The Argentine Football Association (AFA) will incorporate a new competition to its calendar: the Sub 12 Women's Children's Tournament. The competition, which will be played for the first time in history, will begin next week, will bring together 11 teams from the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area and will be aimed at soccer players in the children's categories.
Read also: Mundial Femenino Sub 17 2026: fixture of the Argentine National Team
Banfield was one of the clubs that promoted the AFA Under 12 Tournament. (Photo: banfieldfutfemformativo)
In this first edition, Banfield, Boca Juniors, Ferro, Huracán, Independiente, Platense, Racing Club, River Plate, San Lorenzo, UAI Urquiza and Vélez Sarsfield will participate, in a tournament that will seek to continue accompanying the growth of women's football from the youngest categories.
The competition will be aimed at soccer players born in the years 2014, 2015 and 2016. Each squad may be made up of between 20 and 30 girls, while in each match there will be 11 starters and five substitutes.
The matches will be played on Mondays and Tuesdays (starting between 4 and 6 p.m.) and will last 50 minutes divided into two halves of 25 minutes (with a 10-minute break). A very important fact to highlight: the regulations establish that all the players called up must play at least 12 minutes, prioritizing the participation and development of all the players called up for each match.
Another thing to highlight in this new competition is that the playing fields will be adapted in their dimensions for players of the ages mentioned above: the length must have a maximum of 88 meters and a minimum of 79 while the width will be equal to those of the professional field of 11.
As an extra piece of information, the penalties will be taken from 9 steps and not from 12, as happens in adults.
Format of the Under 12 Women's Tournament
The Tournament will be in a round-robin format with a single round of matches, home and away, by points, and the matches will be given according to the draw carried out by the AFA. The club that scores the most points at the end of the competition will be champion.
In the event of a tie in points between two or more teams, they will be jointly proclaimed "Champions".
The creation of this competition will allow soccer players to begin playing in an official tournament from a young age, adding a new stage within the educational path and thus promoting development and providing more tools, expanding the competition spaces for women's soccer.
Date 1 of the AFA Under 12 Tournament
- Independent vs. Banfield
- Platense vs. Boca Juniors
- River Plate vs. San Lorenzo
- UAI Urquiza vs. Hurricane
- Ferro vs. Racing Club
- Free: Vélez Sarsfield