The 1951 Copa Rio, also known as Torneio Internacional de Clubes Campeões (International Champions Club Tournament, in english) was the first edition of the Copa Rio, the first intercontinental club football tournament with teams from Europe and South America, held in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo from 30 June to 22 July. Participant clubs were divided into two zones of four teams, playing each other once in a single round-robin tournament.[1]

1951 Copa Rio
1951 Copa Rio winning Palmeiras squad
Tournament details
Host countryBrazil
Dates30 June – 22 July
Teams8 (from 7 associations)
Venue2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
ChampionsBrazil Palmeiras (1st title)
Runners-upItaly Juventus
Tournament statistics
Matches played18
1952

The tournament featured players such as Vavá, Ademir of Vasco da Gama, Jair da Rosa Pinto of Palmeiras, José Santamaría, Walter Taibo, goalkeeper Anibal Paz, Luis Volpi of Nacional, Branko Stankovic, Rajko Mitic of Red Star Belgrade, Giampiero Boniperti, Danish Karl Aage Præst and John Hansen of Juventus, José Travassos of Sporting Lisbon, and Swedish Lennart Samuelsson and Antoine Bonifaci of Nice. Juventus's coach was the legendary Hungarian György Sárosi.

The final was played in a two-legged format, contested by Brazilian team Palmeiras and Italian side Juventus. Palmeiras won the series 2–1 on points, achieving their first Copa Rio trophy.[1][2]

Participants

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1951 Copa Rio runners-up Juventus squad
Team Qualification
Austria Austria Wien1949–50 Austrian Bundesliga champion [note 1]
Brazil Vasco da Gama1950 Campeonato Carioca champion
Brazil Palmeiras1950 Campeonato Paulista champion
France Nice1950–51 French Division 1 champion
Italy Juventus1949–50 Serie A champions [note 2]
Portugal Sporting1950–51 Primeira Divisão champion
Uruguay Nacional1950 Primera División champions
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star1951 Yugoslav First League champion
Notes
  1. Austrian champions of 1950–51 (Rapid Vienna) declined to participate.
  2. Italian champion of the season, AC Milan, renounced because they had to play the Latin Cup during the same period.

Venues

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Rio de Janeiro São Paulo
Maracanã Stadium Pacaembu Stadium
Capacity: 150,000 Capacity: 71,000

Tournament course

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Rio de Janeiro Group

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All matches played at Maracanã Stadium

Teams GP W D L GF GA GD Points
Brazil Vasco da Gama 3300122106
Austria Austria Wien 32017614
Uruguay Nacional 310238-52
Portugal Sporting CP 3003410-60


Austria Wien Austria4–0Uruguay Nacional
Aurednik 22', 27'
Stosjaspal 53', 85'
Report
Attendance: 27,463
Referee: Patrick Power (England)

Vasco da Gama Brazil5–1Portugal Sporting
Friaça (?)
Tesourinha (?)
Ipojucan 46', 75'
Djair 89'
Report Patalino 87'
Attendance: 91,438
Referee: Gabriel Tordjmann (France)

Nacional Uruguay3–2Portugal Sporting
Bermúdez 12'
Ramírez 75'
Ambrois 88'
Report Patalino 10'
Jesus Correia 15'
Attendance: 21,642
Referee: Giovanni Galeati (Italy)

Vasco da Gama Brazil5–1Austria Austria Wien
Friaça 15' (?), 63' (?)
Tesourinha (?)
Report E. Melchior 10'
Attendance: 93,833
Referee: Patrick Power (England)

Austria Wien Austria2–1Portugal Sporting
Aurednik
Huber
Report Albano
Referee: Mihailo Popović (Yugoslavia)

Vasco da Gama Brazil2–0Uruguay Nacional
Djair 36'
Ipojucan 68'
Report
Attendance: 61,766
Referee: Patrick Power (England)

São Paulo Group

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All matches played at Pacaembu Stadium.

Teams GP W D L GF GA GD Points
Italy Juventus 330010466
Brazil Palmeiras 32015504
France Nice 310247-32
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star 300347-30
Palmeiras Brazil3–0France Nice
Aquiles 52'
Ponce de León 56'
Richard 76'
Report
Attendance: 28,709
Referee: Franz Grill (Austria)

Juventus Italy3–2Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star
Boniperti 26', 42'
K. Hansen 84' (pen.)
Report Tomašević 18'
Ognjanov 48'
Referee: Alberto da Gama Malcher (Brazil)

Juventus Italy3–2France Nice
Vivolo 11'
Præst 35'
Muccinelli 77'
Report Courteaux 20', 60'
Referee: Franz Grill (Austria)

Palmeiras Brazil2–1Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star
Aquiles 11'
Liminha 80'
Report Ognjanov 8'
Attendance: 24,933
Referee: Gabriel Tordjmann (France)


Juventus Italy4–0Brazil Palmeiras
Boniperti 10', 18'
K. Hansen 48' (pen.)
Præst 80'
Report
Attendance: 37,639
Referee: Edward Graigh (England)

Semi-finals

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First leg

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Austria Wien Austria3–3Italy Juventus
Koller 29'
Stojaspal 39', 85' (pen.)
Report Muccinelli 32'
Præst 49', 72'
Referee: Alberto da Gama Malcher (Brazil)

Palmeiras Brazil2–1Brazil Vasco da Gama
Richard 24'
Liminha 37'
Report Maneca 46'
Attendance: 42,992
Referee: Edward Graigh (England)

Second leg

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Juventus Italy3–1Austria Austria Wien
Muccinelli 53', 55'
Boniperti 59'
Report Stojaspal
Referee: Edward Graigh (England)

Vasco da Gama Brazil0–0Brazil Palmeiras
Report
Attendance: 77,488
Referee: Edward Graigh (England)

Finals

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Champion Runner-up 1 leg Venue 2 leg Venue Aggr.
Brazil PalmeirasItaly Juventus
1–0
Maracanã
2–2
Maracanã
3–2

Match details

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1951 Copa Rio Finals
1st Leg
Palmeiras Brazil1–0Italy Juventus
Rodrigues 20' Report
Attendance: 56,961
Referee: Franz Grill (Austria)

2nd Leg
Juventus Italy2–2Brazil Palmeiras
Report
Attendance: 100,093
Referee: Gabriel Tordjmann (France)

Palmeiras won the series 2–1 on points

1951 Copa Rio
Brazil
Palmeiras
First Intercontinental title

References

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  1. 1 2 Copa Rio de Janeiro 1951 by Ricardo Pontes on the RSSSF
  2. Los antecedentes del Mundial de Clubes by Felipe Valderrama on El Cinco Cero, 16 Dec 2019