2025/26 Season: Growing Dreams Across Continents

By Mads Davidsen Group Head of Football

As the football world reflects on the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup now that it has concluded, it feels like the right time for us at Right to Dream to do the same.

Looking back on the 2025–26 season across our four locations on three continents, there is plenty to be proud of, but even more to build on.

Our ambition has never been to stand still. Every milestone reminds us to keep pushing, strengthening our pathways and creating even more opportunities for young people to fulfil their potential.

From World's Best Academy to World's Biggest Stage

In December 2025, Right to Dream experienced one of its proudest moments when we were named Best Academy in the World at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai.

The recognition reflects decades of work creating opportunities and pathways for young people, often in communities where opportunities are limited or simply do not exist.

It was a success worth celebrating, but it was a reflection of something much deeper.

While the world knows our football and holistic development programmes, another important aspect that truly differentiates Right to Dream is the model behind them. As a not-for-dividend organisation, every revenue stream is reinvested into creating better environments and greater opportunities for young people. Combined with our commitment to providing every child with a pathway—and our no-deselection principle—that long-term approach creates the trust and psychological safety that allows talent to flourish.

And while the award was how we closed out 2025, the first half of 2026 brought another defining moment for Right to Dream as our graduates took to football's biggest stage.

Seeing seven graduates represent their countries at the FIFA Men's World Cup 2026 was another proud moment for everyone at Right to Dream. Simon Adingra, Kamaldeen Sulemana, Abdul Mumin, Ernest Nuamah, Daniel Svensson, Andreas Schjelderup, and Caleb Yirenkyi all followed different journeys through our ecosystem, proving there is no single route to success.

Caleb, the youngest of the seven, illustrates the full Right to Dream journey. Having joined our academy at the age of nine, he developed not only as a footballer, but also through his education and robotics programme before representing Ghana on football's biggest stage.

Seeing those seven graduates compete on football's biggest stage only months after being recognised as the Best Academy in the World brought our vision to life. The award recognised our work; the World Cup demonstrated its impact.

The Foundation in Place

We never stand still. Every season presents new opportunities to improve our standards and continue evolving.

In Egypt, our young academy continues to develop strongly, producing more talented players each year. We will now introduce a U20 age group to strengthen the connection to FC Masar's men's first team while creating additional opportunities for late developers. Overall, our Egypt academy is now approaching full capacity and continues to show great promise.

Things at Right to Dream San Diego Academy, which opened in 2025, are moving at an exciting pace. This summer we will welcome two additional age groups, strengthening both our numbers and our culture. We look forward to seeing more top talents progress through our pathways towards first-team football.

In Ghana, continuity among our key staff has helped maintain the strength of our development environment while our talent pipeline continued to impress at several international tournaments, including reaching the final of the Reece & Laura James Cup at Chelsea. Just as encouraging has been welcoming several graduates back to the organisation, both in Ghana and at San Diego FC. It is a reminder that Right to Dream is a community people remain connected to long after they graduate.

In the girls' and women’s game, we are developing an updated football strategy that will help us continue to be frontrunners through expanded scouting, enhanced player development and clearer pathways into FC Nordsjælland and FC Masar.

At FC Nordsjælland Women, the academy continues to produce outstanding talent. Our U19 team enjoyed a strong season built on trust, a positive environment and continuous development, resulting in both individual growth and strong performances on the pitch.

As Head Coach Ida Mbarka reflected:

“Yet, the most remarkable achievement of all has nothing to do with football. It is the way these players have grown as people. Every day, they have chosen to lead by example, being good people and care for others. Watching them develop into outstanding human beings and role models is something far greater than any trophy we could ever win”.

A Global Movement Marching On

San Diego FC's first MLS season, which ended with qualification for the CONCACAF Champions Cup, has already generated significant momentum for our expansion in North America.

While the early success is encouraging, we remain committed to building from the ground up. The true impact of the Right to Dream San Diego Academy will be measured over the coming years as young players progress through our pathway. One encouraging sign already is San Diego FC's league-leading percentage of U21 minutes—a reflection of our commitment to developing young players.

Our women's first teams also competed on the international stage.

FC Masar reached fourth place in the CAF Champions League, with the tournament being hosted at home in Badya, making it a particularly special Right to Dream experience. In May, the team completed another domestic double by winning both the Egyptian Premier League and Egyptian Cup.

Equally encouraging has been the growing presence of Right to Dream graduates within the squad. Five academy graduates featured in the squad throughout the season, with four earning first-team minutes. With an average squad age of just 20.4 years, FC Masar continues to demonstrate its belief in young players.

FC Nordsjælland Women also enjoyed a strong European campaign. After progressing through qualification and into the UEFA Women's Europe Cup, the team reached the quarter-finals before eventually being eliminated by a very strong Eintracht Frankfurt side.

The campaign provided invaluable learning opportunities for an exceptionally young squad. With an average age of 21.5 years, more than 11,000 teenage minutes and 10 academy debutants during the season, the club continues to demonstrate its belief in youth.

As the new 2026–27 season begins, FC Nordsjælland Men have also qualified for the UEFA Conference League qualifying rounds after securing third place in the Danish Superliga.

Across CONCACAF, CAF and UEFA competitions, Right to Dream continues to strengthen its international presence.

Evaluating Success the Right to Dream Way

Our first teams at Right to Dream are set up to provide pathways for our graduates. In that sense, they serve our academies. That is the foundation of our football model.

We celebrate development, memorable moments and, over time, performances and results, but only when they are done the ‘Right to Dream way’.

Our first teams operate within a shared football strategy that defines how we play, develop players and build our environments. Areas including playing style, methodology, player development, recruitment, community representation in our squads, and academy-to-first-team pathways are all measured through clear performance indicators. Through this alignment, we aim to compete successfully in every league while remaining true to our philosophy.

FC Nordsjælland Men recovered from a challenging start to finish third in the Danish Superliga and securing the bronze medal. The team fielded the youngest starting line-up in the league, played 19 teenagers and accumulated an impressive 13,560 teenage minutes. Clear evidence that our commitment to youth remains unchanged, regardless of where we are.

At FC Masar Men, promotion to the Egyptian Premier League narrowly slipped away, with the team finishing just three points short in fourth place. During the season, former Right to Dream Ghana Academy and Right to Dream Egypt Academy coach Kenya was appointed head coach, creating another important internal coaching pathway. The team's playing style continues to align with the Right to Dream style of play, while the inclusion of three Egypt academy graduates and the return of former Ghana graduate Aziz Coulibaly demonstrate continued progress.

Across all our locations, we continue strengthening our global talent pipeline from a football perspective. That would not be possible without the dedication of everyone working across our academies, as well as our worldwide scouting teams, who continue to identify outstanding young talent across North America, North Africa, West Africa and Scandinavia.

Their work, combined with aligned development environments and proven pathways, allows more young people to pursue their dreams.

Everyone has the Right to Dream!