{"id":15427,"date":"2026-06-17T08:02:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T08:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fussball-trifft-kultur.de\/in-the-spirit-of-the-world-cup-over-600-children-from-21-cities-participate-in-the-fussball-trifft-kultur-final-tournament\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T08:02:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T08:02:53","slug":"in-the-spirit-of-the-world-cup-over-600-children-from-21-cities-participate-in-the-fussball-trifft-kultur-final-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fussball-trifft-kultur.de\/en\/in-the-spirit-of-the-world-cup-over-600-children-from-21-cities-participate-in-the-fussball-trifft-kultur-final-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"In the spirit of the World Cup: Over 600 children from 21 cities participate in the \u201cFu\u00dfball trifft Kultur\u201d final tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frankfurt, June 15, 2026: <\/em>While the soccer world\u2019s attention is focused on the World Cup in North and South America, around 600 children experienced their very own highlight at the grand finale tournament of the \u201cFu\u00dfball trifft Kultur\u201d (FtK) educational program. Participants from 21 cities traveled to the Riedstadion in Frankfurt-Enkheim to compete for the coveted trophies in the U10, U12, and U14 age groups\u2014as part of this year\u2019s FtK World Cup 26 Challenge, in which the children engaged with the 2026 FIFA World Cup in a playful and creative way throughout the school year. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The tournament was made possible by funding from the DFL Foundation. This year, Anton Schumacher, educational director of Eintracht Frankfurt\u2019s youth academy, served as tournament director. Colin Mahnke, stadium announcer for SV Darmstadt 98, hosted the event. <\/p>\n

Educational program combines soccer with language and culture<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 16th \u201cFu\u00dfball trifft Kultur\u201d (FtK) final tournament marks the culmination of an inclusive educational program that reaches approximately 750 children nationwide. At 33 locations, \u201cFu\u00dfball trifft Kultur\u201d combines soccer training with language and skills development twice a week. In cooperation with professional clubs in the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga, additional learning and experiential opportunities are created\u2014ranging from stadium visits to children\u2019s press conferences. <\/p>\n

WM26 Challenge: The World Cup as a Learning Opportunity<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year, the World Cup served as an additional learning and motivational opportunity. As part of the FtK-WM26 Challenge, the children explored topics related to the tournament\u2014from participating nations to values such as diversity, fair play, and respect, all the way to their own creative projects. The glass trophies for the winners of the FtK-WM26 Challenge were awarded on-site in Frankfurt during the tournament. The winners were also delighted to receive new soccer balls. <\/p>\n

Tournament Winners, Fair Play Awards, and All-Star Teams\u2014This Year’s Winners*<\/strong><\/p>\n

The end-of-school-year tournament exemplifies the program\u2019s inclusive approach: Through the unifying power of soccer, children from a wide variety of backgrounds come together, compete for their partner clubs, and showcase the skills they\u2019ve developed over the year\u2014thereby bringing a sense of unity, fair play, and team spirit to life. The excitement was particularly high this year at these three schools\u2014they won the tournament and, with it, the coveted challenge cup: <\/p>\n

U10: An der Glinder Au Elementary School in Hamburg, partner club <\/strong>FC St. Pauli<\/p>\n

U12: IGS Mainz-Bretzenheim from Mainz, partner club <\/strong>of 1. FSV Mainz 05<\/p>\n

U14: Werner-von-Siemens School in Bochum, partner club <\/strong>VfL Bochum 1848<\/p>\n

As is tradition, the fairest teams in the tournament were also awarded the Fair Play Trophy<\/strong>. This year, the award went to the Michael-Ende-Schule from Frankfurt (U10<\/strong>), the Gesamtschule Essen Nord from Essen (U12)<\/strong>, and the Pestalozzi-Mittelschule from W\u00fcrzburg (U14)<\/strong>. Another honor was presented for only the second time: In each age group, children were selected for the All-Star Team. The evaluation took into account not only their soccer performance but also their conduct on and off the field. <\/p>\n

Dr. Nadine Seddig, Head of Programs and Grant Management at the DFL Foundation\u2014which has been supporting \u201cFu\u00dfball trifft Kultur\u201d as a nationwide partner since 2012\u2014is convinced of the program\u2019s approach: \u201cRecent studies show that more and more children in Germany are leaving elementary school without adequate reading and writing skills. \u2018Fu\u00dfball trifft Kultur\u2019 addresses this issue head-on and specifically targets educationally disadvantaged children. We have supported the program for many years because soccer creates low-barrier access, motivates participants, and, when combined with language and cultural support, has a lasting impact. The final tournament was once again a special highlight this year, with the children participating with great enthusiasm, team spirit, and a true sense of fair play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karin Pl\u00f6tz, director of LitCam gGmbH, which has been implementing the inclusive education program since 2007, also offered a positive assessment: \u201cThe final tournament is and remains the highlight of the FtK program year for the children. The motivation to play for the FtK Cup on this day while wearing the jersey of their favorite club makes it easier for the children to attend the extra classes and soccer practice twice a week. In the truest sense of the word, they learn not only German but also respect, fairness, and team spirit\u2014skills that will empower them for their future.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Copyright: DFL Foundation\/Witters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Frankfurt, June 15, 2026: While the soccer world\u2019s attention is focused on the World Cup in North and South America, around 600 children experienced their very own highlight at the grand finale tournament of the \u201cFu\u00dfball trifft Kultur\u201d (FtK) educational program. Participants from 21 cities traveled to the Riedstadion in Frankfurt-Enkheim to compete for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,78,76],"tags":[226,221,217,228,229,227],"class_list":["post-15427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-final-tournament","category-fussball-trifft-kultur-en","category-latest-news","tag-final-tournament","tag-ftk-wm-challenge","tag-fussball-trifft-kultur","tag-language-development","tag-promoting-reading","tag-promotion-of-physical-activity"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fussball-trifft-kultur.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fussball-trifft-kultur.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fussball-trifft-kultur.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fussball-trifft-kultur.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fussball-trifft-kultur.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fussball-trifft-kultur.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15427\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fussball-trifft-kultur.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fussball-trifft-kultur.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fussball-trifft-kultur.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}