Valencia CF in Top 10 in CIES World Cup ranking

The 401 report by the CIES Football Observatory has listed the VCF Academy in the Top 10 for youth systems that have produced players to feature in at least the World Cup Round of 16.

Hugo Guillamón, Ferran Torres and Carlos Soler (Spain), Yunus Musah (USA) and Kang In (South Korea) were all able to reach the knockout stages in the 2022 World Cup with their respective countries.

Ajax, Dinamo Zagreb, Sporting CP, PSG, Real Madrid, Basel, FC Barcelona, River Plate and Benfica also featured in the Top 10.

Gayá was originally included in the Spain squad, whilst Jordi Alba also spent time at Valencia CF between the ages of 18-23. Both were not included in the criteria.

Valencia CF are number 8 for players under the age of 27 who have reached the World Cup knockout stages this year.

The CIES Football Observatory have ranked the VCF Academy in the Top 10 for producing players for the five biggest European leagues in recent years.