Kvarnerska Rivijera is one of the oldest youth football tournaments in the world, first played in 1953. The tournament is organised by HNK Rijeka, a Croatian football club, and attracts clubs from across Europe and other continents. It is held each year during the May–June period in Rijeka, Croatia, and its surroundings, including towns in the

Istria County Istria County (; hr, Istarska županija; it, Regione istriana, "Istrian Region") is the westernmost county of Croatia which includes the biggest part of the Istrian peninsula ( out of , or 89%). Administrative centers in the county are Paz ...

, the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and the

Lika-Senj County Lika-Senj County (, hr, Ličko-senjska županija) is a county in Croatia that includes most of the Lika region and some northern coastline of the Adriatic near the town of Senj, including the northern part of the Pag island. Its center is Go ...

. The final is commonly played in Rijeka. Until 2014, the tournament has been contested by under-19 club sides, with occasional national team participation. From 2015, the tournament features under-17 club sides.

History

The tournament was first played in 1953, becoming Europe's third oldest youth football tournament after

Torneo di Viareggio The Torneo di Viareggio ( en, Viareggio Tournament), officially named the Viareggio Cup World Football Tournament Coppa Carnevale, is a youth association football tournament held annually in the commune of Viareggio, Italy and its surrounding are ...

and Bellinzona tournament. Hajduk Split were the first winners and 1860 München the first international side to compete. Each year there were 16 participants, with the exception of 1972 and 1976–80 (32 teams), and 1985 and 2002 (24 teams). Rijeka's Ivan Kocjančić and Marijan Brnčić participated in the tournament five times, making them the record holders for most appearances. Numerous later notable footballers have played in the tournament during their youth, including

Dino Zoff Dino Zoff (; born 28 February 1942) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the oldest ever winner of the World Cup, which he earned as captain of the Italian national team in the 1982 tournament, at th ...

Pietro Carmignani Pietro "Gedeone" Carmignani (born 22 January 1945) is an Italian professional football coach and a former player. He is best known for his playing career as a goalkeeper and, later, for being one of the most trusted assistants of manager Arrigo S ...

, Giovanni Galli, Gerd Müller,

Paul Breitner Paul Breitner (born 5 September 1951) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and left-back. Considered one of the best players of his era, Breitner was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Time Team, and was named by Pel ...

, Joe Jordan, Terry Yorath,

Pierluigi Casiraghi Pierluigi Casiraghi (; born 4 March 1969) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who played as a striker. Casiraghi began his playing career in Italy in 1985, with Monza. He later played for Juventus, and Lazio, before endi ...

, Robert Prosinečki,

Alen Bokšić Alen Bokšić (; born 21 January 1970) is a former Croatian professional footballer. A forward who spent most of his career in France and Italy, he was renowned for his technique and power, and is regarded as one of the greatest players in the ...

Zvonimir Boban Zvonimir "Zvone" Boban (; born 8 October 1968) is a Croatian former footballer who currently works at UEFA as the Chief of Football. Boban played as a midfielder and was usually deployed as an attacking midfielder. He played most of his professi ...

and

Davor Šuker Davor Šuker (; born 1 January 1968) is a Croatian football administrator and former footballer who played as a striker. He served as president of the Croatian Football Federation from 2012 to 2021. He began his footballing career in his hometo ...

. A number of national under-19 sides have also taken part in the tournament, including

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, Macedonia,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, China, Japan and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. The hosts, Rijeka, are the most successful side, winning 20 tournaments, followed by Hajduk Split with 12 titles.

Format and participating teams (2019)

The 67th edition of the tournament was played from 27 May to 2 June 2019. The tournament featured 16 teams divided into 4 groups, played in Kostrena,

Labin Labin (Italian/Istriot: Albona) is a town in Istria, west Croatia, with a town population of 5,806 (2021) and 10,424 in the greater municipality (which also includes the small towns of Rabac and Vinež, as well as a number of smaller villages). ...

Novi Vinodolski Novi Vinodolski (, often also called Novi or ''Novi del Vinodol'' o ''Novi in Valdivino'' in Italian) is a town on the Adriatic Sea coast in Croatia, located south of Crikvenica, Selce and Bribir and north of Senj. The population of Novi is 3,988 ...

and

Rovinj Rovinj (; it, Rovigno; Istriot: or ; grc, Ρυγίνιον, Rygínion; la, Ruginium) is a city in Croatia situated on the north Adriatic Sea with a population of 14,294 (2011). Located on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula, it is a p ...

. The group fixtures were played in a single round-robin format. The top two teams in each of the four groups qualified for the first knock-out round. Two one-legged knock-out rounds were played in Mavrinci, Rovinj and Kostrena. This was followed by a one-off final and third-place play-off in Krimeja on 2 June 2019. ;Croatian teams *

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

* Orijent * Osijek * Pomorac 1921 * Rijeka *

* Rudar * Vinodol ;International teams * Albania U19 * Željezničar *

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a ...

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

Vardar The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . Th ...

* DAC 1904 * Maribor * Olimpija

Winners

By year

Note: Parentheses indicates the score after the

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

By club

References

External links

Official website
{{in lang, en

HNK Rijeka Youth football competitions Croatian football friendly trophies Sport in Rijeka 1953 establishments in Croatia Youth football in Croatia