The Elite-Cup football tournament is a permanent fixture in the annual calendar of the programs in the Elite Network of Bavaria. This year, the Elite Graduate Program Master in Quantitative Economics hosted twelve teams from all over Bavaria, who competed against each other on Saturday, 14 June 2025, at the Olympic Campus in Munich.
At the start of the tournament, the twelve participating teams were divided into four groups. Group A consisted of the host MQEigentor (LMU, Quantitative Economics), MAP United (FAU, Advanced Materials and Processes), and I-Immune (FAU, Integrated Immunology). In Group B, TMP (LMU & TUM, Theoretical and Mathematical Physics), Inter Myelin (TUM, Neuroscience), and MWP (Max Weber Program) faced each other. Group C featured Maximilianeum (scholars of the Maximilianeum), Real Gorithms (LMU, Data Science), and Coding Kickers (Augsburg, Software Engineering). Group D was made up of Data Driven Reforesters (Bayreuth, Global Change Ecology), Cytokine Crew (LMU, Human Biology), and SynCat Regensburg, who had merged with MAOT (Advanced Optical Technologies) from Erlangen.
The top two teams from each group advanced to the upper bracket, while the third-placed teams moved to the lower bracket. All teams that lost in the upper bracket had the opportunity to fight their way back for the overall victory through the lower bracket.
With two wins, MQEigentor emerged as the winner of Group A. In Group B, MWP delivered an outstanding team performance even though the players came from different universities. In Group C, the Coding Kickers from Augsburg prevailed. In Group D, the mixed team from SynCat Regensburg and MAOT surprised everyone with two clear victories.
With the end of the group stage, the upper and lower bracket matches began. The host, MQEigentor, first defeated their LMU colleagues from Team TMP, before overcoming the Bayreuth Data Driven Reforesters with a powerful free kick. In the upper bracket final, they beat team MWP, who had previously prevailed against team Maximilianeum and I-Immune. MQEigentor now stood in the final of the Elite-Cup 2025, awaiting the winner from the lower bracket.
In the lower bracket, teams fiercely battled for a spot in the final. TMP, Coding Kickers, and SynCat-MAOT, after their losses in the upper bracket, defeated their opponents Cytokine Crew, Inter Myelin, and Real Gorithms (who withdrew). A major surprise came from MAP United, who, starting as third in their group in the lower bracket, managed to beat team Maximilianeum. SynCat-MAOT succeeded against TMP and Data Driven Reforesters, but ultimately lost to I-Immune in the first lower bracket final.
I-Immune, in their characteristic pink jerseys, had advanced as group runners-up in the upper bracket by defeating SynCat-MAOT, but then lost to MWP. Entering the lower bracket, they began their Cinderella story with unbreakable fighting spirit and strong support from the sidelines. A win against the Coding Kickers, followed by another victory against SynCat-MAOT in a dramatic penalty shootout, set up their revenge against team MWP in the lower bracket final, which they won to reach the final. By this point, I-Immune had already played three consecutive matches and now faced the host MQEigentor. Motivation and the cheers from the crowd gave the pink team wings. In the end, it was just enough, and I-Immune was crowned the well-deserved winner of the EliteCup 2025 – Congratulations!
