UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup

UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup

Sport	Football
Founded	1997
No. of teams	2
Country(ies)	UEFA and CAF teams

The UEFA/CAF Meridian Cup' features Under-18 representative sides from Europe and Africa, and is part of the co-operation programme between UEFA and the CAF.

Meridian Project

The UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup is 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 is held every two years.

New Format

The competition has evolved since 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 new-look UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup also involves an educational component consisting of joint training sessions and meetings of coaches from Europe and Africa. The 2007 event took place in Barcelona, Spain and was hosted on the premises of FC Barcelona.

Regulations

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

Tournaments

Meridian Project

Year	Host	Final			Third place match
		Winner	Score	Runner-up	Third place	Score	Fourth place
1997 Details	Portugal	Nigeria	3 – 2	Spain	Portugal	2 – 1	Greece
1999 Details	South Africa	Spain	2 – 1	Ghana	Portugal	0 - 0 (3 - 1) ps	Egypt
2001 Details	Italy	Spain		Italy	Portugal		Czech Republic
2003 Details	Egypt	Spain		Switzerland	France		England
2005 Details	Turkey	France		Turkey	Spain		Portugal

New Format

Year	Host	Final
		Winner	Score	Runner-up
2007 Details	Spain	UEFA	10 – 1	CAF

Teams reaching the top four

Team	Winners	Runners-up	Third Place	Fourth Place
Spain	3 (1999, 2001, 2003)	1 (1997)	1 (2005)	-
Nigeria	1 (1997)	-	-	-
France	1 (2005)	-	1 (2003)	-
UEFA	1 (2007)	-	-	-
Ghana	-	1 (1999)	-	-
Italy	-	1 (2001)	-	-
Switzerland	-	1 (2003)	-	-
Turkey	-	1 (2005)	-	-
CAF	-	1 (2007)	-	-
Portugal	-	-	3 (1997, 1999, 2001)	1 (2005)
Greece	-	-	-	1 (1997)
Egypt	-	-	-	1 (1999)
Czech Republic	-	-	-	1 (2001)
England	-	-	-	1 (2003)

External links

• UEFA official site
• CAF official site