About · Messina Cup
A platformfor the next step.Built on the Strait.
Messina Cup is a premium international youth football platform, run by the ACR Messina organisation and backed by the Racing City Group network. It exists to move young players forward, not just to give them a week of fixtures.
Run by
ACR Messina · 1900
Backed by
Racing City Group
Editions
02 · Internazionale · Americas
Home
38°11′N 15°33′E
/01 What Messina Cup is
Not anothertournament.
Youth football has no shortage of tournaments. What it lacks is a stage built around the player's next step: who is watching, what they learn and who they meet. That is the gap Messina Cup is designed to fill.
/01
Premium
World Cup energy, F1 precision, top-tier organisation. Every detail is run to a standard.
/02
Rooted
Sicilian and Italian culture, expressed in a modern way. The city is part of the experience.
/03
Useful
Performance insight and exceptional value. Not empty theatre.
/04
Connected
Community and opportunity that extend beyond matchday, long after the final whistle.
/02 The place
Where Sicilymeets the mainland.
Messina sits on the Strait, the narrow channel between Sicily and Calabria. It is one of the oldest crossings in the Mediterranean, the water of Scylla and Charybdis in Homer's Odyssey, and the first thing anyone arriving in Sicily sees.
Messina Cup takes its idea from that water. A narrow point where two sides meet, where the crossing is the hard part and everything opens up after it. For a young player, that is what the next step looks like.
The tournament runs through the city, not around it. Its stadiums, its harbour, its food and its supporters are part of the week.
The Strait
About 3 km
Sicily to Calabria at its narrowest
The city
Messina, Sicilia
Gateway to Sicily · Italia
The coordinates
38°11′N 15°33′E
Every fixture played in the city
Stadio San Filippo · Messina
/03 Run by ACR Messina
A club from 1900.A city that shows up.
Messina Cup is run by the ACR Messina organisation, a club founded in 1900 that plays at the Stadio San Filippo and has one of the most durable supporter cultures in the Italian south.
The tournament inherits that infrastructure, that stadium and that relationship with the city. New ownership arrived in 2025 with a new plan, and Messina Cup is part of it.
1900
Club founded
38,722
San Filippo capacity
1973
Ultras culture established
2025
New ownership, new plan
/04 Backed by Racing City Group
The networkbehind the platform.
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Dubai, Racing City Group brings clubs, academies, player management and legends together. That reach is what turns a week in Messina into a next step.
/01
Clubs
Ownership and stakes across Europe, the Gulf, North America and Latin America.
/02
Academies
The Genova International Soccer Academies network, feeding players into European football environments.
/03
Management
Player management and representation, giving the tournament a direct line into recruitment.
/04
Legends
A standing roster of former internationals for appearances, clinics and charity fixtures.
Group markets · 09
Founded 2018 · Headquartered in Dubai
/05 What we stand for
Three pillars.Every edition.
Everything at Messina Cup is measured against three things. If it does not serve one of them, it does not go in.
/01
Pathway
Il percorso
Scouts, recruiters and federation officials in attendance. Strong performances are seen by the people who decide what comes next.
/02
Education
La formazione
Performance insight, coaching exposure and the experience of competing abroad, at an age where it shapes a career.
/03
Community
La comunità
Opening ceremony, host-club dinners, city tours for families and a permanent alumni network that keeps players connected to every club they faced.
/06 Two editions
One standard.Two stages.
Internazionale brings the world to Messina. Americas takes the pathway across the Atlantic, and its winners qualify for Messina Cup in Sicily, 2028.
Messina · Sicilia · June 2027
Internazionale
The flagship edition. Academy and elite youth sides from across Europe and beyond, three age groups, played across the city's stadiums.
Explore Internazionale
USA / Canada · 2028
Americas
The pathway stage. North American clubs, with college and academy recruitment in attendance, and a place in Messina for the winners.
Explore Americas
/07 Get involved
Three waysto the Strait.
/01 Clubs
Register your club
Register interest for Internazionale 2027 or Americas 2028. We come back to you with the club pack.
Register/02 Brands
Become a partner
Founding partner places for the first edition. Eight ways in, from naming the tournament to the fan village.
Partnerships/03 Everyone else
Get in touch
Press, families, federations and anyone with a question. Write to [email protected].
Contact