PSG U19

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 [fr], 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 won the Montaigu Tournament and finished runners-up in the Plougonvelin Tournament. The PSG Youth 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 also captained the club from 2011 to 2012. The Tournoi Carisport won by the U19 team in 2008 marked the beginning of an era of unprecedented success for the academy.

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 to strengthen its first team with players from its youth academy. In 2011, PSG became the first club to be crowned French champions at both men's levels. The U19s won their second consecutive title, while the U17s defeated arch-rivals Marseille in the final to secure their first Championnat National U17 title. PSG were awarded the Best Youth Club award for the second time in history in recognition of their U17/U19 double. They won it 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 U19 [fr] final six times, winning three of them. They defeated Lyon in 2016, 2017 and 2019 to claim the trophy.

PSG also excelled at European and international level. The U19s first reached the final of the UEFA Youth League in 2016, narrowly losing to Chelsea, and then defeated Monaco to win the Tournoi Européen des Centres U21 [fr] in 2018. Meanwhile, the U17s won the inaugural Alkass International Cup in 2012 and reached the final in 2013, before reclaiming the trophy in 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 Becho [fr] (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.

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 2, 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.

In the 2024–25 season, the women's U19s claimed their fourth league title and first since 2019 after finishing top of the table, while the men's U19s won back-to-back league titles and their sixth overall, coming from behind to beat Nantes 2–1 in the final, to secure the academy's first U19 double. The men's U17 were not so fortunate, losing the Alkass Cup final to Real Madrid. Meanwhile, the Espoirs had a difficult debut season, winning just one match and finishing bottom of their group in the Challenge Espoirs. They are also participating in the Premier League International Cup, an under-23 competition previously contested by the men's U19, for the 2025–26 edition.