The Gothia Cup () is an international youth

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

tournament organized by professional football club

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg. It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Formed on 2 Augu ...

, which has been held annually since 1975 in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Sweden. Considered the biggest tournament in the world in terms of participating teams, competing youth teams throughout the world enter the competition. The Gothia Cup is also Sweden's largest annual event. The

Jamie Johnson (TV series) ''Jamie Johnson'' is a British children's drama television broadcast on CBBC from 8 June 2016 to 17 November 2022. The series followed the self-titled character, portrayed by Louis Dunn, as he negotiates secondary school and issues at home, alo ...

in Series 4 displays Phoenix FC, a grassroots football club competing in the Gothia Cup.

Overview

Spanning one week the Gothia Cup is a youth

tournament held annually in

, 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 The Norway Cup is an international youth football tournament in Oslo, Norway. It has been held annually since 1972, with the exception of 1976 (due to a conflicting arrangement), 2020 and 2021 (due to the COVID-19 Pandemic). It is the world's l ...

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 Heden is a ballcourt and public space and square in the centre of Gothenburg, Sweden. Football matches are played there in the run-up to the final of the Gothia Cup. The final is played at Ullevi. Also the largest handball tournament in the world i ...

. According to the tourist authorities of Gothenburg, the 2006 Gothia Cup generated 282 million

Swedish krona The krona (; plural: ''kronor''; sign: kr; code: SEK) is the official currency of the Kingdom of Sweden. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it ...

in tourist income for Gothenburg city and 118 million krona in

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

income for Sweden. Teams compete from across the world; such as from Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh and the Czech Republic. 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 The COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden is part of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). As of , there have been confirmed cumulative cases and deaths with confirmed COVID-19 in Swed ...

Gothia Cup China

The concept of Gothia Cup was exported to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in the 2010s. From 2016, the Gothia Cup had a sister tournament in

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...

, China, known as the ''Gothia Cup China''. The first Gothia Cup China began between 13 and 19 August 2016. At the newly built Gothia Cup Football park the Tournament saw 250 participating teams from 20 nations.

Famous participants

This list includes notable players who played in Gothia Cup in their youth and later had been playing for their national teams. *

Emmanuel Adebayor Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor (; born 26 February 1984) is a Togolese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Togolese Championnat National club Semassi. He previously played for English clubs Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur ...

(with Les Eperviers) *

Xabi Alonso Xabier Alonso Olano (, ; born 25 November 1981) is a Spanish football coach and former professional player who is currently the head coach of Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. Alonso began his career at Real Sociedad, the main team of his hom ...

(with Antiguoko) *

Joel Asoro Joel Joshghene Asoro (born 27 April 1999) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Djurgårdens IF. Club career Early career Asoro started his career in his local club IFK Haninge in a southern Stockholm suburb. When h ...

(won with

IF Brommapojkarna Idrottsföreningen Brommapojkarna, more commonly known as Brommapojkarna (meaning ''the Bromma boys'') or simply BP, is a Swedish football club located in the borough of Bromma, in the western parts of Stockholm municipality. Brommapojkarna is t ...

2010) *

Júlio Baptista Júlio César Clemente Pereira Baptista (born 1 October 1981) is a Brazilian football manager and former player who played as an attacking midfielder or a forward. He is the current manager of Valladolid B. Baptista is nicknamed "The Beast" du ...

(with Pequeninos do Jockey) *

Yassine Bounou Yassine Bounou ( ar, ياسين بونو; ber, ⵢⴰⵙⵉⵏ ⴱⵓⵏⵓ; born 5 April 1991), also known as Bono, is a Moroccan footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Sevilla and the Morocco national team. Bono began his yo ...

(with Wydad AC) *

Gordon Durie Gordon Scott Durie (born on 6 December, 1965 in Paisley) is the Scottish former professional footballer, a utility player who usually played as a striker. He played for East Fife, Hibernian, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Rangers and Hearts. ...

