Tournament information
Participation categories
Category A - School accommodation:
Everyone staying at the school, players and leaders, has to pay the accommodation cost and participation fee. This cost is inclusive of Gothia Card and 18 meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) starting with dinner on July 13th and ending with lunch on July 19th. A minimum of two and maximum four leaders per team may stay at the school. You can rent mattresses and bedding from us to an additional cost. If you bring your own mattress it can not be wider than 75 cm. We urge all participants and leaders to never leave valuables or money unattended at the school. Read more about staying at a school.
Category B - Hotel accommodation:
Hotel booked through Gothia Cup. All participants, players and leaders, has to pay the hotel cost and participant fee. The cost is inclusive of Gothia Card and breakfast. Lunch and dinner vouchers for meals at a nearby school can be purchased at Gothia Account.
Category C - Own accommodation:
Teams arranging their own accommodation. All participants, players and leaders, has to pay the participant fee. The fee is inclusive of Gothia Card. Lunch and dinner vouchers for meals at a nearby school can be purchased at Gothia Account.
See costs and fees for each category
Who may participate?
All clubs, which are members of their FIFA affiliated national association, are welcome to participate in the Gothia Cup. In countries where football is operated by the schools we also allow teams affiliated by their school football association.
The tournament begins with a group play. Teams are divided into groups of four or five teams, where all teams are playing each other once. The first and second team of the group qualify for play-off A, other teams in the group qualify for play-off B. The tournament is played under all applicable FIFA or Swedish FA rules.
Number of teams in the tournament
In recent years we have not been able to accept all teams that wish to participate. The teams that have registered and paid the registration fee has priority. Registration counts as the date we receive the registration fee.
When does the registration open?
The registration for Gothia Cup 2025 opens on September 11th.
Which is the last date to register?
Deadline for making a registration is March 10th. Please note that teams who have registered and paid their registration fee first will be given priority when we reach the maximum number of teams in each category (categories A, B and C). Keep in mind that some of the categories are fully booked very early.
Gothia Card
Gothia Card is included for all players, leaders and accompanying families and friends who have booked their accommodation via Gothia Cup and/or paid the participation fee.
Accompanying families and friends who have booked their own accommodation can purchase Gothia Card. If you order it via your team leader you will get seats together with the team at the opening ceremony. Or you can purchase it in the information at Heden, know that the seating will be random.
Leaders Card
Each team that has booked accommodation through Gothia Cup receives two Leader Cards, giving entry to the Gothia Leaders Party, a Gothia Cup coach t-shirt and entrance to Gothia Leaders Lounge at Heden. If you have more than two leaders you can purchase extra Gothia Leader Card at Gothia Account.
Transfer
Round trip transfer between the airport, train station or ferry terminal in Gothenburg and your accommodation is included category A and B. Note that there is only one bus transfer per team/group included. The transfer is exclusively for teams, and NOT for accompanying families and friends. Transfer must be booked in advance at Gothia Account and can only be booked for minimum ten persons per group.
Special food
For persons with special food needs or allergies we are able to arrange this. If you wish to order vegetarian food the cost is €XX/$XX per person. Please note that we don’t serve any dishes that contains nuts (including peanuts, almonds and sesame) or pork.
Extra nights for teams with school accommodation
If a team need to arrive or depart outside the tournament dates, July 13th-19th, a maximum two extra nights can be arranged to a cost of €20/$25 per person and extra night. Please observe that no meals are served during the extra nights. All meals has to be arranged by the team and at the team's own expenses.
Only one school is open before and after the tournament. The team will be moved to its regular school when the tournament start. If the extra night is after the tournament the team will be moved from its regular school to the specific school for extra nights.
Gothia Account
All registered teams have their own team page at Gothia Account. Several leaders can connect their Gothia ID to the same team page at Gothia Account. On your team page you will update your registration, place orders, fill out the list of participants, make payments and see your balance. Please note that each team is responsible for deadlines of when information, orders and similar are to be submitted.
