Balkan Cup

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Balkan Cup
Founded1929
Abolished1980
RegionBalkans (UEFA)
Last champions Romania
Most successful team(s) Romania (4)
This article is about the defunct regional football competition contested by national teams of Balkan countries. For the club version, see Balkans Cup. For the youth version, see Balkan Youth Championship.

The Balkan Cup was an international association football competition contested on and off from 1929 to 1980 by countries from the Balkans region. The most successful team was Romania with 4 titles.[1]

Overview[]

The first edition featured Romania, Greece, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria and was played over three years from 1929 to 1931.[1] All teams played each other twice, home and away, and were awarded 2 points for a win and 1 point for a draw, with final ranking table determining the winner. Romania won the first title with a game in hand after beating Yugoslavia 4–2.[1][2][3]

In the following tournaments the system saw significant changes, with teams playing each other only once, and instead of taking three years to complete it was shortened to just a single week. From 1932 to 1936 the competition was played every year with the same four teams until the outbreak of World War II.[1][4][5][6][7]

After a seven-year hiatus due to World War II, the competition was revived in 1946. Greece dropped out of the tournament the same year, and was replaced by Albania, who went on to win the 1946 edition by defeating Romania 1–0 in the final game.[1][8][9] In 1947 Hungary entered the tournament and won it in its first attempt.[1][10] Hungary were a world footballing power at the time and proved this with a 9–0 thrashing against Bulgaria.[1][11] In 1948 the Balkan Cup was expanded to seven teams with Poland and Czechoslovakia joining the tournament.[1][12] However, the 1948 edition was never completed due to unknown reasons.[citation needed] Hungary were topping the group at the time of its cancellation. Because of the expansions, the 1947 and 1948 tournaments were officially renamed Balkan and Central European Championship.[1][10][12]

The competition was not played again until 1973 when a round robin group system was replaced by a knockout system with semi-finals and finals, played over three years. This time only four countries took part – Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece. Bulgaria won the final on away goals against Romania in 1976.[1][13] In 1977 the second edition of the revived tournament was launched, this time consisting of five teams with Yugoslavia returning to take part. Romania went on to win the last edition in 1980 by beating Yugoslavia 4–1 at home in the final.[1][14][15]

List of winners[]

Source[1]

Season Champions (titles) Runners-up Third place Top scorer(s)
Player(s) (Country) Goals
1929–31  Romania (1)  Yugoslavia  Greece Iuliu Bodola (Romania)
Rudolf Wetzer (Romania)
7
1931  Bulgaria (1) ‡  Turkey  Yugoslavia Asen Panchev (Bulgaria)
3
1932  Bulgaria (2)  Yugoslavia ‡  Romania Aleksandar Živković (Yugoslavia)
5
1933  Romania (2) ‡  Yugoslavia  Bulgaria Gheorghe Ciolac (Romania)
Ștefan Dobay (Romania)
4
1934–35  Yugoslavia (1)  Greece ‡  Romania Aleksandar Tirnanić (Yugoslavia)
Aleksandar Tomašević (Yugoslavia)
3
1935  Yugoslavia (2)  Bulgaria ‡  Greece Lyubomir Angelov (Bulgaria)
6
1936  Romania (3) ‡  Bulgaria  Greece Sándor Schwartz (Romania)
4
1946  Albania (1) ‡  Yugoslavia  Romania Loro Boriçi (Albania)
Qamil Teliti (Albania)
Nicolae Reuter (Romania)
Božidar Sandić (Yugoslavia)
2
1947  Hungary (1)  Yugoslavia  Romania Ferenc Deák (Hungary)
5
1948
Competition abandoned in November 1948
after 16 matches played with Hungary on top of the table.
 Ferenc Puskás (Hungary)
5
1973–76  Bulgaria (3)  Romania N/A Cemil Turan (Turkey)
4
1977–80  Romania (4)  Yugoslavia N/A Anghel Iordănescu (Romania)
6

All-time top goalscorers[]

Rank Name Team Goals
1 Romania Iuliu Bodola Romania 15
2 Bulgaria Lyubomir Angelov Bulgaria 13
3 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Aleksandar Živković Yugoslavia 10
4 Hungary Ferenc Deak Hungary 9
Bulgaria Asen Peshev Bulgaria 9
6 Hungary Ferenc Puskas Hungary 8
Romania Anghel Iordanescu Romania 8

Managers with most wins[]

Manager Wins Editions Notes
Romania Constantin Rădulescu 3 1929-1931, 1933, 1936
Germany Otto Feist 2 1931, 1932 Otto Feist won 2 titles with Bulgaria
Romania Hungary Ştefan Kovács 1 1977-1980
Bulgaria Stoyan Ormandzhiev 1 1973-76 Ormandzhiev took over from Hristo Mladenov in 1974
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Ljubiša Broćić 1 1946 Broćić won it with Albania
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Boško Simonović 1 1935
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Ivo Šuste, Mata Miodragović, Petar Pleše 1 1934-35 Šuste, Miodragović, Pleše were joint managers
Hungary 1 1947 Gallowich was also Hungary's manager in the abandoned 1948 edition

