The UEFA–CAF Meridian Cup was a football tournament that featured national teams from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

among players under 18, and was part of the co-operation programme between

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

and the CAF.

Meridian Project

The UEFA–CAF Meridian Cup was part of the Meridian Project, a co-operation agreement concluded by the African and European football confederations in Lisbon on 30 January 1997 to promote the exchange of cultures and to offer young footballers a unique learning experience within the framework of a footballing festival. It was held every two years.

Change of format

The competition evolved from its inception in 1997, running as an eight-team tournament until the 2005 event in Turkey after which the format was changed to a two-legged contest between two continental all-star U18 teams. The last UEFA–CAF Meridian Cup also involved an educational component consisting of joint training sessions and meetings of coaches from Europe and Africa. The 2007 event took place in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and was hosted on the premises of

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

Regulations

The regulations for the UEFA–CAF Meridian Cup were initially drawn up by the UEFA Administration before being submitted to the UEFA Youth & Amateur Football Committee. They were then forwarded upon that committee's approval to the UEFA Executive Committee for ratification.

Tournaments

Meridian Project

New format

Teams reaching the top four

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup Meridian Cup Meridian Cup Under-18 association football competitions Recurring sporting events established in 1997 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2007