Tirana Soccer Cup 2025
Sport for education
Tirana Soccer Cup 2025
From 14 to 16 April 2025, EFI Tirana, the French International school of Tirana will be flying the flag for school sport by organising the Tirana Soccer Cup, an event that goes far beyond the competition to fully embody the values of the Odyssey Education group: excellence, openness, commitment and solidarity.
A regional tournament
Initiated as part of the development of school sport within the Odyssey network and French schools in the region, the Tirana Soccer Cup will bring together six teams from European schools. These include three Odyssey schools – EFI Skopje, the Institut International Saint-Dominique in Rome and EFI Tirana – as well as three partner schools: the École Française Européenne of Podgorica, École Française Internationale of Zagreb and École Française Internationale of Pristina.
For these young players, it’s a unique opportunity to defend the colours of their school, to show their team spirit, and to live a strong human and intercultural experience.
More than just sport
In keeping with the Odyssey Education group’s educational approach, this competition is not just about sport. The event incorporates a comprehensive educational programme, enabling students to get involved in organisation, refereeing, communication and mediation. A training programme for young officials will be put in place, giving rise to young reporters, referees and coordinators.
Under an agreement with the Lycée Joseph Fourier in Auxerre, students from the refereeing sports section, accompanied by their teacher Alexandre Perreau-Niel, a League 2 referee, will be sharing their expertise with Odyssey students. A fine illustration of cooperation between schools and the transmission of knowledge by peers.
A lesson in inclusion
The event will also carry a strong message of inclusion, with an introduction to cecifoot - a discipline adapted for the visually impaired - run in partnership with the French Embassy in Albania and Charly Simo, sports director and cecifoot technical manager with the French Handisport Federation. This initiative will raise pupils' awareness of other sporting activities and of the richness that diversity of talent represents.
Sport in action
Through this project, EFI Tirana is demonstrating that sport is a powerful lever for global education, serving personal development, openness to others and the construction of future citizens of the world. The Tirana Soccer Cup 2025 is therefore fully in line with the Odyssey Education group’s ambition: to train pupils who are fulfilled, competent and committed, in a demanding and caring learning environment.