Titles by Nation[]

Country Winners Runners-up
Romania Romania
4
1
Bulgaria Bulgaria
3
2
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
2
6
Hungary Hungary
1
–
Albania Albania
1
–
Greece Greece
–
1
Turkey Turkey
–
1

Participations[]

Country No Editions
Romania Romania
11
 1929-1931, 1932, 1933, 1934-35, 1935, 1936, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1973-76, 1977-80
Bulgaria Bulgaria
11
 1929-1931, 1932, 1933, 1934-35, 1935, 1936, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1973-76, 1977-80
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
10
 1929-1931, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934-35, 1935, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1977-80
Greece Greece
8
 1929-1931, 1932, 1933, 1934-35, 1935, 1936, 1973-76, 1977-80
Turkey Turkey
3
 1931, 1973-76, 1977-80
Albania Albania
3
 1946, 1947, 1948
Hungary Hungary
2
 1947, 1948
Poland Poland
1
 1948
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia
1
 1948

Hat-tricks[]

Balkan Cup hat-tricks
# G Player Time of goals For Goals Result Against Tournament Date FIFA
report
1. 5 Rudolf Wetzer 8', 34', 75', 76', 80'  Romania 1–1, 2–1, 5–1, 6–1, 8–1  Greece 1929-31 Balkan Cup 25 May 1930 [Report]
2. 4 4', 50', 51', 60'  Greece 1–0, 4–0, 5–0, 6–0  Bulgaria 7 December 1930 [Report]
3. 3 Iuliu Bodola 13', 18', 84'  Romania 1–0, 2–0, 4–2  Greece 29 September 1931 [Report]
4. 3 Slavko Kodrnja 12', 20', 72'  Yugoslavia 1–1, 2–1, 4–2  Greece 1933 Balkan Cup 3 June 1933 [Report]
5. 3 Gheorghe Ciolac 57', 61', 66'  Romania 3–0, 4–0, 6–0  Bulgaria 4 June 1933 [Report]
6. 3 Mirko Kokotović 10', 54', 75'  Yugoslavia 1–0, 3–0, 4–0  Bulgaria 7 June 1933 [Report]
7. 3 26', 28', 63'  Bulgaria 2–1, 3–1, 4–1  Greece 1935 Balkan Cup 16 June 1935 [Report]
8. 3 25', 28', 66'  Bulgaria 1–2, 2–2, 3–2  Yugoslavia 24 June 1935 [Report]
9. 3 Iuliu Farkaș 29', 69', 79'  Romania 1–0, 3–0, 4–0  Albania 1947 Balkan Cup 25 May 1947 [Report]
10. 4 Ferenc Deák 15', 34', 52', 79'  Hungary 1–0, 2–0, 7–0, 8–0  Bulgaria 17 August 1947 [Report]
11. 3 Nándor Hidegkuti 47', 50', 86'  Hungary 4–0, 6–0, 9–0  Bulgaria 17 August 1947 [Report]
12. 3 Béla Egresi 43', 61', 72'  Hungary 2–0, 5–0, 7–0  Romania 1948 Balkan Cup 6 June 1948 [Report]
13. 3 Ferenc Puskás 44', 64', 83'  Hungary 1–0, 3–0, 5–1  Romania 24 October 1948 [Report]
14. 3 Cemil Turan 47', 66', 86'  Turkey 2–1, 4–2, 5–2  Bulgaria 1973-76 Balkan Cup 18 April 1973 [Report]
15. 3 Vahid Halilhodžić 33', 58', 84'  Yugoslavia 1–1, 3–1, 4–1  Greece 1977-80 Balkan Cup 15 November 1978 [Report]
16. 3 Anghel Iordănescu 21', 55', 79'  Romania 1–0, 3–0, 4–1  Yugoslavia 27 August 1980 [Report]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l Guy De Dekker and Karel Stokkermans (23 November 2006). "Balkan Cup (for Nations)". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  2. ^ "Balkan Cup 1931". EU-football.info. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  3. ^ "Yugoslavia - Romania 2:4". EU-football.info. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Balkan Cup 1932". EU-football.info. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  5. ^ "Balkan Cup 1933". EU-football.info. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Balkan Cup 1934–35". EU-football.info. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Balkan Cup 1935". EU-football.info. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  8. ^ "Balkan Cup 1946". EU-football.info. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  9. ^ "Albania - Romania 1:0". EU-football.info. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b "Balkan Cup 1947". EU-football.info. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  11. ^ "Hungary - Bulgaria 9:0". EU-football.info. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b "Balkan Cup 1948". EU-football.info. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  13. ^ "Balkan Cup 1973–76". EU-football.info. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  14. ^ "Balkan Cup 1977–80". EU-football.info. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  15. ^ "Romania - Yugoslavia 4:1". EU-football.info. Retrieved 23 April 2020.

External links[]

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