CEE Cup explained
The Central & Eastern European Youth Football Tournament, known as the CEE Cup is an annual invitational under-19 football tournament, which takes place in Czech Republic. The tournament has taken place 10 times, initially restricted to clubs from Central and Eastern Europe - the tournament has now expanded to include teams from Western Europe, Asia, North, South and Central America and Australia.[1] [2]
The tournament has become a staging ground for future footballing talent, such as English Premier League players Tomáš Souček, Dwight McNeil and Anthony Gordon.[3] And German Bundesliga player Joshua Zirkzee.[4]
The trophy is a 3D representation of the tournament's logo, designed and created by Czech blacksmith Martin Blundil - who also designed plaques given to the winners of the individual players awards at the end of each tournament.
Tournament Format
Originally, the tournament began with 4 groups, of 4 teams - with the teams playing each other in a round-robin manner, before the top ranked teams of each group competed in a semi-final and final to determine the winner.[5] Later tournaments however, have reduced to 2 groups of 4 teams - with the group winners taking part in the semi-finals, and the runners-up taking part in matches to determine their final rankings.[6] From the 2022 edition, the competition was limited to 2 groups of 3 teams.
Tournament Results
!Dates!Final Stadium!Winner!Score!Runner-Up!Other Participant Ranking!Source| 25–31 July 2011 | Ďolíček, Prague | Mladá Boleslav | 1–0 | Levski Sofia | 3. RNK Split
4. Bohemians 1905
5. Slovan Bratislava
6. Universitatea Cluj
7. FC Slovácko
8. FC Brașov
9. Vasas
10. Krško
11. Sparta Prague
12. Triglav | [7] |
| 22–29 July 2012 | Ďolíček, Prague | Mladá Boleslav | 4–3 | Sparta Prague | 3. Vasas
4. Levski Sofia
5. Sarajevo
6. Hajduk Split
7. Debreceni
8. Sturm Graz
9. Bohemians 1905
10. Spartak Trnava
11. Universitatea Cluj
12. FC Slovácko | [8] |
| 24–31 July 2013 | FK Viktoria Stadion, Prague | Győri ETO | 2–1 | Slavia Prague | 3. Vasas
4. Sparta Prague
5. Sarajevo
6. Slovan Bratislava
7. Ferencváros
8. Cruz Azul
9. Universitatea Cluj
10. Bohemians 1905
11. Sturm Graz
12. Maccabi Haifa | [9] |
| 23–30 July 2014 | Ďolíček, Prague | Győri ETO | 4–3 | AS Trenčín | 3. Sarajevo
4. FSV Frankfurt
5. Vasas
6. Sparta Prague
7. Red Star Belgrade
8. Bohemians 1905
9. Slavia Prague
10. SC Juventus Bucureşti
11. Mladá Boleslav
12. Wisła Kraków | [10] |
| 22–29 July 2015 | FK Viktoria Stadion, Prague | Sparta Prague | 1–1 | Fluminense | 3. Akademija Pandev
4. Sarajevo
5. Hajduk Split
6. AS Trenčín
7. Wisła Kraków
8. Bohemians 1905
9. Swansea City
10. Slavia Prague
11. Vasas
12. Olympic | [11] |
| 21–27 July 2016 | Ďolíček, Prague | Sparta Prague | 4–1 | Fluminense | 3. RB Leipzig
4. A.A. Ponte Preta
5. Sarajevo
6. Akademija Pandev
7. Slavia Prague
8. Beijing Renhe
9. Vasas
10. Győri ETO
11. AS Trenčín
12. Bohemians 1905 | [12] |
| 20–26 July 2017 | Ďolíček, Prague | Everton | 3–1 | Burnley |
3. Altınordu
4. Sarajevo
5. Sparta Prague
6. Slavia Prague
7. Akademija Pandev
8. Leicester City
9. FC Nitra
10. Győri ETO
11. ProStars FC
12. Academica Cliceni | [13] |
| 25–31 July 2018 | Ďolíček, Prague | Palmeiras | 4–0 | Beşiktaş | 3. Slavia Prague
4. Sarajevo
5. Sparta Prague
6. Everton
7. FC Nitra
8. Academica Cliceni | [14] |
| 24–30 July 2019 | Ďolíček, Prague | Palmeiras | 2–0 | Sparta Prague | 3. Slavia Prague
4. Dinamo Zagreb
5. Shakhtar Donetsk
6. Altınordu
7. Beşiktaş
8. Burnley | [15] |
| 22–26 July 2022 | Ďolíček, Prague | Palmeiras | 2–1 | Slavia Prague | | [16] |
| 28 July–1 August 2023 | Ďolíček, Prague | Palmeiras | 2–1 | Slavia Prague | | [17] | |
Award Winners
!Year!Best Goalkeeper!Top Goalscorer!Best Player| 2011 | Petr Nerad (Bohemians 1905) | Jan Boček (Mladá Boleslav) | Iliev Dimitar (Levski Sofia) |
