Balkan Cup
title: "Balkan Cup" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["balkan-cup", "men's-international-association-football-competitions-in-europe", "defunct-international-association-football-competitions-in-europe", "association-football-competitions-in-europe-for-men's-national-teams", "sport-competitions-in-the-balkans", "1929-establishments-in-europe", "1980-disestablishments-in-europe", "recurring-sporting-events-established-in-1929", "recurring-sporting-events-disestablished-in-1980"] topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkan_Cup" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox football tournament"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Balkan Cup |
| image | Wildfires_Balkans_July_2007-NASA.jpg |
| caption | The Balkan region of Europe, seen from space |
| founded | 1929 |
| abolished | 1980 |
| region | Balkans (UEFA) |
| number of teams | 3 to 7 teams |
| current champions | |
| most successful team | (4 titles) |
| :: |
::callout[type=note] the defunct regional football competition contested by national teams of Balkan countries ::
| name = Balkan Cup | image = Wildfires_Balkans_July_2007-NASA.jpg | imagesize = | caption = The Balkan region of Europe, seen from space | organiser = | founded = 1929 | abolished = 1980 | region = Balkans (UEFA) | number of teams = 3 to 7 teams | current champions = | most successful team = (4 titles)
The Balkan Cup (officially Coupe Balkanique de Football){{efn|
- }} 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 four titles.
Overview
The first edition featured Romania, Greece, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria and was played over three years from 1929 to 1931.
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.
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. In 1947 Hungary entered the tournament and won it in its first attempt. Hungary were a world footballing power at the time and proved this with a 9–0 thrashing against Bulgaria. In 1948 the Balkan Cup was expanded to seven teams with Poland and Czechoslovakia joining the tournament. However, the 1948 edition was never completed for unknown reasons. 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.
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. 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.
Winners
Source:
::data[format=table]
| # | Season | Champions (titles) | Runners-up | Third place | Top scorer(s) | Player(s) (Country) | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1929–31 | (1) | Iuliu Bodola (Romania) | ||||
| Rudolf Wetzer (Romania) | |||||||
| 2 | 1931 | (1) ‡ | Asen Panchev (Bulgaria) | ||||
| 3 | 1932 | (2) | ‡ | Aleksandar Živković (Yugoslavia) | |||
| 4 | 1933 | (2) ‡ | Gheorghe Ciolac (Romania) | ||||
| Ștefan Dobay (Romania) | |||||||
| 5 | 1934–35 | (1) | ‡ | Aleksandar Tirnanić (Yugoslavia) | |||
| Aleksandar Tomašević (Yugoslavia) | |||||||
| 6 | 1935 | (2) | ‡ | Ljubomir Angelov (Bulgaria) | |||
| 7 | 1936 | (3) ‡ | Sándor Schwartz (Romania) | ||||
| 8 | 1946 | (1) ‡ | Loro Boriçi (Albania) | ||||
| Qamil Teliti (Albania) | |||||||
| Nicolae Reuter (Romania) | |||||||
| Božidar Sandić (Yugoslavia) | |||||||
| 9 | 1947 | (1) | Ferenc Deák (Hungary) | ||||
| 10 | 1948 | Ferenc Puskás (Hungary) | |||||
| 11 | 1973–76 | (3) | / | Cemil Turan (Turkey) | |||
| 12 | 1977–80 | (4) | / | Anghel Iordănescu (Romania) | |||
| :: |
Medals (1929-1980)
Exclude 1948 Balkan Cup. Exclude semifinal losers in 1973–76 Balkan Cup and 1977–80 Balkan Cup.
