The Paris Saint-Germain FC Youth Academy (), commonly referred to as the PSG Youth Academy, is the youth system for the men's and women's football teams of Paris Saint-Germain. Managed by the Association Paris Saint-Germain, the men's section of the academy was founded in 1970, with its first center opening in 1975. PSG began developing young players for the women's section in 2012, and the first women's center of the academy was inaugurated in 2023. Campus PSG in Poissy is currently the training ground and home stadium for both sections.
Male players progress through the U17, U19, and Espoirs categories before reaching the first team, while the U19 is the final step for female players. Since its creation, the academy has produced players such as Jean-Marc Pilorget, Nicolas Anelka, Mamadou Sakho, Kingsley Coman, Adrien Rabiot, Alphonse Areola, Presnel Kimpembe, Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Grace Geyoro, Perle Morroni and Sandy Baltimore. Many other graduates have also signed professional contracts with PSG or other clubs.
The Espoirs men's team plays in the Challenge Espoirs and the Premier League International Cup, the U19 men's team participates in the Championnat National U19, the Coupe Gambardella, and the UEFA Youth League, and the U17 men's team competes in the Championnat National U17. The U19 women's team, meanwhile, competes in the Championnat National Féminin U19 and the Coupe Nike Féminine U18. Previously, there was also a reserve men's team that played in the Championnat National 1.
Widely regarded as one of the strongest youth systems in the country, the PSG Youth Academy has been named Best Youth Club by the French Football Federation on four occasions. At regional level, the academy has won three Coupe de Paris titles. Nationally, its teams have secured 19 major honours, including 16 league championships and three domestic cups. Beyond official competitions, the academy has also achieved success in several prestigious invitational tournaments, notably the Montaigu Tournament, the Tournoi Carisport, a record three Alkass International Cup victories, and the Tournoi Européen des Centres U21.
History
First graduates and Gambardella triumph
The Paris Saint-Germain FC Youth Academy, like the club itself, was founded on 12 August 1970. Its first generation of graduates emerged in the 1972–73 season: Éric Renaut, Patrice Zbinden, Claude Rivet, Patrice Turpin, Bernard Lambert, Michel Llodra, Thierry Coutard, Robin Leclercq and Richard Vanquelles. All of these players would go on to make the first team, with Renaut being the most successful, amassing 290 appearances during his decade at the club. They were part of the club's reserve team that won the Coupe de Paris in 1971–72 and 1972–73, the academy's first titles. PSG won their third and final Coupe de Paris in 1979–80.
On 4 November 1975, the first academy center was opened at the Camp des Loges, under the direction of Pierre Alonzo. That season's generation was led by Jean-Marc Pilorget and Thierry Morin. They made their professional debuts against Reims in a league match at the Parc des Princes on 21 December 1975. Pilorget made 435 official appearances for PSG, the second most in the club's history. Morin played the majority of his career at PSG and is currently the general secretary of the Association Paris Saint-Germain.
The 1980s and 1990s saw the emergence of another generation of young players, including Richard Dutruel, Francis Llacer, Pascal Nouma and Bernard Allou. Before making their senior team debuts, they won the Championnat National des Cadets title in 1988 and the Coupe Gambardella in 1991 with the academy. In 1993, the men's U17 participated in two friendly competitions, winning the Montaigu Tournament and finishing as runners-up in the Plougonvelin Tournament. The PSG academy was given the Best Youth Club award by the French Football Federation (FFF) in 1989.
Dutruel, Llacer, Nouma and Allou were all part of the club's 1996 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final triumph. Jérôme Leroy, Pierre Ducrocq and Nicolas Anelka also made their first-team debuts during that decade. Anelka pioneered leaving PSG for a modest fee due to a lack of game time. He signed for Arsenal in 1997, aged 17. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, only Sylvain Distin and Bartholomew Ogbeche managed to break into the first team and establish themselves. Furthermore, the youth teams failed to win any trophies.
Fortunes changed in the late 2000s, as PSG began their rise to the top of French youth football. Clément Chantôme and Mamadou Sakho were the two most successful players of those years. They won the club's first Championnat National U19 in 2006 and became first-team regulars, making over 200 appearances and winning several trophies. Sakho captained the club from 2011 to 2012. The Tournoi Carisport, a friendly invitational competition won by the U19 team in 2008, marked the beginning of an era of unprecedented success for the academy.
National dominance despite talent exodus
Between 2009 and 2019, the PSG Youth Academy dominated the national scene. In 2010, the men's U19 team won the Championnat National final against Monaco, while the men's U17 side lost to Sochaux on penalties. The club also began developing a women's section within the academy. In 2011, PSG became the first club to be crowned French champions at both men's youth levels. The U19s secured their second consecutive title, while the U17s defeated arch-rivals Marseille in the final to claim their first Championnat National U17 title. PSG were subsequently awarded the Best Youth Club prize for the second time in their history in recognition of this U17–U19 double, and received the honor again in 2013 and 2014.
