Gothia Cup is the world’s largest and most international youth football tournament. Each year, around 1700 teams from 80 nations take part and they play 4500 games on 110 fields. It’s the teams, and participants from around the world that make the tournament unique. A meeting place for the world’s youth, irrespective of religion, skin color or nationality, with football as the common denominator.
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The groups and group schedule for Gothia Cup 2017 are now published! The game schedule for the play offs will be published no later than June 30.
TO THE GAME SCHEDULE
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When it all began, no one could have imagined what the Gothia Cup, a small youth tournament, would become. It was 1975, and the concept of a tournament to which teams from abroad would also be invited was not only unique, it would also prove to be extremely successful. Another unique feature from the outset was that girls were involved in their own class.
The old, yellowing piece of paper still exists on which a number of young enthusiasts wrote down their visions for the new Gothia Cup. It states: ”The Gothia Cup shall be a meeting place for the young people of the world, regardless of colour, gender or religion.” This was written in 1981 and remains the guiding principle for the organisation to this day. With more than one million participants from 143 countries and with a name as the world’s biggest youth event, we can justifiably claim that we have succeeded.
We aim to provide an experience for all participants. The Gothia Cup – more than just football was an expression used for many years. A lot of resources were used on the opening ceremony and other spectacular events. The thought was that no one would travel the world around just to play some football matches.
We’ve always been associated with words like experience, encounters and international football. Right from the outset, the Gothia Cup had a high footballing status. Winning the Gothia Cup was and remains one of the finest things you can wish for as a young footballer. Nowadays it’s an achievement simply to take part.
Being involved in children’s issues away from football and outside Sweden has always been an important element of the Gothia Cup. Our significance beyond the sideline has increased. The schools in the Congo are an example of this. Another is the initiative known as the Kim Källström Trophy, a class for young people with developmental problems. A third is the Meet the World tournament, which is run in partnership with SKF in more than 20 poorer countries. All this is included in the Gothia Cup Foundation, a cooperation between Gothia Cup and the enterprise.