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

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]}

• Emmanuel Adebayor (with Les Eperviers)
• Xabi Alonso (with Antiguoko)
• Joel Asoro (won with IF Brommapojkarna 2010)
• Júlio Baptista (with Pequeninos do Jockey)
• Yassine Bounou (with Wydad AC)
• Gordon Durie (with Hill of Beath Swifts)
• Marco Etcheverry (with AD Tahuichi)
• Tobias Hysén
• Zlatan Ibrahimović
• Odilon Kossounou (with ASEC Mimosas)
• Dejan Kulusevski (won with IF Brommapojkarna 2010)
• Kim Källström won with BK Häcken 1997 (with Partille IF 1996)
• Egy Maulana Vikri (with ASIOP Apacinti)
• Fabián Orellana (with CSD Colo Colo)
• Andrea Pirlo (won with US Voluntas)
• Erwin Sánchez (with AD Tahuichi)
• Slobodan Savić (with Jugović Kać)
• Alan Shearer (with Wellington Juniors)
• Gylfi Sigurdsson (with Fimleikafelag Hafnarfjarðar F.H.)
• Bruno Viana (with Cruzeiro Esporte Clube)
• Cristian Zaccardo (with FC Spilamberto)
• Zé Roberto (with Pequeninos do Jockey)
• Fiete Arp (with KFV Segeberg)
• Morten Behrens (won with KFV Segeberg 2008)
• Thore Jacobsen (won with KFV Segeberg 2008)