Opening of the Hanoi High School Student Football Tournament 2025: New record, new aspiration

Head of the Organizing Committee and representative of the Sponsor raised the championship trophy. (Photo: Thuan Thu)

This year's tournament set a new record with 125 teams participating, far exceeding the 110 teams of last season. The teams were divided into 32 groups, of which 29 groups had 4 teams, 3 groups had 3 teams, playing a round robin to score points to select 64 teams to enter the second stage.

In his opening speech, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh - Editor-in-Chief of the Capital Security Newspaper, Head of the Organizing Committee of the tournament shared an interesting story: “Before the season, I asked the artificial intelligence if there was any grassroots tournament that regularly had more than 100 participating teams. The answer was the Hanoi - Capital Security High School Football Tournament. The second question was whether there was any grassroots tournament in the world that had been held continuously for 25 years. The artificial intelligence suggested three tournaments: the youth tournament in Sweden, the youth tournament in Australia and our tournament.”

He emphasized that maintaining the tournament for a quarter of a century is a testament to the dedication and continuous efforts of the Capital Security Newspaper and its partners, especially the cooperation of the sponsors. He also wished the teams fair play, dedication and maintaining the spirit of solidarity, honesty and nobility.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh - Chief Editor of An ninh Thu do Newspaper, Head of the Organizing Committee of the award spoke at the opening ceremony.

Right after the opening ceremony, the opening matches took place with great drama, in a passionate and vibrant atmosphere at Xuan Dinh Stadium. This place became a school football festival, where the burning desire of thousands of students in the capital was ignited from the very first minute.

In particular, from the round of 32 (knockout stage), matches will be broadcast live on NK Media platforms, helping to widely spread the heat of the tournament to a large number of fans.

Delegates attending the ceremony wished the 125 football teams success and dedication.

Established in 2001, the Hanoi High School Football Tournament is an annual activity organized by the Capital Security Newspaper in coordination with the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports and sponsors.

Through 24 seasons, the tournament has affirmed its position as one of the largest sports playgrounds for high school students in the capital, a place to foster passion for football and nurture the spirit of pure and healthy physical training.

Over the past two decades, each season has been a mark, a beautiful memory in the memories of many generations of Hanoi students - those who have, are and will continue to extend the tradition of school sports in the capital with enthusiasm, pride and team spirit.

Below are some pictures from the opening ceremony.