Gothia Cup

Gothia Cup
Founded1975
RegionInternational
Number of teams1700 teams
Websitewww.gothiacup.se

The Gothia Cup (Swedish pronunciation: [ɡuːtɪa ˈkɵpː]) is an international youth association football tournament organized by professional football club BK Häcken, which has been held annually since 1975 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Considered the biggest tournament in the world in terms of participating teams,[1][2] competing youth teams throughout the world enter the competition. The Gothia Cup is also Sweden's largest annual event. The Jamie Johnson (TV series) in Series 4 displays Phoenix FC, a grassroots football club competing in the Gothia Cup.[2]

Overview

Fireworks at the opening ceremony.
The opening ceremony and finals are held at Ullevi, Gothenburg.

Spanning one week the Gothia Cup is a youth association football tournament held annually in Gothenburg, Sweden, open for both boys and girls of ages 11 to 18. In terms of participants, it is the world's second largest youth football tournament with only the Norway Cup being bigger. In 2017, 1730 teams from 82 nations participated.

The Gothia Cup started in 1975 with 275 participating teams. In July each year, the event becomes the dominant event in Gothenburg, with (as of 2017) 4,349 games played on 110 fields, and 300,000 visitors to the center in Heden. According to the tourist authorities of Gothenburg, the 2006 Gothia Cup generated 282 million Swedish krona in tourist income for Gothenburg city and 118 million krona in tax income for Sweden.[citation needed]

Teams compete from across the world; such as from Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh and the Czech Republic.[citation needed]

In 2020, for the first time since the tournament's inaugural season, the tournament was not held, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden.

Gothia Cup China

The concept of Gothia Cup was exported to China in the 2010s.[3] In 2016, the Gothia Cup China, a sister tournament to the Gothia Cup, was established in Shenyang, China.[4] The inaugural Gothia Cup China took place from 13 to 19 August 2016 at the newly built Gothia Cup Football Park. The tournament featured 250 participating teams from 20 nations, although a reliable citation is needed to support this information.[citation needed]

Famous participants

This list includes notable players who played in Gothia Cup in their youth and later had been playing for their national teams.[5][6][7][8][9]

See also

References

  1. ^ "World's largest youth soccer cup gets underway in Gothenburg". Sveriges Radio. SR International – Radio Sweden. 14 July 2015. Archived from the original on 31 July 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Gothia Cup 2018". Goteborg.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-06. Retrieved 2017-09-06.
  3. ^ "Gothia Cup - Gothia Cup on export to China". 26 September 2015. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015.
  4. ^ "Gothia Cup China » 2019, Qingdao". Archived from the original on 2016-08-15. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  5. ^ "Visste du att… - Gothia Cup". Gothiacup.se. Archived from the original on 2013-08-23. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  6. ^ "All Star Team - Gothia Cup". Gothiacup.se. Archived from the original on 2013-08-19. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  7. ^ "Gothia Cup har växt ur sin kostym | GT". Expressen.se. 2012-07-16. Archived from the original on 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  8. ^ "Stjärnorna som spelat Gothia cup - Bilder - www.gp.se". Archived from the original on 2012-06-05. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  9. ^ Bhattacharjee, Neeladri (29 July 2023). "Minerva Academy treading path of Pirlo, Shearer and Ibrahimovic with Gothia Cup win". sportstar.thehindu.com. Chennai: Sportstar – The Hindu News. Archived from the original on 29 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gothia Cup.