Lunar New Year Cup

Football tournament

Lunar New Year CupOrganising body| HKFA

|

Founded| 1908; 117 years ago (1908)
Region| Hong Kong
Number of teams| 2
Current champions| World Legends
Most successful club(s)|  Hong Kong League XI (7 titles)
2025 Lunar New Year Cup

The Lunar New Year Cup, previously known as the Carlsberg Challenge or the Carlsberg Cup, is an annual invitational football tournament organised in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) since 1908. It is usually held on the first and the fourth day of the Lunar New Year as a part of the new year celebrations. The tournament was called the Carlsberg Cup from 1986 to 1989, from 1993 to 2006 as Carlsberg was the major sponsor of the event.

Since the 2007 edition of the event, the competition has officially been known as the "Lunar New Year Cup" by the Hong Kong Football Association. This is because Carlsberg is now no longer the major sponsor but a mere co-sponsor. During 2011 and 2012, the name of the event was changed to "Asian Challenge Cup".

## History

[edit]

Initially, a touring team (usually European) visited Hong Kong playing exhibition matches vs local combined. In the period before and around the Second World War, the Lunar New Year Cup was competed for by teams from Hong Kong and mainland China. Since 1950, HKFA has invited at least one overseas team to enter the competition. Before 1982, there were three exhibition matches in the tournament. The first two were usually played by the Hong Kong national football team, Hong Kong player team and Hong Kong League XI while the Chinese XI played the last match.[1]

In 1983, there was a main sponsorship for the competition for the first time and the number of invited teams was increased to three. From 1993 onwards, national teams rather than club teams were invited to participate in the competition. Many of the matches in that period were recognised as "full internationals" by FIFA.[1]

## Competition name and sponsorship

[edit]

Year  | Name  | Sponsor

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|

1983 | Coupe du Solvil et Titus |  Solvil et Titus
1984 | Adidas Gold Cup |  Adidas
1986–89 | Carlsberg Cup |  Carlsberg
1990–92 | Marlboro Cup |  Marlboro
1993–2006 | Carlsberg Cup |  Carlsberg
2008 | Wing Lung Bank Cup |  Wing Lung Bank
2010 | Fortis Insurance Company Tiger Lunar New Year Cup[2] |  Fortis Insurance Company
2011 | RedMR Asian Challenge Cup |  RedMR
2012 | Nikon Asian Challenge Cup |  Nikon
2013 | China Mobile Satellite Communications Cup[3] |  China Mobile Satellite Communications
2014 | AET Cup |  AET
2017 | Nike Lunar New Year Cup[4] |  Nike
2019 | Tonghai Financial Chinese New Year Cup[5] |  China Tonghai Financial
2024–25 | FWD Insurance Chinese New Year Cup[6] |  FWD Group

## Results

[edit]

Lunar New Year Cup – year by year Year  | Final  | Third place match

|
|

Winner  | Score  | Runner-up  | Third place  | Score  | Fourth place
1908–73 [note 1] | (Interport and exhibition matches)
1974  |  Hong Kong | — [note 2] |  CA Juventus |  Sporting CP |

1975 [note 1] |  Independiente | — [note 2] |  Hong Kong |  Hong Kong League XI |

1976 [note 1] |  Grasshopper | — [note 2] |  Hong Kong League XI |  Hong Kong |

1977  |  Sparta Rotterdam | — [note 2] |  Hong Kong |  Hong Kong League XI |

1978  |  China | — [note 2] |  Servette FC |  Hong Kong |

1979 |  Guangdong | — [note 2] |  Östers IF |  Hong Kong League XI |

1980  |  Red Star Belgrade | — [note 2] |  Hong Kong League XI |  Hong Kong |

1981  |  Dinamo Zagreb | — [note 2] |  Hong Kong League XI |  Hong Kong |

1982  |  FK Austria Wien | 1–0[7] |  Hallelujah FC |  Seiko SA | 1–1
(5–3 p)  |  Hong Kong League XI
1983  |  Hong Kong League XI | 2–0 |  Hallelujah FC |  AGF | 3–1 |  Beijing Selection
1984  |  FK Partizan | 1–0 |  Hong Kong League XI |  Daewoo Royals | 2–1[8] |  Lyngby Boldklub
1985  |  Hong Kong League British XI | 1–0 |  Hong Kong League XI |  Guangzhou  | n/a |  Shanghai
1986  |  Paraguay | — [note 2] |  South Korea |  Hong Kong League XI |