(with Hill of Beath Swifts) *

Marco Etcheverry Marco Antonio Etcheverry Vargas (born 26 September 1970) is a Bolivian retired professional footballer who played as a forward. A creative playmaker, he is considered one of the greatest Bolivian players of all time. Etcheverry played for D.C. U ...

(with AD Tahuichi) *

Tobias Hysén Glenn Tobias Hysén (born 9 March 1982) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a forward or as a winger. Starting his career with Lundby IF in 1998, he went on to represent BK Häcken, Djurgårdens IF, Sunderland, IFK G� ...

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...

Odilon Kossounou Kouakou Odilon Dorgeless Kossounou (; born 4 January 2001) is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Ivory Coast national team. Club career Early career Kossounou started his c ...

(with ASEC Mimosas) *

Dejan Kulusevski Dejan Kulusevski ( mk, Дејан Кулушевски, Dejan Kulushevski; born 25 April 2000) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a winger or midfielder for club Tottenham Hotspur, on loan from club Juventus, and the Sweden na ...

(won with

2010) *

Kim Källström Kim Mikael Källström (; born 24 August 1982) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was noted for his play-making ability and free-kick taking. He started his career at several clubs in Sweden, winning cons ...

won with BK Häcken 1997 (with

Partille IF Partille IF is a Swedish football club located in Partille in Västra Götaland County. Background Partille Idrottsförening is a sports club which was founded in 1924. The club currently has sections for football and handball. Since their foun ...

1996) *

Egy Maulana Vikri Egy Maulana Vikri (born 7 July 2000) is an Indonesian professional footballer who plays as a winger for the Indonesia national team. In 2017, Egy was named as one of the 60 most talented and promising players born in the year 2000 by ''The Gua ...

(with ASIOP Apacinti) *

Fabián Orellana Fabián Ariel Orellana Valenzuela (; born 27 January 1986) is a Chilean professional Association football, footballer who plays as a winger (association football), winger for Club Deportivo Universidad Católica and the Chile national football t ...

(with CSD Colo Colo) *

Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is head coach of Süper Lig club Fatih Karagümrük. Considered one of the best deep-lying playmakers ever, Pirlo was renowned for his visio ...

(won with US Voluntas) *

Erwin Sánchez Erwin Sánchez Freking (born 19 October 1969) is a Bolivian former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder with scoring range, and is the current manager of Oriente Petrolero. Dubbed ''Platini'',Slobodan Savić Slobodan Savić (born in 1964) is a Serbian author, theatre critic, writer and journalist. Biography He graduated Literature and Theory of Literature from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology. His reviews and short prose works were p ...

(with Jugović Kać) *

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premie ...

(with Wellington Juniors) * Gylfi Sigurdsson (with Fimleikafelag Hafnarfjarðar F.H.) * Bruno Viana (with

Cruzeiro Esporte Clube Cruzeiro Esporte Clube (), known simply as Cruzeiro, is a Brazilian sports club based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Cruzeiro is mostly known for its association football team. It plays ...

) *

Cristian Zaccardo Cristian Zaccardo (; born 21 December 1981) is an Italian former footballer who played as a defender. He mainly played as a centre back, although he was also capable of playing as a full-back or in midfield. He began his club career with Ital ...

(with FC Spilamberto) *

Zé Roberto José Roberto da Silva Júnior (born 6 July 1974), commonly known as Zé Roberto, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a left wing-back or as a midfielder. Currently, he is a technical advisor to Palmeiras, acting directl ...

(with Pequeninos do Jockey)

References

External links

*
Worldstride Excel
{{Gothenburg International sports competitions in Gothenburg

Football (association) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

Football cup competitions in Sweden Youth in Sweden 1975 establishments in Sweden Recurring sporting events established in 1975 July sporting events Youth football in Sweden

Overview

Gothia Cup China

Famous participants

See also

References

External links