Jusu Bah and Schröder design 2026 Gothia Cup kits for the youth players who follow in their footsteps

Swedish internationals Monica Jusu Bah and Felicia Schröder have designed the official match kits for the 2026 Gothia Cup, the world’s largest international youth football tournament, held annually in Gothenburg, Sweden. Both players competed in the tournament as youngsters before going on to represent the Swedish national team.

The brief given to the pair was deliberately open-ended: design a kit from their own perspective, rooted in personal experience, that reflects identity, connection and ambition rather than the conventions of a traditional football shirt. The result draws on a shared symbol from their friendship.

“The idea for the design comes from a personal story,” Jusu Bah explained. “We got tattoos together as a symbol of our friendship, and we thought this would make a great football shirt for the young players representing SKF and Meet the World in Gothia Cup.”

At 23, the winger is close enough in age to the tournament’s participants — who range from 11 to 18 — to understand their mindset instinctively. Schröder, at 19, is only a year older than some of the players who will wear the kit this summer, a detail that sharpens the sense of continuity between the two designers and the next generation.

Schröder, who signed for Real Madrid this summer, elaborated on the imagery woven into the design. “The sun and the moon represent our differences but also what brings us together as friends and football players,” she said. “We wanted to create something that feels personal, something we would have been proud to wear ourselves when we were younger. It’s not just a shirt. It represents where you come from and where you want to go.”

“We hope the players feel confident and connected when they wear it, like they are part of something bigger. It’s about passing something on. We’ve been in their position, and now we can give something back.”

The creative process, by both players’ accounts, was intuitive rather than technical — a deliberate choice to keep the design grounded in lived experience rather than commercial convention. For the thousands of young players who will pull on the shirts at this year’s Gothia Cup, the names behind the design carry a straightforward message: the tournament they are competing in has been a genuine stepping stone to the highest levels of the game.