Gothia Cup

Gothia Cup is a youth association football tournament held annually in Gothenburg, Sweden, open for both boys and girls of ages 11 to 19 years. With respect to the number of participants, it is the world's largest football tournament: in 2007, a total of 34,200 players and team leaders from 1585 teams and 65 nations participated. Gothia Cup was started in 1975, that year with 275 participating teams.

Spanning one week in July each year, the event becomes a dominating activity in Gothenburg, with (as of 2006) 4320 games played on 91 fields, and 300,000 visitors to the centre on Heden. According to the tourist authorities of Gothenburg, the 2006 Gothia Cup generated 282 million Swedish kronor in tourist income for Gothenburg city and 118 million kronor in tax income for Sweden.

Teams from several countries participate. These include Kenya, France, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Norway, Iceland, Bolivia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, USA, Canada, Australia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, Mongolia, India, Germany, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, England, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Sudan, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Algeria, Lebanon, Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Moldavia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary, FYR Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Spain, Greece, Malta, Serbia & Montenegro, Croatia, Turkey, Italy.

The opening ceremony and finals are held on Ullevi.

Players from Gothia Cup

See also

*Norway Cup - A large number of teams participating in Gothia Cup also take part in Norway cup.
*List of sporting events in Sweden

References

* [http://proteamity.tripnet.se/customers/content.asp?Id=362&ContentId=348 Gothia Cup History & Stats]

External links

* [http://www.gothiacup.se Gothia Cup official website]