UEFA Regions' Cup
 | |
| Organising body | UEFA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
| Region | Europe |
| Number of teams | Up to 53 (Qualifiers) 8 (Finals) |
| Current champions |  Galicia (1st title) |
| Website | uefa.com/regionscup |
 2025 UEFA Regions' Cup | |
The UEFA Regions' Cup is a football competition for amateur teams in Europe, run by UEFA. It was held for the first time in 1999 and has been played biennially since. The 2023 champions are the Galicia team from Spain.
The competition was created in 1996 as there was no European level competition for amateur teams. The UEFA Amateur Cup, a previous attempt to organise a continental competition for amateurs, had run from 1966 to 1978, but ceased due to lack of interest from both the public and amateur teams themselves. In contrast to today's Regions' Cup, in which amateur regions are represented, the previous competition was for representative amateur national teams.
Each UEFA member nation may enter one representative amateur team into the competition, with regions having to win a domestic amateur competition (such as the FA Inter-League Cup) in order to qualify.
The first two finals were won by teams from the host nation. Thus far, Italy and Spain have been the most successful nation in the competition, with their representatives winning respectively three of the twelve editions.
Format
[edit]All of the 55 UEFA-affiliated associations are eligible to submit a team to compete in the Regions' Cup, provided they hold a domestic qualifying competition to decide which team will represent that nation. Smaller member nations, however, are permitted to enter a representative national side. 8 associations have never entered a team as of the 2025 Regions' Cup: Austria, Denmark, Norway, Kosovo, Cyprus, Iceland, Faroe Islands, and Gibraltar.
Teams were entered by 32 nations for the inaugural tournament in 1999 and competed in one qualifying round. As interest in the tournament grew over the years, the qualifying stage was enlarged and an extra group round added in 2005, scrapping the playoffs added in 2001.
The preliminary round consists of a small number of teams split into groups, with the best from each group being included in the draw for the intermediary round. In the intermediary round, the teams are placed into eight groups of four teams. The teams in each group play each other once and the team finishing top of the group qualifies for the Regions' Cup finals. The eight group winners are placed into two groups of four for the final tournament and the winners of these two final groups, after each team has played one another once, play in the final, with the winners being crowned champions. Third place is shared between the two teams which finish second in their respective groups.
One aspect of the Regions' Cup that is different from most other international club tournaments is the hosting of games. As teams play each other once in the preliminary and intermediary rounds, in contrast to the more common two-legged fixtures, each group has all its matches held in one particular region. For example, in the 2009 tournament, all the preliminary Group 1 matches were played in San Marino. Another unusual feature of the Regions' Cup is the choice of host for the final tournament. In most football tournaments, the host nation or city is decided by the governing body before qualification begins. In the Regions' Cup, however, the host is chosen only after most of the eight finalist teams have qualified, with one of the qualified regions selected as host.
Results
[edit]
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Finals
[edit]Braga  | 2–2 (a.e.t) (2–4 pen.) |  Central Moravia |
|---|---|---|
Ferreira  55'Freitas 84' |
(Report) | David 12' Svach 90+4' (pen.) |
Maine  | 1–2 |  Piedmont–Aosta Valley |
|---|---|---|
| Kharraz 83' |
(Report) | Borgna 24', 29' |
South-West Sofia  | 0–1 | Basque Country |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | Arroyo 33' |
Oltenia  | 1–2 | Castile and León |
|---|---|---|
| Sîrbu 25' |
(Report) | Ramírez 20' Robles 81' |
| Braga | 2–1 |  Leinster & Munster |
|---|---|---|
| Nobre 62' Fortunato 84' |
Report | O'Sullivan 68' |
| Eastern Region | 1–0 |  Zagreb |
|---|---|---|
| David Lacey 10' |
Report |
| Zagreb | 1–0 | Munster/Connacht |
|---|---|---|
| Adžić 26' |
Report |
Bavaria  | 2–3 |  Lower Silesia |
|---|---|---|
| Türk 35' (pen.) Ekin 90' (pen.) |
Report | Jaros 41' Traczyk 47' (pen.)Bohdanowicz 80' (pen.) |
| Galicia | 3–1 |  Belgrade |
|---|---|---|
|
Report |
|
Titles by country
[edit]| Country | Titles | Runners-up | Winning teams | Second-placed teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spain
|
3 | 2 | Basque Country (2005) | Madrid (1999) |
| Castile and León (2009) | Catalonia (2013) | |||
| Galicia (2023*) | ||||
 Italy
|
3 | 0 | Veneto (1999*, 2013*) | None |
| Piedmont–Aosta Valley (2003) | ||||
| Poland
|
2 | 0 | Lower Silesia (2007, 2019) | None |
| Ireland
|
1 | 2 | Eastern Region (2015*) | Leinster & Munster (2011) |
| Munster/Connacht (2017) | ||||
| Portugal
|
1 | 1 | Braga (2011*) | Braga (2001) |
| Croatia
|
1 | 1 | Zagreb (2017) | Zagreb (2015) |
| Czech Republic
|
1 | 0 | Central Moravia (2001*) | None |
| Bulgaria
|
0 | 2 | None | South-West Sofia (2005) |
| South-East Region (2007*) | ||||
 France
|
0 | 1 | None | Maine (2003) |
| Romania
|
0 | 1 | None | Oltenia (2009) |
| Germany
|
0 | 1 | None | Bavaria (2019*) |
| Serbia
|
0 | 1 | None | Belgrade (2023) |
- * = Hosts
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "UEFA competitions to resume in August". UEFA.com. 17 June 2020.
- ^ a b c "UEFA Regions' Cup. All-Time Statistics". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 18 March 2005. Archived from the original on 18 March 2005. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "South-West Sofia vs. Vasca" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 9 July 2005. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "South-East Region vs. Dolnoslaski" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 June 2007. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "Oltenia vs. Castilla y León" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 June 2007. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "Braga vs. Leinster" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 28 June 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "Veneto vs. Selección Catalana" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 29 June 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "Eastern Region vs. Zagreb" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 4 July 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "Zagreb vs. Region 2" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 9 July 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "Bavaria vs. Dolny Śląsk" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2022.