| caption = | host = | flag_template = flagcountry | event = | team = | gold_ROU = 4 | silver_ROU = 1 | bronze_ROU = 4 | gold_BUL = 3 | silver_BUL = 2 | bronze_BUL = 1 | gold_YUG = 2 | silver_YUG = 6 | bronze_YUG = 1 | gold_GRE = 0 | silver_GRE = 1 | bronze_GRE = 3 | gold_TUR = 0 | silver_TUR = 1 | bronze_TUR = 0 | gold_ALB = 1 | silver_ALB = 0 | bronze_ALB = 0 | gold_HUN = 1 | silver_HUN = 0 | bronze_HUN = 0
All-time top goalscorers
::data[format=table]
| Rank | Name | Team | Goals | Tournament(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romania Iuliu Bodola | Romania | 15 | 1929-31(7), 1932(1), 1933(2), 1934-35(2), 1935(1), 1936(2) |
| 2 | BUL Ljubomir Angelov | Bulgaria | 14 | 1929-31(1), 1931(1), 1932(2), 1934-35(2), 1935(6), 1936(2) |
| 3 | Kingdom of Yugoslavia Aleksandar Živković | Yugoslavia | 10 | 1932(5), 1933(3), 1935(2) |
| BUL Asen Panchev | Bulgaria | 1929-31(1), 1931(3), 1932(2), 1934-35(2), 1936(2) | ||
| 5 | HUN Ferenc Deak | Hungary | 9 | 1947(5) and 1948(4) |
| Kingdom of Yugoslavia Blagoje Marjanović | Yugoslavia | 1929-31(4), 1931(1), 1934-35(1) and 1935(3) | ||
| ROM Gheorghe Ciolac | Romania | 1929-31(1), 1932(1), 1933(4), 1934-35(2), 1936(1) | ||
| BUL Asen Peshev | Bulgaria | 1929-31(3), 1931(1), 1932(2), 1934-35(1), 1935(2) | ||
| 8 | HUN Ferenc Puskas | Hungary | 8 | 1947(3) and 1948(5) |
| Romania Anghel Iordanescu | Romania | 1973-76(2) and 1977-80(6) | ||
| ROM Ștefan Dobay | Romania | 1929-31(1), 1933(4), 1934-35(1), 1936(2) | ||
| BUL Mihail Lozanov | Bulgaria | 1929-31(1), 1931(2), 1932(1), 1934-35(1), 1935(2), 1936(1) | ||
| 13 | ROM Rudolf Wetzer | Romania | 7 | 1929-31(7) |
| GRE Kostas Choumis | Greece | 1934-35(1), 1935(4), 1936(2) | ||
| :: |
Managers with most wins
::data[format=table]
| Manager | Wins | Editions | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Romania Constantin Rădulescu | 3 | 1929–1931, 1933, 1936 | Rădulescu won 3 titles with Romania |
| GER Otto Faist | 2 | 1931, 1932 | Otto Faist won 2 titles with Bulgaria |
| Romania Ştefan Kovács | 1 | 1977–80 | |
| BUL Stoyan Ormandzhiev | 1 | 1973–76 | Ormandzhiev took over from Hristo Mladenov in 1974 |
| YUG Ljubiša Broćić | 1 | 1946 | Broćić won it with Albania |
| Kingdom of Yugoslavia Boško Simonović | 1 | 1935 | Simonović won it with Yugoslavia |
| Kingdom of Yugoslavia Ivo Šuste | |||
| Kingdom of Yugoslavia Mata Miodragović | |||
| Kingdom of Yugoslavia Petar Pleše | 1 | 1934–35 | Šuste, Miodragović, Pleše were joint managers |
| HUN Tibor Gallowich | 1 | 1947 | Gallowich was also Hungary's manager in the abandoned 1948 edition |
| :: |
Titles by national team
::data[format=table]
| Country | Winners | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| ROM Romania | ||
| BUL Bulgaria | ||
| YUG Yugoslavia | ||
| HUN Hungary | ||
| ALB Albania | ||
| GRE Greece | ||
| TUR Turkey | ||
| :: |
Participations
::data[format=table]
| Country | No | Editions |
|---|---|---|
| BUL Bulgaria | 1929-1931, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934-35, 1935, 1936, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1973-76, 1977-80 | |
| ROM Romania | 1929-1931, 1932, 1933, 1934-35, 1935, 1936, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1973-76, 1977-80 | |
| YUG Yugoslavia | 1929-1931, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934-35, 1935, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1977-80 | |
| GRE Greece | 1929-1931, 1932, 1933, 1934-35, 1935, 1936, 1973-76, 1977-80 | |
| TUR Turkey | 1931, 1973-76, 1977-80 | |
| Albania Albania | 1946, 1947, 1948 | |
| HUN Hungary | 1947, 1948 | |
| Poland Poland | 1948 | |
| Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia | 1948 | |
| :: |
Hat-tricks
Since the first official tournament in 1929–31, 17 hat-tricks have been scored in over 50 matches of the 12 editions of the tournament. The first hat-trick was scored by Rudolf Wetzer of Romania, playing against Greece on 25 May 1930; and the last was by Anghel Iordănescu 50 years later, on 27 August 1980, when he netted a hat-trick for Romania in the second leg of the 1977–80 final in a 4-1 win over Yugoslavia. The record number of hat-tricks in a single Balkan Cup is four, during the inaugural edition. The only player to have scored more than one hat-trick is Ljubomir Angelov, both at the 1935 Balkan Cup, in which he was the top goal scorer with those 6 goals. The record for the most goals scored in a single Balkan Cup game is 5, which has been achieved once: by Rudolf Wetzer when he scored 5 for Romania in a 8-1 win over Greece. Romania also holds the record for most hat-tricks scored with 5, being closely followed by Hungary and Yugoslavia with 4 each. Bulgaria and Greece jointly hold the record for most hat-tricks conceded with 6 each, which means that only 5 hat-tricks have been scored against a team other than Bulgaria and Greece.
