Football (Soccer)/The Trophies And Cups

International Competitions

In football there are many competitions and championships. Here is a collection of the major international competitions in the world of football.

The World

FIFA World Cup

This is the biggest achievement (competition) in football internationally. It takes place every four years and thirty-two teams play this major event. The qualifying rounds take place for each confederation three years before the World Cup. The 2022 World Cup was held in Qatar, Argentina defeated France by 4 penalties to 2 to lift the trophy. The bidding for the next World Cup is held before the nearest World Cup, (usually, three years before). For example, the bid for 2014 World Cup was held just after the 2010 World Cup. Brazil is the only team to win five World Cups, creating the record for winning the most World Cups in history. There have been twenty-two world cups, and the most recent was Argentina's win in the 2022 World Cup, hosted in Qatar. It was established in 1930 where it took place in Uruguay.

FIFA Confederations Cup(Abolished 2019)

This is the collection of the teams where the winners of the confederation tournaments, the hosts and the world cup winners qualify for a single tournament. It also takes place every four years like the World Cup. Brazil and France are the only countries that have won the cup twice. The most recent Confederations Cup was held in June 2017 in Russia, where Germany beat Chile 1-0 to win the cup.

Continental (non-international)

UEFA European Football Championship

Also known as Euro, this championship is most watched in Europe (internationally). It is held every four years (two years before the next World Cup to happen). The qualification of this championship consists of nine groups with top two teams from each group, the best third place, and the winners of a play-off between the other third place going to the next main group phase and so on. Germany and Spain have won the most titles, 3. The most recent championship was won by Italy in 2021, with a score of 4-3 in a penalty shootout over England.

UEFA Nations League

The UEFA Nations League is a new biennial international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018, following the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The four group winners from League A will qualify for the finals, to be played at a yet to be decided European city in June 2019. Four nations, one from each League, will also qualify for the UEFA Euro 2020 finals .According to the approved format (prior to Kosovo becoming UEFA member), the now 55 UEFA national teams (including Kosovo) will be divided into four divisions (called "Leagues"): 12 teams in League A, 12 teams in League B, 15 teams in League C, and 16 teams in League D. In each league, four groups are formed (three or four teams in each group) and play each other both home and away.

AFC Asian Cup

This is the main competition for Asian countries, although, Australia are also permitted and won the championship one time.The AFC Asian Cup is an international association football tournament run by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second oldest continental football championship in the world after Copa América. The winning team becomes the champion of Asia.

CAF Africa Cup of Nations

This is the main competition for the CAF (African) countries. It is held every two years in January/February in the same year as UEFA European Championship Finals and Summer Olympics between 16 teams of Africa. It is the biggest international African teams' achievement. The latest cup, held during February 2022 in Cameroon, was won by Senegal for the first time.

CONMEBOL Copa América

This is the main competition for the CONMEBOL internationally. It consists of all the teams in the CONMEBOL. There is no fixed interval, so it changes frequently as to when it is going to take place. The most recent champion is Argentina (15th times) defeating Brazil after a 1-0 victory in 2021. Argentina & Uruguay holds the record for the most wins (15 time winners). Uruguay's most recent Copa America win was in 2011.

CONCACAF Gold Cup

This is the main competition in the CONCACAF region. Mexico currently holds the record for most wins with 8 titles. They are followed by the United States, the most recent champions, with 6 titles and Canada with 1. There is no fixed interval for this, also.

OFC Nations Cup

The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name Oceania Nations Cup. No competition was held in 2006, but in the 2008 edition, which also acted as a qualification tournament for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and for a play-off for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the New Zealand national football team emerged as winners.

Club competitions

A football club or a soccer league of a certain country consists for small leagues as shown in The Leagues And Teams. These teams are known as football clubs. Here is a list of major club competitions.

The World

FIFA Club World Cup

Known as Intercontinental Cup before 2000, this is the only title which consists of the best top clubs from all six confederational titles (only four described below). The latest title was won by Chelsea in 2022. The FIFA Club World Cup had been hosted in Morroco 2023. The title was won by Real Madrid in a 5-3 situation vs Al Hilal

Continental (by confederation)

UEFA Champions League and Europa league

The biggest clash of the European league winners, the Champions League. 32 teams qualify for a round robin, then 16 qualify from each group, then quarter-finals, the semi-finals and then the finals.

Another major trophy, the Europa League, comprises 48 teams just like the Europa League, alas, third-place champion league teams join the tie for the progression of the round of 16, quarter, semis and finals.

Real Madrid CF are the current Champions League title holders, whilst Atlanta BC are the current Europa League title holders (2024).

Real Madrid CF currently holds the most Champions League titles: 15.

AFC Champions League

The AFC Champions League, commonly known as the Asian Champions League, is an annual continental club football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation. Introduced in 2002, the competition is a continuation of the Asian Club Championship which had started in 1967.

CAF Champions League

The CAF Champions League is not as prestigious as the UEFA's. It is also played like the UEFA's but instead 8 teams are in a group phase after a lot of qualifying leg rounds. The latest champions were Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in 2016, with this being their first trophy and their second appearance in the final since 2001. The winner of the competition qualifies for the FIFA World Club Cup. The most dominant side in the competition are Al-Ahly with 7 titles, closely followed by local Egyptian rivals Al-Zamalek with 5 titles.

CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores

The most watched national clubs' league other than UEFA as it is also prestigious like the UEFA's. As of 2018-2019 the current champions are River Plate from Argentina.

CONCACAF Champions League

The CONCACAF Champions League is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF for the top football clubs in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. The winner of the CONCACAF Champions League qualifies for the FIFA Club World Cup. The tournament is officially known as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League, since February 2015, due to sponsorship by Scotiabank.

OFC Champions League

The OFC Champions League, also known as the O-League, is the premier men's club football competition in Oceania. It is organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), Oceania's football governing body. It has been organized since 2007 under the current format, following its predecessor, the Oceania Club Championship. Twelve OFC Champions League titles have been won by teams from New Zealand, with Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia being the only Pacific nations to have won the competition.