The U19s reached another final in 2012, but would have to wait until 2016 and their victory over Lyon to be crowned champions again. That same season, following back-to-back silver medals in 2014 and 2015, the U17s defeated Saint-Étienne to also win the title, giving PSG their second double. They claimed their second consecutive championship and third overall after beating Monaco in 2017. The women's department performed equally well. As planned, the club began developing players at the Bougival training center in 2012, with Grace Geyoro becoming the first graduate to play for the professional team in 2014. Between 2014 and 2019, the women's U19 team reached the Championnat National Féminin final six times, winning three of them. They defeated Lyon in 2016, 2017 and 2019 to claim the trophy.
PSG also enjoyed success at the European and international levels. The U19 team topped their group with the best record in the 2012–13 NextGen Series, a friendly tournament, but were eliminated on penalties by Tottenham Hotspur in the round of 16. They later reached the final of the UEFA Youth League in 2016, narrowly losing 2–1 to Chelsea, before defeating Monaco to win the Tournoi Européen des Centres U21 in 2018. Meanwhile, the U17 team won the inaugural edition of the Alkass International Cup, another friendly tournament, in 2012, finished as runners-up in 2013, and went on to reclaim the trophy in both 2015 and 2018.
Despite its success, the academy saw the exodus of several promising talents to other European clubs for free during the 2010s. This was the case for Kingsley Coman (Juventus, 2014), Dan-Axel Zagadou (Borussia Dortmund, 2017), Claudio Gomes (Manchester City, 2018), Tanguy Kouassi (Bayern Munich, 2020), Adil Aouchiche (Saint-Étienne, 2020), Vicki Bècho (Lyon, 2020) and Alice Sombath (Lyon, 2020). In contrast, other graduates such as Adrien Rabiot, Alphonse Areola, Presnel Kimpembe, Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Grace Geyoro, Perle Morroni and Sandy Baltimore have played important roles in the men's and women's first teams.
Women's academy and Espoirs team
In May 2019, following the end of the 2018–19 season, the club decided to disband its men's reserve team and focus on the U19s starting from the 2019–20 campaign. The reserves competed in the Championnat National 1, the fourth tier of French football. The 2019–20 season would have been the academy's first without its reserve team, but the FFF suspended all amateur football leagues due to the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. As the coronavirus outbreak continued to spread, the FFF also canceled the 2020–21 campaign for amateur teams.
Despite the enforced inactivity, the FFF still recognized the PSG Youth Academy as the best youth system in the country in 2019 and 2020. In the 2021–22 season, the first to be completed since the pandemic began, the men's U19s and U17s were eliminated at the semi-final stage of their championships, while the women's U19s finished second, behind Lyon. The 2022–23 campaign played out in a similar fashion: the women's U19s finished behind Lyon once again, the men's U17s failed to qualify for the championship phase, and the men's U19s lost the final to Nantes.
On 2 August 2023, after developing their young talents in the U19 team since 2012, the club opened the first women's PSG Youth Academy center, led by technical director Sonia Haziraj. At the time, there were ten players in the first-team squad who had come through the club's academy, most notably Katoto, Geyoro, Baltimore and Laurina Fazer, all of whom had played for France's youth teams and then progressed to the senior team.
After beating Auxerre 3–1 in the final, with goals from Senny Mayulu and Mahamadou Sangaré, PSG clinched the U19 title in 2024. Coached by Zoumana Camara, the Parisians finished top of their group and enjoyed a dominant knockout campaign. Sangaré's hat trick gave PSG a 5–0 victory over Lyon in the quarter-finals, before they defeated Marseille 2–0 in the semi-finals, thanks to goals from Mayulu and Ibrahim Mbaye.
In October 2024, the club created the Espoirs, an additional team within its youth academy, restricted to players under the age of 23, to maximize the playing time of PSG's youngsters and allow them to compete against elite players, thus ensuring a smooth transition to professional teams. The Espoirs participate in the Challenge Espoirs, a competition organized by the FFF. In addition, matches are scheduled throughout the season against teams from Régional 2, Championnat National and Ligue 2, as well as against elite teams from French and foreign professional clubs. Some Espoirs players who meet the eligibility criteria are also called up for UEFA Youth League matches.
U19 double and domestic quadruple
In the 2024–25 season, PSG's academy recorded mixed results across its youth teams. The women's U19 side claimed their fourth league title and first since 2019 after finishing top of the table, while the men's U19 secured back-to-back championships and their sixth overall, coming from behind to defeat Nantes 2–1 in the final, completing the academy's first U19 double. By contrast, the men's U17 were defeated by Real Madrid in the final of the Alkass International Cup, while the Espoirs endured a difficult inaugural campaign, winning only one match and finishing bottom of their Challenge Espoirs group in sixth place.
During the 2025–26 season, the Espoirs competed in the Premier League International Cup, where they were eliminated in the group stage following a defeat to defending champions Nottingham Forest. They also finished second from bottom in their Challenge Espoirs group, placing eighth overall. In the UEFA Youth League, the U19s advanced from the group stage with wins over Atalanta, Bayern Munich, and Tottenham Hotspur, then beat Dinamo Minsk, HJK Helsinki, and Villarreal in the knockout rounds before losing to Real Madrid on penalties in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, the U17 team reached the final of the Alkass International Cup but lost 5–2 to Barcelona, marking their second consecutive final defeat in the competition.