The 1957 Tournoi de Paris was the first edition of Tournoi de Paris, an association football intercontinental competition between European and South American clubs. In particular, the inaugural edition is considered as the precursor to the Intercontinental Cup by some, as an article on FIFA.com.[1] Its final match featured the only continental club champions thus far (Vasco da Gama in the 1948 South American Championship and Real Madrid in the 1955–56 European Cup), competing in the final.[2][3][4]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| City | Paris |
| Dates | 12 – 14 June 1957 |
| Teams | 4 |
| Venue | Parc des Princes |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Vasco da Gama |
| Runners-up | Real Madrid |
| Third place | Racing Paris |
| Fourth place | Rot-Weiss Essen |
1958 → | |
Vasco da Gama defeated Real Madrid 4–3 in the final before 65,000 spectators.[5][6][7]
Background
editThe competition was organized by the Racing Club de Paris in celebration of its 25th anniversary.[8] Real Madrid were invited to participate in the competition as 1955–56 European Cup champions, and accepted a few days before winning the 1956–57 edition. Vasco da Gama's participation took place amidst a club's tour of the US and Europe, with several European newspapers citing Vasco as "Brazilian champion of 1956" for having won the 1956 Campeonato Carioca (there was no Brazilian national competition at the time).[9][10] Furthermore, Vasco held the title of South American champion after winning the 1948 South American Championship of Champions as no other South American tournament of the same proportion took place until the 1960 Copa Libertadores.[11] Finally, Rot-Weiss Essen, the West German champions at the time were invited, as West Germany was the current champions of the FIFA World Cup.[11]
Teams
edit| Team | Location | Qualification |
|---|---|---|
 Racing Paris |
Paris | Host |
 Real Madrid |
Madrid | 1955–56 European Cup winners |
 Rot-Weiss Essen |
Essen | 1955 German football championship winners |
 Vasco da Gama |
Rio de Janeiro | 1948 South American Championship and 1956 Campeonato Carioca winners |
Squads
editRacing Paris
editSource: [12]
Manager: Auguste Jordan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Real Madrid
editSource: [13]
Manager: José Villalonga
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Rot-Weiss Essen
editSource: [13]
Manager: 
Elek Schwartz
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Vasco da Gama
editManager: Martim Francisco
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Matches
edit| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 12 June - Paris | ||||||
| Vasco da Gama | 3 | |||||
| 14 June - Paris | ||||||
| Racing Paris | 1 | |||||
| Vasco da Gama | 4 | |||||
| 12 June - Paris | ||||||
| Real Madrid | 3 | |||||
| Real Madrid | 5 | |||||
| Rot-Weiss Essen | 0 | |||||
| Third place | ||||||
| 14 June - Paris | ||||||
| Racing Paris | 7 | |||||
| Rot-Weiss Essen | 5 | |||||
Semi-finals
edit| Vasco da Gama | 3–1 | Racing Paris |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
| Real Madrid | 5–0 | Rot-Weiss Essen |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Third place match
edit| Racing Paris | 7–5 | Rot-Weiss Essen |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Final
edit| Vasco da Gama | 4–3 | Real Madrid |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
|
Recognitions
editIn a video report from Les Actualités Françaises, published on 19 June 1957 with narrated images of the match, the match between Vasco da Gama and Real Madrid in the final is called "the confrontation between the best team in South America and the European champions".[14][15] Therefore, it was the first match ever dubbed as a "best club team of Europe VS best club team of South America", thus being regarded as a forerunner to the 1960-2004 Intercontinental Cup.
After the final between Vasco da Gama and Real Madrid, French newspaper L'Équipe wrote: "And then, suddenly, Real Madrid literally disappeared. Would it be the pale red shirts or the sad blue shorts that weakened the superb Spanish team? No. Rather, wonderful bodies suddenly appeared on the other side, wrapped tightly in white shirts with a black stripe, of 11 football athletes, of 11 black devils who took control of the ball and never let go. During the next half hour the incredible, prodigious impression one had was that the great Real Madrid champion of Europe, the untouchable Real Madrid winner of all European constellations was learning to play football".[11] The newspaper France Soir stated after the tournament: "Real Madrid is not the greatest team in the world. Talk to Vasco da Gama about that",[16] and the Jornal dos Sports cited Vasco as "world champions".[17] The Spanish newspaper ABC de Madrid wrote that "Real Madrid were no longer invincible".[18]
According to the Brazilian newspaper Tribuna de Imprensa in October 1958, then Brazilian FA President João Havelange stated that he and Jacques Goddet were the creators of the Intercontinental Cup, which creation had recently been announced and that would be first played in 1960;[19] as the aforementioned Goddet was the resident manager of the Parc des Princes Stadium when Vasco and Real Madrid played there the final of the 1957 Tournoi de Paris, it is assumed that the success of the cited 1957 match influenced him on the idea for the creation of the Intercontinental Cup. In 2023, a FIFA.com article mentioned the 1957 final match as "the most notable meeting between teams from two continents meeting before 1960".[1]
References
edit- 1 2 "The Intercontinental Cup, A Vestige of Trans-Continental Glory". FIFA.com. 7 June 2023. Archived from the original on 23 December 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
- ↑ Doucet, Clément (2022-01-20). "Le tournoi de Paris, un évènement capital". Le Corner (in French). Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ↑ "Edición del Saturday 15 June 1957, Página 4 - Hemeroteca - MundoDeportivo.com". hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ↑ "Jornal do Brasil (19 June 1957)". news.google.com. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ↑ "Tournoi International de Paris". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2024-05-14.
- ↑ Le Miroir Des Sports – June 17, 1957
- ↑ "O Estado de S. Paulo". Acervo Estadão. June 15, 1957. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
- ↑ "Anecdotes autour du Tournoi de Paris". psg.fr. 12 July 2010. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
- ↑ "ABC MADRID 11-06-1957 página 50 - Archivo ABC". abc. 2019-08-06. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
- ↑ "El Mundo Deportivo, p. 5 (20 May 1957)". hemeroteca.mundodeportivo.com. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
- 1 2 3 "Há 60 anos, Vasco derrotava o Real Madrid de Di Stéfano em Paris | Blog Memória EC". globoesporte.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
- 1 2 "Jornal dos Sports, ed. 8523, p. 9". 13 June 1957.
- 1 2 3 "Tournoi International de Paris". www.rsssf.org. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
- ↑ Journal Les Actualités Françaises : émission du 19 juin 1957 | INA (in French). Retrieved 2024-05-15 – via www.ina.fr.
- ↑ "Dario lembra vitória do Vasco sobre Real, em 1957: 'Não há clube igual'". globoesporte.com. 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
- ↑ "Manchete Esportiva, 00084, with a quote from France Soir".
- ↑ "Jornal dos Sports, 8526, 18 July 1957, p. 8".
- ↑ "ABC MADRID 18-06-1957 página 53 - Archivo ABC". abc. 2019-08-06. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
- ↑ "Tribuna de Imprensa, ed. 2675, p. 8, 23 October 1958". Archived from the original on 6 August 2020.