University of the Republic back to defend FISU Cup Football title

Jinjiang, China will welcome top university football clubs as the city plays host to the 2023 FISU University World Cup Football this October from the 21-31. 16 teams will compete with the following five being ones to watch.

Defending champions from the first edition of the FISU Cup Football in 2019, the University of the Republic from Uruguay, return to try to make it two titles in a row. They’ll face stiff competition over the 11 day tournament. One of those teams will be 2019 bronze medallists Myongji University from Seoul, Korea. This club, founded back in 1975, 28 years after that of the university, competes in the U-League.

Paulista University is the only school that will compete in both the men’s and women’s tournaments in Jinjiang. Brazilian university champions five times, most recently last year, they landed in 7th spot at the FISU Cup in 2019. Paulista joins Hohai University (CHN), Myongji University (KOR), University of the Republic (URU), and University of Split (CRO) as the only teams in the field who also competed in 2019.

One of four European entrants, Ramon Llull University of Spain, will make their debut at the FISU Cup Football. Five time Catalan University Champions, they nabbed second at the 2019 Spanish University Championships and also participated in the 2022 European University Sports Association (EUSA) Games in Poland.

Falling to University of the Republic in the 2019 final was Australian school University of Wollongong. While they will not appear in China in 2023, another Aussie side, Western Sydney University, will represent Oceania. A wildcard entrant, after losing to University of Auckland in the Oceania qualifier, they will look to better the result of their New South Wales compatriots come October.

The aforementioned University of Auckland, in New Zealand’s largest city, will look to keep the FISU Cup Football title in the southern hemisphere. A perennial multi-sport power, they are six years running the holders of the University & Tertiary Sport New Zealand (UTSNZ) Shield holders emblematic of the highest championship point total across various annual sport tournaments. After knocking off University of Canterbury of New Zealand then Western Sydney, they are ready to do battle in China.

October will come quickly as matches kick off starting 21 October. In the meantime, all 16 teams continue preparations for their arrival in southeastern China and the start of the FISU University World Cup Football. More information on the tournament can be found here.

Written by Doug McLean