Check in online
All teams must check in online at Gothia Account before their arrival to the tournament. The online check in can be done by the earliest July 2nd and by the latest July 12th. Please observe, that you must bring your booking confirmation and possible vouchers that you have printed to the tournament to collect your orders.
Age control
All participants at Gothia Cup must complete the age control to participate in the tournament. This is to make sure that all participants are eligible to participate in the age class they are enrolled in.
Read more about the age control
Gothia Line
Gothia Line are buses that runs between schools and pitches where it's hard to travel with the local communications. Gothia Lines schedule is found in our app. Use the local communications where it's possible.
Hotel bookings for families and friends
For accompanying families and friends we can help with booking hotel to reasonable prices. For more information and booking, read here or contact our hotel booking at hotel@gothiacup.se.
Important dates
September 11th: The registration opens.
January 10th: Last date to pay deposit in category A, school accommodation.
March 10th: Registration closes.
April 10th: Last date to pay the accommodation cost and/or participation fee for all who stay in a school, a hotel or have booked their own accommodation.
May 10th: Last date for payments of extra orders such as extra Gothia Cards, extra Leaders Card, special food, meal cards or mattresses. Also deadline to cancel players.
July 12th: Last day to check in online.
July 13th: Arrival day, no matches are played.
July 14th: The matches begin. Opening ceremony at Ullevi Stadium.
July 15th: Last day to complete the age control.
July 19th: Finals and departure day.
Prizes
For teams reaching the finals, each player will receive a medal, and the team will receive a specially designed Gothia Cup trophy. The two loosing teams in the A playoff semi final will receive a third place trophy and bronze medals during halftime of the final in their class. For teams reaching the finals in the B playoff there will be medals and a trophy.
We also award the Best Club with a trophy, we count points as following:
1st place in the preliminary group, 1 point
Victory in an A playoff match, 1 point
Victory in an A playoff semi final or final, 2 points
Top three teams per club are only counted. By equal points the club with fewer teams taking part wins.
Payments
The registration fee must be paid within ten days of submitting the registration online. Once we receive the payment of your registration fee, we will confirm your registration.
The accommodation cost and/or participation fee must be paid no later than May 10th. If the accommodation cost and/or participation fee has not been paid for within five days after its due date the Gothia Cup has the right to cancel your registration without any right to a refund of the registration fee. For hotel accommodation see your booking confirmation.
Note that all bank transaction fees must be paid for by the team. You have to pay in the currency (Euro or USD) that is the most ”natural” currency in your country. Please observe that we do not accept any personal or company cheques.
Cancellation
If you need to cancel your registration, email info@gothiacup.se and note your registration number. The registration fee is non refundable.
In case a player or leader must cancel the school accommodation cost and/or the participation fee is only refundable if the cancellation is made at the lastest May 10th. After May 10th a doctor's notice is required to get the participation fee and/or school accommodation cost refunded.
For hotel reservations, please see your hotel confirmation for cancellation policies.
Accommodation booked through Gothia Cup
We reserve us the right during the tournament when needed to move a team from their accommodation to be lodged in another accommodation and the right to dismiss a participant from Gothia Cup accommodation if the participant commits criminal offense or at repeated occasions violates our rules. For teams with booked accommodation through Gothia Cup the team manager as indicated on the participants list is responsible for the team's behavior.
Insurance
The team manager in charge is obligated to ensure that all participants are insured on the pitch. Each participant is responsible for his/her personal insurance off the pitch. Participants from countries that have no medical insurance agreement with Sweden must have personal medical insurance. Neither Gothia Cup nor the organizer has collective insurance to cover injuries, illness, theft or damages.
Cancelation of the tournament and force majeure
Neither Gothia Cup nor the organizer is responsible for compensation and they are also not responsible for financial losses or damages that may occur due to events outside the control of Gothia Cup or the organizer, such as war-like events, fire, flood, interruptions in public transport connections, government actions, strike or other similar circumstances.
