Mediterranean Cup
Founded1949
Abolished1958
RegionMediterranean
Number of teams4 to 6 teams
Last championsSpain Spain B
Most successful club(s)Italy Italy B (2)

The Mediterranean Cup was an association football competition contested by men's national teams and national B teams of the states bordering the Mediterranean Sea. There have been three tournaments for the Mediterranean Cup: the first one was officially called Eastern Mediterranean Friendship Cup, the second was called Eastern Mediterranean Cup and the last one was just "Mediterranean Cup".[1]

Italy, Egypt, Greece and Turkey were the four participants of the first two editions (Italy played with the national B team).[2][3] Spain and France joined in the last edition (both with the national B team).[4] The first edition, the only one with a permanent location, Athens, was played in 1949, lasted less than a month and was won by Italy B. The second edition, from 1950 to 1953, was won again by Italy B. The third and last edition, from 1953 to 1958, was won by Spain B.

Due to political/social reasons (tension between Greece and Turkey, troubles in Egypt) and the introduction of the European Championships in 1960, led to the abolition of further tournaments.

Results

PeriodChampionRunner-upThird place
1949Italy Italy B Turkey Egypt
1950–53Italy Italy B Greece Egypt
1953–58Spain Spain BFrance France BItaly Italy B

1949

[5]

Results

Team Pts Pld W D L GF GA GD
Italy Italy B 6330085+3
Turkey Turkey 4320176+1
Egypt Egypt 23102660
Greece Greece 0300348-4
Egypt Egypt2–3Turkey Turkey
  • El-Attiyah ??'
  • Rahman ??'
 Report
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Agostino Gamba (Italy)
Greece Greece1–2Turkey Turkey
 Report
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Mohammed Al Sayed (Egypt)
Greece Greece1–3Egypt Egypt
 Report
  • El-Sabbagh 3', 85'
  • Hamdain 5'
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Agostino Gamba (Italy)
Italy Italy B3–2Turkey Turkey
 Report
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Vasilis Diamantopoulos (Greece)
Egypt Egypt1–2Italy Italy B
  • El-Attiyah 71'
 Report
Attendance: 19,000
Greece Greece2–3Italy Italy B
 Report
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Mohammed Al Sayed (Egypt)

Top Scorers

Player Team Goals
Aldo PuccinelliItaly Italy B3
Bülent Esel Turkey3
Alberto GalassiItaly Italy B3

All-time top goalscorers

Rank Name Team Goals Apps Ratio Tournament(s)
1 Spain Manuel Badenes Spain B 8 2 4 1953-58(8)
2 Egypt El-Sayed El-Dhizui Egypt 7 12 0.58 1950-53(4) and 1953-58(3)
3 Spain Joaquín Peiró Spain B 5 5 1 1953-58(5)
Spain Justo Tejada 5 1 1953-58(5)
Turkey Bülent Esel Turkey 6 0.83 1949(3) and 1950-53(2)
Turkey Lefter Küçükandonyadis 9 0.56 1950-53(1) and 1953-58(4)
7 Egypt Toto 4 8 0.5 1949(2) and 1950-53(2)
Greece Georgios Darivas Greece 11 0.36 1950-53(4)

Hat-tricks

Since the first official tournament in 1949, 5 hat-tricks have been scored in over 50 matches of the 3 editions of the tournament. The first hat-trick was scored by Georgios Darivas of Greece, playing against Turkey on 29 February 1952; and the last was by Joaquín Peiró, netting a hat-trick for Spain B in a 3-1 win over Italy B on 16 October 1958. The record for the most goals scored in a single Mediterranean Cup game is 4, which has been achieved on two occasion: both by Manuel Badenes when he scored 4 for Spain B in a 7-1 win over Greece and 4 again in a 5-1 win over Egypt. These two 4-goal haul single-handendely make him the all-time top goal scorer of the competition with 8 goals. Badenes is also the only player to have scored two hat-tricks in the Mediterranean Cup. Spain B holds the record for most hat-tricks scored with 3, and Egypt holds the record for most hat-tricks conceded with 2.

List

Mediterranean Cup hat-tricks
# Player G Time of goals For Result Against Tournament Date FIFA
report
1. Georgios Darivas 3 15', 44', 80'  Greece 3–1  Turkey 1950-53 Mediterranean Cup 29 February 1952 Report
2. Manuel Badenes 4 7', 35', 51', 58' Spain Spain B 7–1  Greece 1953–58 Mediterranean Cup 13 March 1955 Report
3. Manuel Badenes (2) 4 47', 70', 73', 87' 5–1  Egypt 27 November 1955 Report
4. Lefter Küçükandonyadis 3 3', 41', 65'  Turkey 4–0 5 April 1957 Report
5. Joaquín Peiró 3 25', 49', 60' Spain Spain B 3–1 Italy Italy B 16 October 1958 Report

See also

Balkan Cup
Baltic Cup
Central European International Cup
Nordic Football Championship

References

  1. ↑ "Mediterranean Cup and Mediterranean Games – Overview". RSSSF. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  2. ↑ "Mediterranean Cup 1949 (Athinai, Greece)". RSSSF. 21 April 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  3. ↑ "Mediterranean Cup 1950–1953". RSSSF. 21 April 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  4. ↑ "Mediterranean Cup 1953–1958". RSSSF. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  5. ↑ "Eastern Mediterranean Friendship Cup 1949 results". football.eu. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
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