| 2012 | Martin Výda (Mladá Boleslav) | Ondřej Šíma (Sparta Prague) | Szabolcs Varga (Vasas) |
| 2013 | Lukáš Soukup (Slavia Prague) | Bence Szabó (Győri ETO) | Jiří Sodoma (Slavia Prague) |
| 2014 | Jozef Zemanovič (AS Trenčín) | Milán Májer (Győri ETO) | Martin Vlček (AS Trenčín) |
| 2015 | Jennerson (Fluminense) | Hamza Čataković (Sarajevo) | Matěj Pulkrab (Sparta Prague) |
| 2016 | Rodrigo (A.A. Ponte Preta) | Gustavo (Fluminense) | Marian Burda (Sparta Prague) |
| 2017 | Adam Bruce (Burnley) | Ellis Simms (Everton) | Anthony Gordon (Everton) |
| 2018 | Audenirton (Palmeiras) | Đani Salčin (Sarajevo) | Wesley (Palmeiras) |
| 2019 | Mykyta Turbayevskyi (Shakhtar Donetsk) | Fabricio (Palmeiras) | Adam Karabec (Sparta Prague) |
| 2022 | Yurii Avramenko (Dynamo Kyiv) | Galvan Peña (Tigres) | Thalys (Palmeiras) |
| 2023 | Pedro Antonio Rodriguez (Sparta Prague) | Elisha Sowumni (West Ham United) | David Kauã (Palmeiras) | |
Performance
By team
| Team | Winners | Runners-up | Years won | Years runner-up |
|---|
 Palmeiras | 4 | – | 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 | – |
 Sparta Prague | 2 | 2 | 2015, 2016 | 2012, 2013, 2019 |
 Győri ETO | 2 | – | 2013, 2014 | – |
| Mladá Boleslav | 2 | – | 2011, 2012 | |
| Everton | 1 | – | 2017 | – |
| Slavia Prague | – | 3 | | 2013, 2022, 2023 |
| Fluminense | – | 2 | – | 2015, 2016 |
 AS Trenčín | – | 1 | – | 2014 |
 Beşiktaş | – | 1 | – | 2018 |
| Burnley | – | 1 | – | 2017 |
| Levski Sofia | – | 1 | – | 2011 | |
By country
| Country | Winners | Runners-up | Years won | Years runner-up |
|---|
| 4 | 5 | 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016 | 2012, 2013, 2019, 2022, 2023 |
| 4 | 2 | 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 | 2015, 2016 |
| 2 | – | 2013, 2014 | – |
| 1 | 1 | 2017 | 2017 |
| – | 1 | – | 2011 |
| – | 1 | – | 2014 |
| – | 1 | – | 2018 | |
References
- Web site: 26 May 2022 . THE U 19 INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT OF YOUTH TEAMS CEE CUP: AFTER MORE THAN 1000 DAYS OF DELAYS, WE'RE BACK IN PRAGUE! . 29 June 2022 . CEE Cup.
- Web site: 2022-05-26 . CEE Cup International Football Tournament Back in Prague . 2022-06-29 . Prague Morning . en-US.
- Web site: Preece . Ashley . 2022-06-29 . Aston Villa to play in 'prestigious' youth tournament in Prague . 2022-06-29 . BirminghamLive . en.
- Web site: 2021-01-15 . Joshua Zirkzee: Bayern Munich teenager could be ideal understudy to Dominic Calvert-Lewin at Everton . 2022-06-29 . Eurosport . en.
- Web site: TESCO CEE Cup U19 Central & Eastern European Youth Football Tournament - 25–31 July 2011, Prague . 2022-06-29 . www.ceecup.org.
- Web site: Match schedule CEE Cup 2022 CEE Cup 2022: 10th Edition U19 Football Tournament 22-26.7.2022 . 2022-06-29 . www.ceecup.org.
- Web site: TESCO CEE Cup U19 Central & Eastern European Youth Football Tournament - 25–31 July 2011, Prague . 2022-06-29 . www.ceecup.org.
- Web site: CEE Cup U19 Central & Eastern European Youth Football Tournament - 22–29 July 2012, Prague . 2022-06-29 . www.ceecup.org.
- Web site: CEE CUP . 2022-06-29 . www.ceecup.org.
- Web site: CEE CUP . 2022-06-29 . www.ceecup.org.
- Web site: CeeCup 2015 . 2022-06-29 . www.ceecup.org.
- Web site: CeeCup 2016 . 2022-06-29 . www.ceecup.org.
- Web site: CeeCup 2017 . 2022-06-29 . www.ceecup.org.
- Web site: Statistics CEE Cup 2018 U19 Football Tournament 25-31.7.2018 . 2022-06-29 . www.ceecup.org.
- Web site: Statistics CEE Cup 2019 U19 Football Tournament 24-30.7.2019 . 2022-06-29 . www.ceecup.org.
- Web site: Match schedule CEE Cup 2022 CEE Cup 2022: 10th Edition U19 Football Tournament 22-26.7.2022 . 2022-07-26 . www.ceecup.org.
- Web site: Match schedule CEE Cup 2023 CEE Cup 2023: 11th Edition U19 Football Tournament 28.7 - 1.8.2023 . 2023-06-28 . www.ceecup.org.
