Gothia Cup
The Gothia Cup 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, competing youth teams throughout the world enter the competition. The Gothia Cup is also Sweden's largest annual event.
Series 4 of the BBC's Jamie Johnson portrays Phoenix FC, a grassroots football club competing in the Gothia Cup.
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 largest youth football tournament, having had ~40,000 participants in 2017 vs. Norway Cup's ~30,000. In 2017, 1730 teams from 82 nations participated, making it the most internationally diverse youth football tournament as well.The Gothia Cup started in 1975 with 275 participating teams.
In July each year, the event becomes the dominant event in Gothenburg, with 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.
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.
Gothia Cup China
The concept of Gothia Cup was exported to China in the 2010s. In 2016, the Gothia Cup China, a sister tournament to the Gothia Cup, was established in Shenyang, China.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.
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
- Xabi Alonso
- Joel Asoro
- Júlio Baptista
- Yassine Bounou
- Gordon Durie
- Marco Etcheverry
- Tobias Hysén
- Zlatan Ibrahimović
- Odilon Kossounou
- Dejan Kulusevski
- Kim Källström won with BK Häcken 1997
- Egy Maulana Vikri
- Fabián Orellana
- Andrea Pirlo
- Erwin Sánchez
- Slobodan Savić
- Alan Shearer
- Gylfi Sigurdsson
- Bruno Viana
- Cristian Zaccardo
- Zé Roberto
- Fiete Arp
- Morten Behrens
- Thore Jacobsen
'''Champions'''
| Age Group | Team 1 | Team 2 | Results | |
| B18 | Jusball FC, ENG | FK Lillehammer, NOR | 0-1 | |
| B17E | Sporting Lagos, NGA | FC Tokyo, JPN | 4-0 | |
| B17 | Swindon Town FITC Red, ENG | AFC Eskilstuna, SWE | 0-2 | |
| B16 | Stjarnan 1, ISL | NorCal Premier PDP, USA | 6-7 | |
| SEF Trophy | IF Brommapojkarna, SWE | Malmö FF, SWE | 1-2 | |
| B15 | Imperial Future, ESP | RS Sports, BRA | 4-2 | |
| B14 | MUKP Dabrowa Gornicza, POL | CD Mercedarios, ESP | 0-2 | |
| B14B | Intercups MX, MEX | Empire FC, UAE | 5-1 | |
| B13 | Makati FC, PHI | Utsiktens BK, SWE | 6-4 | |
| B12 | Fútbol Consultants Edson Soto, CRC | Vicente del Bosque Academy Orange, ESP | 2-0 | |
| B11 | RS Sports, BRA | GAIS, SWE | 3-5 | |
| G18 | Sogndal FK Damer, NOR | IK Uppsala Fotboll, SWE | 1-3 | |
| G17E | Cerezo Osaka, JPN | NorCal Premier PDP, USA | 1-0 | |
| G17 | Jitex BK, SWE | NorCal Premier PDP, USA | 0-5 | |
| G16 | Throttur FC, ISL | Lerums IS, SWE | 3-0 | |
| G15 | Dallas Texans Soccer Club, USA | Iconz Elite, USA | 1-0 | |
| G14 | Hammarby IF, SWE | Iconz Elite, USA | 5-3 | |
| G14B | Borgeby FK, SWE | Enskede IK, SWE | 7-5 | |
| G13 | Hammarby IF, SWE | Jitex BK, SWE | 2-0 | |
| G12 | Makati FC, PHI | Hammarby IF, SWE | 5-0 | |
| G11 | Djurgårdens IF, SWE | Hammarby IF, SWE | 1-5 | |
| GSOT 1 | Special Olympics Uzbekistan 1 | Special Olympics Lithuania | 4-1 | |
| GSOT 2 | Special Olympics Turkmenistan | Special Olympics Indonesia DKI Jakarta | 1-2 | |
| GSOT 3 | SKF India Special Olympics | Parasport Danmark 2 | 4-3 | |
| GSOT 4 | Special Olympics Uzbekistan Girls | Special Olympics Lithuania Girls | 2-0 |