Latin Cup
| Founded | 1949 |
|---|---|
| Abolished | 1957 |
| Region |
 France Italy Portugal.svg.png){kind=small} Spain |
| Number of teams | 4 |
| Last champions |
Real Madrid (2nd title) |
| Most successful club(s) |
Barcelona Milan Real Madrid (2 titles each) |
The Latin Cup (French: Coupe Latine; Italian: Coppa Latina; Portuguese: Taça Latina or Copa Latina; Spanish: Copa Latina) was an international football tournament for club sides from the Latin European nations of France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. In 1949 the football federations came together and launched their own club competition. European clubs could not afford hefty travel costs so competition was staged at the end of every season in a single host country. The competition featured two semi-finals, a third place play-off and a final.
The tournament began in 1949 and was usually played between the league champions of each of the participating countries. Every four years, a ranking would be determined for the countries based on their sides' performances in the Latin Cup. The competition was last played for in 1957, two years after the introduction of the UEFA-sanctioned European Cup. Real Madrid played and won in both the European Cup and the Latin Cup in 1957. Prior to the introduction of the European Cup, the Latin Cup was considered the most important cup for clubs in Europe, the longer-established Mitropa Cup having gone into decline after World War II. The Latin Cup has been described one of the forerunners "of the European Cup" by UEFA.[1]
Finals
| Year | Final | Third Place | Venue | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Score | Runner-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | ||
| 1949 | Barcelona | 2–1 | Sporting CP | Torino | 5–3 | Stade de Reims | Estadio Chamartín |
| 1950 | Benfica | 3–3 a.e.t. 2–1 a.e.t. | Bordeaux | Atlético Madrid | 2–1 | Lazio | Estádio Nacional |
| 1951 | Milan | 5–0 | Lille | Atlético Madrid | 3–1 | Sporting CP | San Siro |
| 1952 | Barcelona | 1–0 | Nice | Juventus | 3–2 | Sporting CP | Parc des Princes |
| 1953 | Stade de Reims | 3–0 | Milan | Sporting CP | 4–1 | Valencia | Estádio Nacional |
| 1954 | Not Held | ||||||
| 1955 | Real Madrid | 2–0 | Stade de Reims | Milan | 3–1 | Belenenses | Parc des Princes |
| 1956 | Milan | 3–1 | Athletic Bilbao | Benfica | 2–1 | Nice | Arena Civica |
| 1957 | Real Madrid | 1–0 | Benfica | Milan | 4–3 | Saint-Étienne | Santiago Bernabéu Stadium |
Performances by team
| Team | Champion | Runner-up | Third | Fourth |
| Milan | 2 (1951, 1956) | 1 (1953) | 2 (1955, 1957) | |
| Barcelona | 2 (1949, 1952) | |||
| Real Madrid | 2 (1955, 1957) | |||
| Benfica | 1 (1950) | 1 (1957) | 1 (1956) | |
| Stade de Reims | 1 (1953) | 1 (1955) | 1 (1949) | |
| Sporting | 1 (1949) | 1 (1953) | 2 (1951, 1952) | |
| Nice | 1 (1952) | 1 (1956) | ||
| Bordeaux | 1 (1950) | |||
| Lille | 1 (1951) | |||
| Athletic Bilbao | 1 (1956) | |||
| Atlético Madrid | 2 (1950, 1951) | |||
| Torino | 1 (1949) | |||
| Juventus | 1 (1952) | |||
| Lazio | 1 (1950) | |||
| Valencia | 1 (1953) | |||
| Belenenses | 1 (1955) | |||
| Saint-Étienne | 1 (1957) |
Performances by country
| Team | Champion | Runner-up | Third | Fourth |
| Spain | 4 (1949, 1952, 1955, 1957) | 1 (1956) | 2 (1950, 1951) | 1 (1953) |
| Italy | 2 (1951, 1956) | 1 (1953) | 4 (1949, 1952, 1955, 1957) | 1 (1950) |
| France | 1 (1953) | 4 (1950, 1951, 1952, 1955) | 3 (1949, 1956, 1957) | |
| Portugal | 1 (1950) | 2 (1949, 1957) | 2 (1953, 1956) | 3 (1951, 1952, 1955) |
See also
References
- ↑ "Goals, not coal, for Kopa". uefa.com. UEFA. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 22 September 2016.