FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA Confederations Cup
	File:FIFA Confederations Cup.png
Founded	1992; 32 years ago
Abolished	2019
Region	International (FIFA)
Number of teams	8 (from 6 confederations)
Last champions	Germany (1st title)
Most successful team(s)	Brazil (4 titles)
Website	Official website

The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, currently held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA) continental championships, along with the current FIFA World Cup holder and the host nation, to bring the number of teams up to eight.

Between 2005 and 2017, the tournament was held in the nation that would host the next World Cup, acting as a test event for the larger tournament.

The last champions were Germany, who won the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup by defeating Chile 1–0 in the final to win their first title.

In March 2019, FIFA confirmed that the tournament would no longer be active owing to an expansion of the FIFA Club World Cup in 2021.^[1]

History and details

A FIFA Confederations Cup choropleth map showing countries' best results (colours as shown) and host countries (yellow dots).

The tournament was originally organized by and held in Saudi Arabia and called the King Fahd Cup (Confederations Winners Cup or Intercontinental Championship), contested in 1992 and 1995 by the Saudi national side and some continental champions. In 1997, FIFA took over the organization of the tournament, named it the FIFA Confederations Cup and staged the competition every two years.^[2]

After 2005, it was held every four years, in the year prior to each World Cup in the host country of the forthcoming World Cup (the 2001 edition was hosted in South Korea and Japan, before the quadrennial pattern was established). Considered a dress-rehearsal for the World Cup it precedes, it used around half of the stadiums intended for use at the following year's competition and gave the host nation, which qualified for that tournament automatically, experience at a high level of competition during two years of otherwise friendlies. At the same time, participation was made optional for the South American and European champions.^[3]

Germany against Brazil in the Frankenstadion in Nuremberg, Germany in the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup

Generally, the host nation, the World Cup holders, and the six continental champions qualifed for the competition. In those cases where a team meets more than one of the qualification criteria (such as the 2001 tournament where France qualified as the World Cup champions and European champions), another team was invited to participate, often the runner-up in a competition that the extra-qualified team won.

On four occasions teams have chosen not to participate in the tournament. Germany did so twice, in 1997 (replaced by Euro 1996 runners-up Czech Republic) and in 2003 when Germany were awarded a place as the 2002 World Cup runners-up, replaced by the third-placed team Turkey. World champions France declined a place in the 1999 Confederations Cup, replaced by Brazil, the 1998 World Cup runners-up. Italy, UEFA Euro 2000 runners up, declined their place in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup.

An earlier tournament that invited former World Cup winners, the Mundialito, celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the first World Cup. The Artemio Franchi Trophy, contested in 1985 and 1993 between the winners of the Copa América and UEFA European Football Championship, was also another example of an earlier contest between football confederations. Both of these are considered by some to be a form of an unofficial precursor to the Confederations Cup, although FIFA recognised only the 1992 tournaments onwards to be Confederations Cup winners.^[4]

Format

The eight qualified teams are drawn into two round-robin groups: two teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn in a group, except if there are three teams from the same confederation (something that happened for the first time in the 2017 edition when hosts Russia were joined by World Cup champions Germany and European champions Portugal). Every team plays all other teams in their group once, for a total three matches.

The top two teams of each group advance to the semi-finals, with the winners of each group playing the runners-up of the other group. The rankings of teams in each group are determined as follows (regulations Article 19.6):

points obtained in all group matches;
goal difference in all group matches;
number of goals scored in all group matches;

If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings are determined as follows:

points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
goal difference in the group matches between the teams concerned;
number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
fair play points
- first yellow card: minus 1 point;
- indirect red card (second yellow card): minus 3 points;
- direct red card: minus 4 points;
- yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points;
drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.

The winners of the semi-finals advanced to the final, while the losers played in the third-place game. For the knockout stage if the score was drawn at the end of regular time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner.

Results