The Latin Cup was an international football tournament for club sides from the Southwest European nations of France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. In 1949, the football federations came together and requested approval from FIFA to launch the competition. Although FIFA granted approval for the competition to be played under international football guidelines at the time, the Latin Cup was not created nor organized by FIFA. European clubs could not afford hefty travel costs, so competition was staged at the end of every season in a single host country. The competition featured two semi-finals, a third-place play-off, and a final.
This competition is considered a predecessor of European club tournaments, namely the European Cup, the first edition of which was held in 1955.
Although the Latin Cup is acknowledged by UEFA, the competition is treated as a historical precursor to the European Cup and not a UEFA sanctioned competition. Given that UEFA did not create the Latin Cup, UEFA does not include the Latin Cup as an official trophy count.
History
The tournament began in 1949 and was usually played between the league champions of each participating country. Every four years, the countries' ranking would be determined based on their sides' performances in the Latin Cup. The competition was last played in 1957, two years after the introduction of the UEFA-sanctioned European Cup. Real Madrid played and won the European Cup and Latin Cup in 1957.
Prior to the introduction of the European Cup, the Latin Cup was considered the most important cup for clubs in Europe, the longer-established Mitropa Cup having gone into decline after World War II. The Latin Cup has been described one of the forerunners "of the European Cup" by UEFA.
The Latin Cup was based on cycles of 4 years, being held in one country each year. The champion of each edition achieved the most points (4) to its Federation while teams placed 2nd, 3rd, and 4th received 3, 2, and 1 points, respectively. Moreover, the Federation, which totalised the most points every four years, received the trophy, while the champion club was given a smaller replica of it.