-football tournament, brought together a record 172,748 girls and boys in 2026. They played in 703 tournaments across Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia and, for the first time, North Macedonia.

Serbia hosted 292 tournaments with 55,968 players, and Croatia 155 tournaments with 50,905 players. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, 30,200 players took part in 76 tournaments, while Slovenia held 88 tournaments with 23,885 players. North Macedonia joined the Coca-Cola Cup family with 92 tournaments and 11,790 players in its very first season.

The tournament is open to boys and girls born in 2011 or later, and in Croatia there is also a boys’ under-18 category. Girls’ football is a key part of the Coca-Cola Cup: since 2020, the Games have promoted women’s football in cooperation with the UEFA Foundation for Children, led by Games ambassador and UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.

The road to Split is long. After qualifying tournaments and county and regional finals, the best teams competed at the National Finals in Rijeka, Sarajevo, Požarevac, Skopje and Rogaška Slatina, and the national champions earned their place at the International Finals.

The International Finals in Split are the crowning moment of every Plazma Youth Sports Games season. Over five days in Split, the young players compete, make friends with peers from other countries, discover the city and meet their sporting idols.

This year, the Coca-Cola Cup finals were watched and supported by Slaven Bilić, Aljoša Asanović, Sean Dyche and Marcel Desailly, together with representatives of the Coca-Cola system: Zoran Bogdanović, CEO of Coca-Cola HBC; Dimitrios Rompis, General Manager of Coca-Cola HBC Adria; Javier Meza, President of Marketing and Chief Marketing Officer for Europe at The Coca-Cola Company; Bogdan Chirita, Franchise Operations Director for the Adria region at The Coca-Cola Company; and Giorgij Hristov, General Manager for Greece at The Coca-Cola Company. Also in the stands were Darko Vučić of the Croatian Ministry of Tourism and Sport, Alastair Campbell and The Guardian’s Adrian Chiles.

In the boys’ final, Futsal Istra from Pula (Croatia) beat Duel Trajal (Serbia) 3:1, with two goals from Matej Mužinić and one from Dominik Pavlović. Mladost Krivaja (Bosnia and Herzegovina) took bronze with a 7:2 win over Saraj (North Macedonia).

The girls’ final was decided by a comeback. ŽNK Aluminij from Kidričevo (Slovenia) went a goal down to Čačak (Serbia), but two goals from Lara Janežić brought them a 2:1 win. Arena Pula (Croatia) won the bronze medal against Tigrici (North Macedonia) 3:2 on penalties after a goalless draw.

Medals and awards were presented by Slaven Bilić, Aljoša Asanović, Sean Dyche, Marcel Desailly, Dimitrios Rompis, Javier Meza, Darko Vučić and Games President Zdravko Marić.