Kvarnerska Rivijera is one of the oldest youth football tournaments in the world, first played in 1953.[1] The tournament is organised by HNK Rijeka, a Croatian football club, and attracts clubs from across Europe and other continents.[2] It is held each year during the May–June period in Rijeka, Croatia, and its surroundings, including towns in the Istria County, the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and the Lika-Senj County. The final is commonly played in Rijeka. Until 2014, the tournament has been contested by under-19 club sides, with occasional national team participation. From 2015, the tournament features under-17 club sides.
| Founded | 1953 |
|---|---|
| Region | Rijeka, Croatia |
| Number of teams | 16 |
| Current champions |  Dinamo Zagreb(9th title) |
| Most successful club(s) | Rijeka (20 titles) |
| Website | Official website |
History
editThe tournament was first played in 1953, becoming Europe's third oldest youth football tournament after Torneo di Viareggio and Bellinzona tournament.[3] Hajduk Split were the first winners and 1860 München the first international side to compete. Each year there were 16 participants, with the exception of 1972 and 1976–80 (32 teams), and 1985 and 2002 (24 teams). Rijeka's Ivan Kocjančić and Marijan Brnčić participated in the tournament five times, making them the record holders for most appearances.[4]
Numerous later notable footballers have played in the tournament during their youth, including Dino Zoff, Pietro Carmignani, Giovanni Galli, Gerd Müller, Paul Breitner, Joe Jordan, Terry Yorath, Pierluigi Casiraghi, Robert Prosinečki, Alen Bokšić, Zvonimir Boban and Davor Šuker.[4]
A number of national under-19 sides have also taken part in the tournament, including Albania, Czechoslovakia, Ireland, Macedonia, United States, Tunisia, Oman, Iraq, China, Japan and South Korea.[5]
The hosts, Rijeka, are the most successful side, winning 20 tournaments, followed by Hajduk Split with 12 titles.[3]
Format and participating teams (2019)
editThe 67th edition of the tournament was played from 27 May to 2 June 2019. The tournament featured 16 teams divided into 4 groups, played in Kostrena, Labin, Novi Vinodolski and Rovinj.[6] The group fixtures were played in a single round-robin format. The top two teams in each of the four groups qualified for the first knock-out round. Two one-legged knock-out rounds were played in Mavrinci, Rovinj and Kostrena. This was followed by a one-off final and third-place play-off in Krimeja on 2 June 2019.
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Winners
editBy year
editNote: Parentheses indicates the score after the penalty shoot-out.
By club
edit| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning Years |
|---|---|---|---|
 Rijeka
|
20 | 8 | 1957, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1973, 1975, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017 |
| Hajduk Split
|
12 | 8 | 1953, 1958, 1972, 1979, 1980, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2007 |
| Dinamo Zagreb
|
10 | 10 | 1961, 1967, 1977, 1981, 1984, 1986, 1999, 2008, 2019, 2023 |
| Partizan Belgrade
|
4 | 3 | 1959, 1965, 1966, 1991 |
| Red Star Belgrade
|
4 | 2 | 1954, 1955, 1969, 1978 |
 Abuja Academy
|
2 | 1 | 2013, 2015 |
 Vasas Budapest
|
2 | — | 1956, 1962 |
 Burevestnik Moscow
|
2 | — | 1970, 1976 |
 Leeds United
|
2 | — | 1971, 1983 |
 Atlético Mineiro
|
2 | — | 2003, 2004 |
 Dukla Prague
|
1 | 2 | 1963 |
| Orijent Rijeka
|
1 | 1 | 1995 |
 Vicenza
|
1 | 1 | 2005 |
 Maribor
|
1 | 1 | 2018 |
| Velež Mostar
|
1 | — | 1974 |
 Japan
|
1 | — | 1982 |
| Sutjeska Nikšić
|
1 | — | 1985 |
| Varteks
|
1 | — | 2002 |
| Osijek
|
1 | — | 2024 |
 Sturm
|
1 | — | 2022 |
References
edit- ^ "Kvarnerska Rivijera". RSSSF. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
- ^ "Kvarnerska Rivijera: Contest Rules" (PDF). HNK Rijeka. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
- ^ a b "Kvarnerska rivijera" (in Croatian). HNK Rijeka. Archived from the original on 7 March 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
- ^ a b "Šezdeset Godina Nogometne Mladosti" (in Croatian). Novi List. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
- ^ "Mezzo Secolo Della Kvarnerska Rivijera 1953.–2002" (PDF) (in Italian). Universita Degli Studi di Trieste. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2012.
- ^ Frančišković, Denis (25 May 2019). "U ponedjeljak počinje 67. Kvarnerska rivijera, Rijeka kreće u Žuknici / Novi list". novilist.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2 June 2019.
External links
edit- Official website (in English)
- RSSSF Kvarnerska Rivijera