List
::data[format=table title="Balkan Cup hat-tricks"] | # | Player | G | Time of goals | For | Goals | Result | Against | Tournament | Date | FIFA report | Rudolf Wetzer | Antonis Tsolinas | Aleksandar Tomašević | Iuliu Bodola | Slavko Kodrnja | Gheorghe Ciolac | Mirko Kokotović | Ljubomir Angelov | Ljubomir Angelov (2) | Iuliu Farkaș | Ferenc Deák | Nándor Hidegkuti | Béla Egresi | Ferenc Puskás | Cemil Turan | Vahid Halilhodžić | Anghel Iordănescu | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | . | 5 | ', 34', 75', 76', 80' | | 1–1, 2–1, 5–1, 6–1, 8–1 | 8–1 | | 1929-31 Balkan Cup | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 4 | ', 50', 51', 60' | | 1–0, 4–0, 5–0, 6–0 | 6–1 | | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 3 | ', 75', 83' | | 2–0, 3–1, 4–1 | 4–1 | | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 3 | ', 18', 84' | | 1–0, 2–0, 4–2 | 4–2 | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 3 | ', 20', 72' | | 1–1, 2–1, 4–2 | 5–3 | 1933 Balkan Cup | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 3 | ', 61', 66' | | 3–0, 4–0, 6–0 | 7–0 | | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 3 | ', 54', 75' | | 1–0, 3–0, 4–0 | 4–0 | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 3 | ', 28', 63' | | 2–1, 3–1, 4–1 | 5–2 | | 1935 Balkan Cup | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 3 | ', 28', 66' | 1–2, 2–2, 3–2 | 3–3 | | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 3 | ', 69', 79' | | 1–0, 3–0, 4–0 | 4–0 | | 1947 Balkan Cup | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 4 | ', 34', 52', 79' | | 1–0, 2–0, 7–0, 8–0 | 9–0 | | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 3 | ', 50', 86' | 4–0, 6–0, 9–0 | 9–0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 3 | ', 61', 72' | | 2–0, 5–0, 7–0 | 9–0 | | 1948 Balkan Cup | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 3 | ', 64', 83' | | 1–0, 3–0, 5–1 | 5–1 | | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 3 | ', 66', 86' | | 2–1, 4–2, 5–2 | 5–2 | | 1973-76 Balkan Cup | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 3 | ', 58', 84'(pen.) | | 1–1, 3–1, 4–1 | 4–1 | | 1977-80 Balkan Cup | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | 3 | ', 55'(pen.), 79'(pen.) | | 1–0, 3–0, 4–1 | 4–1 | | | Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ::
Notes
References
References
- [https://www.sportsmemories.be/Book.aspx?id=30602 sportsmemories.be]
- Guy De Dekker and Karel Stokkermans. (23 November 2006). "Balkan Cup (for Nations)". [[Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation]].
- "Balkan Cup 1931". EU-football.info.
- "Yugoslavia - Romania 2:4". EU-football.info.
- "Balkan Cup 1933". EU-football.info.
- "Balkan Cup 1934–35". EU-football.info.
- "Balkan Cup 1935". EU-football.info.
- "Albania - Romania 1:0". EU-football.info.
- "Romania - Yugoslavia 4:1". EU-football.info.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::