The Costa Blanca Cup breaks a new participation record this year in its most international edition

The 2025 Costa Blanca Cup will be a record-breaking edition, both in terms of teams and the number of participating countries in the two competitions: the international soccer tournament and the futsal tournament. This was announced this Friday by the director of the CBC and manager of Tour-Sport, Fernando Brotons, and the Sports Councilor of Benidorm City Council, Javier Jordá, who publicly presented this new edition, which will be held from July 2nd to 12th and will bring together a total of 305 teams from 30 countries around the world. With this, the Costa Blanca Cup consolidates its position as the most important international grassroots soccer event in the country.

The tournament will begin with the indoor competition, which will take place from July 2nd to 6th, and which this year marks its twentieth anniversary. 97 teams from 11 countries have entered the competition, giving it a much more international character than the previous edition, when four countries participated. Of the 97 teams, 22 are local, 37 are from other regions of Spain, and 38 are from abroad, with teams from outside Spain outnumbering national participants for the first time.

This tournament will then link up with the 31st Costa Blanca Cup, which will be held between July 6 and 12. 208 teams from 19 countries will compete, of which 51 are local, 80 are national, and 77 are international.

A total of 719 matches will be played between the two sports, spread across the seven venues the organisation operates. For the soccer matches, the tournament structure is divided into age categories, both male and female, for the 11-a-side and 8-a-side football competitions. The same will apply to the futsal event, with the men's and women's teams also divided into age categories.

The organizers explained that to accommodate all the people arriving to participate in this tournament—not only participants and coaching staff but also accompanying guests—they have promoted, through sports tourism, the occupancy of 24 hotels to accommodate nearly 4,000 people, many of whom will extend their stays beyond the specific dates of the tournament. Not surprisingly, Fernando Brotons recalled some of the key data provided by the Economic Impact Study for the 2024 edition prepared by the University of Valencia, which estimates direct spending in the destination at €1.8 million and the economic impact of the study at around €10 million, with €5.6 million in revenue, the equivalent of the creation of 113 jobs annually. Or, to put it another way, for every euro invested in organising the event, €19.10 was generated in the Valencian economy.

The study also estimates the average spending by participating athletes at 685 euros and that of each of their companions at 725.50 euros, with an average stay of 6.65 and 6 days, respectively, for both events.

After highlighting these figures, the director of the Costa Blanca Cup highlighted the constant growth of the event, "which has always been international and already had players from nine countries participating in its first edition," as well as the emphasis on its tourism aspect, "something it has always had and which generates a high-quality and very tangible return." He also considered that the Costa Blanca Cup has another "intangible" return, namely that the players "are young people who will have the opportunity to spend time with boys and girls their age from other countries around the world during these days; to take away great memories of Benidorm and, in the future, return to the city as tourists."

For his part, Benidorm City Councillor for Sports, Javier Jordá, welcomed the Costa Blanca Cup "to our city once again" and thanked Tour-Sport "for continuing to support Benidorm and this tournament, whose figures reflect its continued strong position."

In this regard, the councilor highlighted the 60% increase in participation recorded for this edition and expressed his and the city's satisfaction "with the imminent arrival of thousands of young people and their families, who will stay here, extend their stays, and get to know Benidorm and other boys and girls from all over the world thanks to this tournament, speaking a single language: football."

 ‘Arrels CF’ Team

Among this year's special features, in addition to the participation of men's, women's, and adapted teams of different ages, the organization has invited a women's soccer team to participate in the Costa Blanca Cup, comprised of a selection of players from towns within the "ground zero" of the DANA (National Association of Sports) event held on October 29th in the province of Valencia. This team, known as "Arrels Club de Fútbol," was already invited to participate in another youth soccer tournament held by Tour-Sport in Valencia and will now also participate in the Costa Blanca Cup as a tribute and show of solidarity with all the clubs and athletes affected by the disaster.