Around 20 footballers and officials from an Ethiopian youth team that travelled to Sweden to compete in the 2026 Gothia Cup, also known as the World Youth Cup, have reportedly gone missing following the conclusion of the tournament.

Reports noted that the footballer, who police said are aged between 14 and 17, were discovered missing on the final day of the competition on July 18 without prior notice by an administrator at the school the Ethiopian team was camped in Gothenburg. 

The Peoples Gazette gathered that the organisers of the Gothia Cup subsequently filed a report with Swedish police, who later established that the individuals had not returned to Ethiopia as of Tuesday.

However, police believe the disappearances of the young footballers and officials were voluntary, stating that there was no evidence of any criminal activity linked to the incident.

“There are no indications that there is anything illegal behind it, such as human trafficking or similar,” Ellinor Halldin at the police unit for missing persons in Region West told Göteborgs Posten newspaper. 

“We have no idea if they’re trying to stay in Sweden. That would just be speculation. In the past, we’ve had disappearances before in the Gothia Cup but never so many as this. 

“Those have been for different reasons, either they’ve already gone home or they’ve wanted to stay in Sweden or another country,” Ms Halldin was quoted by The Local as saying.

She noted that the police were working together with the Migration Agency, the Swedish border police, and authorities in other countries to locate the missing persons. 

“From our perspective it’s strange because this is a team that we have a good relationship with,” Fredrik Beckman, spokesperson for Gothia Cup, said, adding that the organisers reported the case to the police after the team remained missing days after the tournament ended.