UEFA competitions (french: competitions de l'UEFA), referred improperly by the

mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit informati ...

as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

and

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...

. The term was established in 1971 by the confederation to differentiate the men's football competitions under its administration, the first in history being held at a pan-European stage, from other international competitions carried out in the continent between 1960s and 1990s, such as the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup ( ...

, International Football Cup and Karl Rappan Cup, Cup of the Alps,

Balkans Cup The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators), being t ...

and the restructured

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called the La Coupe de l'Europe Centrale or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the successor states of the former Austria-Hunga ...

(as well as some which had already been discontinued by late 1950s such as the Latin Cup). All these tournaments were organised by private bodies and/or at least two national associations and concerning one of more regional areas of Europe, not being recognised by UEFA for historic-statistical purposes. After being recognised by FIFA in 1961 and defined its functions as governing body, UEFA laid down principles for the authorisation of other international club competitions, becoming the only organization with legal authority over international football in the continent. For that reason, it considers only results in its own competitions, in general terms and by single tournament, as the only valid for calculating and communicating confederation-level official records and statistics as long as setting combined values in inter-club football. Until the first

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on thei ...

final in 2022, the only team to have won every men's professional club competition was

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

of Italy, while

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

is the sole national side to have won the European/South American Nations Cup, the Nations League and the men's European Championship. The governing body of the latter,

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of football in France. It also includes the overseas departments ( Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion), the o ...

(FFF), alongside its Czechoslovak,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, Italian,

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and Spanish counterparts in men's football; as well as German Football Association (DFB) in women's variant, is also the only association affilied to UEFA which representative teams have won, at least once, the senior Euro and the continental tournament in all age categories (under 17, under 19 and under 21).

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

of Spain became the first women's club to follow its men's team of winning the Champions League, by winning the 2021 Women's Champions League Final. The club's men's team won their first title in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

. The beaten finalists Chelsea of England was also seeking to break that record as well, as its men's team won their maiden in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

. They were already the first club ever to see its men's and women's teams reach the Champions League final in the same season, having qualified for the Champions League Final as well. Barcelona is also the only club in the UEFA zone that has won men's and women's Champions League, the Youth League and the Futsal Champions League among these with active sections which can compete in all these tournaments.

UEFA sanctioned tournaments

Active

For national teams

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

, European football's premier competition, established in 1960. **

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. ...

, established in 1978. **

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

, established in 1948 as an under-18 competition and reorganised in 2002 for the current age group. **

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain national under ...

, established in 1982 as an under-16 competition and reorganised in 2002 for the current age group. *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international 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. The ...

, established in 2018. *

CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions The CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions, previously known officially as the European/South American Nations Cup and commonly as the Artemio Franchi Cup, is an official intercontinental football match organised by CONMEBOL and UEFA and contested ...

, organised jointly with

CONMEBOL The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Surina ...

since 1985 and 1993,

rebranded Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investor ...

in 2022. * UEFA Women's Championship, premier competition for women's national teams, established in 1984. ** UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, established in 1997 as an under-18 competition and reorganised in 2002 for the current age group. ** UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, established in 2007. * UEFA Futsal Championship, established in 1996. **

UEFA Under-19 Futsal Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Futsal Championship is the main futsal competition of the under-19 national futsal teams governed by UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations). The tournament is held every two years, with the first final tourn ...

, established in 2019. *

UEFA Women's Futsal Championship The UEFA European Women's Futsal Championship is the main futsal competition of the women's national futsal teams governed by UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations). The tournament is held every two years, with the first final tourn ...

, established in 2018.

For clubs

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

, European football's premier club competition, established in 1955 as the European Champion Clubs' Cup and reorganised in 1992. *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

, European football's second football club competition (originally third) established in 1971 as the UEFA Cup and reorganised in 2009. *

, European football's third football club competition, established in 2021. *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

, the previous season's winners of the Europa League and the Champions League. Previously played between the European Champions' Cup and Cup Winners Cup winners. * UEFA Youth League, established in 2013. * UEFA Regions' Cup, established in 1999. * UEFA Women's Champions League, Europe's premier women's football club competition, established in 2001 and reorganised in 2009. * UEFA Futsal Champions League, established in 2001 to replace the Futsal European Clubs Championship.

Defunct

For national teams

UEFA Amateur Cup The UEFA Amateur Cup was a football competition for amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, sel ...

, organised in 1967, 1970, 1974 and 1978. *

UEFA European Under-23 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the com ...

, organized in 1972, 1974 and 1976. * UEFA–CAF Meridian Cup (1997–2007), organised jointly with the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF). *

UEFA Futsal Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Futsal Tournament was a futsal competition organised by UEFA. As of 2020, only one edition of the competition has ever been played. The 2008 tournament was hosted and won by Russia who defeated Italy 5–4 in the final. ...

, the only edition in 2008.

For clubs

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

(1960–1999), formerly European football's second football club competition, disbanded with qualifying clubs being transferred to

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

in 1999, on only six occasions since then Domestic Cup winners have won the UEFA Cup/Europa League. *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, ' betting pool'),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Fo ...

(1961–2008), disbanded with qualifying clubs being transferred to the

in 2009. * Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004), organised jointly with the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL), was

as Toyota European/South American Cup since 1980.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * {{European sport club competitions *

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...

UEFA sanctioned tournaments

Active

For national teams

For clubs

Defunct

For national teams

For clubs

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography