Orange Cup 2026 Expands Youth Football Across Reunion Island; 189 Teams Compete Through No

Orange Cup 2026 kicked off Saturday, August 22, at Mille Roches in Saint-André, launching simultaneous pool-play phases across Reunion Island's youth football infrastructure. The morning session ran from 8:30 to 11:30, formally opening a competition cycle structured to conclude in late November. Nearly 189 teams registered in the U10 and U11 age categories, bringing approximately 2,268 young players into a schedule that will unfold across the island's amateur football sectors over the coming weeks. The tournament has been an established fixture on Reunion's youth football calendar since its 2022 inception. Orange Reunion Mayotte, operating alongside the Ligue Réunionnaise de Football (LRF) and with backing from airline partner French bee, structured the 2026 edition around a dual-track delivery model that pairs competitive matches with educational workshops aligned with the French Football Federation's Educational Federal Program. The workshop curriculum addresses digital literacy, screen time management, and cyberbullying prevention, threading educational content through a competition otherwise organized around respect, fair play, solidarity, and civic responsibility. André Martin, General Director of Orange Reunion Mayotte, framed the competition's operational purpose directly. "The Orange Cup grows from a simple conviction: football can be a remarkable learning ground for young people," Martin stated. "We are building a competition that pairs their passion for sport with awareness of responsible digital use. Seeing nearly 2,300 children commit this year illustrates the momentum created around this event on Reunion Island." The LRF carries central operational responsibility for deploying the competition across the island's sectors, leveraging its territorial relationships with local clubs and experience managing young licensed players. Rosaire Moriscot, President of the LRF, described the federation's role as foundational to the event's scale. "The Ligue Réunionnaise de Football is proud to organize and support a new Orange Cup edition, an anticipated event for our island's young footballers," Moriscot said. "Thanks to all partners, nearly 2,300 young Reunionese will this year have the opportunity to experience enriching sports and educational engagement. This action perfectly illustrates our common aim: making football a genuine lever for development and learning for Reunionese youth." The competition timeline divides delivery into four distinct phases. Pool play runs from August 22 through October 17, spread across different island sectors. Sectoral finals follow from October 31 to November 14. The regional final, scheduled for Saturday, November 28, 2026, determines the champion team and activates a travel prize offered through French bee. The winning team earns a trip to mainland France, extending the competition's reach well beyond Reunion's playing fields. By contrast with competitions that reserve prizes for the final weekend, the French bee partnership threads through the entire structure here. Karine Bonnal, Commercial Manager for French bee on Reunion, outlined the airline's commitment. "We are very pleased to continue our engagement alongside Orange and the Ligue Réunionnaise de Football for this new Orange Cup edition," Bonnal said. "This partnership matters particularly to us because it allows young Reunionese to experience sports and educational adventure, with a culminating experience that opens new horizons for the victorious team." The structural distinction between Orange Cup 2026 and many comparable youth competitions lies in its integrated educational programming. Rather than deploying workshops as a final-stage add-on, the 2026 edition runs its educational curriculum in parallel with match competition throughout the entire cycle. That is a meaningful logistical commitment. Whether the integrated model sustains across all sectors and all phases as pool play spreads island-wide through mid-October will test the coordination among Orange Reunion Mayotte, the LRF, and their club-level partners operating on the ground, and ultimately answer whether a tournament built around both a scoreboard and a classroom can hold together at scale.