The Latin Cup was an international football tournament for club sides from the Latin European nations of France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. In 1949 the football federations came together and requested FIFA to launch the competition. 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 club tournaments in Europe, such as UEFA Champions League, which first edition was held in 1955.
History
The tournament began in 1949 and was usually played between the league champions of each of the participating countries. Every four years, a ranking would be determined for the countries based on their sides' performances in the Latin Cup. The competition was last played for in 1957, two years after the introduction of the UEFA-sanctioned European Cup. Real Madrid played in and won both the European Cup and the 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. According to Jules Rimet, 3rdPresident of FIFA, the Latin Cup was a competition created by FIFA at request of the four nations that contested it, but its regulation was made by a committee composed of members from the competing federations, and FIFA did not participate actively in its organisation. 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 to its Federation while teams placed 2nd, 3rd and 4th received 3, 2 and 1 points respectively. Because of that, the Copa Latina was a Federation competition rather than an annual club competition. 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. The first edition was opened on 20 June 1949, with the Sporting CP vs Torino at Chamartín Stadium of Madrid. One month before 18 of Torino players had died at Superga air disaster. Barcelona would be the first champion of the tournament after beating Sporting 2–1 at the final. The second edition clashed with 1950 FIFA World Cup of Brazil so most of the players of league champions were called up by their respective national teams. Therefore, Lazio, the fourth of Serie A, participated in Copa Latina that year. Due to a fixture clash with the 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland, no Latin Cup was held that year. After the first four editions played, the Spanish Federation won the first cycle totalising 12 points, 8 of them contributed by Barcelona and 4 by Atlético Madrid.
Finals
All teams were champions of the preceding domestic season in each nation, except where it indicates, detailing their finishing position in respective leagues.