1987  |  Brøndby IF | 2–0 |  Hong Kong |  Beijing  | 1–0 |  Shanghai
1988  |  Hong Kong League XI | 0–0
(5–3 p)  |  AGF |  Lucky-Goldstar FC | 3–0[9] |  Dalian Shide
1989  |  Malmö FF | — [note 3] |  China |  Hong Kong | — [note 3] |  Odense BK
1990  |  Sparta Prague | 2–0 |  China |  Spartak Moscow | 4–1 |  Hong Kong League XI
1991  |  Hong Kong League XI | 3–1 |  Aston Villa |  FC Dynamo Moscow | 2–0 |  Thailand
1992  |  Hong Kong League XI | 2–2
(3–2 p)  |  FK Partizan |  Steaua București | 2–0 |  BSC Young Boys Bern
1993  |  Switzerland | 3–2 |  Hong Kong League XI |  Denmark U-21 | 2–1 |  Japan
1994 |  Denmark | 2–0 |  Hong Kong League XI |  Romania League XI  | 2–1 |  United States
1995 |  FR Yugoslavia | 1–0 |  South Korea |  Colombia | 3–1 |  Hong Kong League XI
1996 |  Sweden | 1–1
(5–4 p)  |  Japan |  Poland | 1–0 |  Hong Kong League XI
1997 |  Russia | 2–1 |  Switzerland |  FR Yugoslavia | 3–1 |  Hong Kong League XI
1998 |  Nigeria | 2–0 |  Hong Kong League XI |  Iran | 1–1
(4–2 p)  |  Chile
1999 |  Mexico | 3–0 |  Egypt |  Bulgaria | 3–0 |  Hong Kong League XI
2000 |  Czech Republic | 2–1 |  Mexico |  Japan | 0–0
(6–5 p)  |  Hong Kong League XI
2001 |  Norway | 2–1 |  Hong Kong League XI |  South Korea | 1–1
(6–5 p)  |  Paraguay
2002 |  Honduras | 1–0 |  Hong Kong League XI |  Slovenia | 0–0
(4–3 p)  |  China
2003 |  Uruguay | 1–1
(4–2 p)  |  Iran |  Denmark League XI | 2–1 |  Hong Kong League XI
2004 |  Norway | 3–1 |  Honduras |  Sweden | 3–0 |  Hong Kong League XI
2005 |  Brazil | 7–1 |  Hong Kong |

(2 teams only)

2006 |  Denmark | 3–1 |  South Korea |  Croatia | 4–0 |  Hong Kong
2007 |  Jamaica Olympic Team | 0–0
(5–4 p)  |  China PR Olympic Team |  Australia Olympic Team | 2–2
(5–3 p)  |  Hong Kong League XI
2008 |  Hong Kong League XI | 2–1 |  HNK Hajduk Split |  Peñarol | 1–1
(5–4 p)  |  Ulsan Hyundai
2009 |  South China & Pegasus United | 2–1 |  Sparta Prague |  Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 0–0
(5–4 p)  |  Hong Kong League XI
2010 |  Pohang Steelers | — [note 2] |  Kitchee |  Pegasus Invitation Team |

2011 |  Tianjin Teda | 0–0
(5–3 p)  |  Guangzhou Evergrande |  Ulsan Hyundai | 4–2 |  South China
2012 |  Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | 5–1 |  Shimizu S-Pulse |  Guangzhou R&F | 1–1
(3–1 p)  |  South China
2013 |  Busan IPark | 1–0 |  Shanghai East Asia |  Hong Kong League XI | 1–0 |  Muangthong United
2014 |  Citizen & Cuenca United | 2–0 |  Olhanense |  Krylia Sovetov | 1–0 |  FC Tokyo
2015 |  New York Cosmos | 2–2
(4–2 p)  |  South China |

(2 teams only)

2016 |  Hong Kong League XI | 4–0 |  Hong Kong |

(2 teams only)

2017 |  Auckland City | 1–0 |  Kitchee |  Muangthong United | 1–0 |  FC Seoul
2018 |  Hong Kong League XI | 4–3 |  Hong Kong |

(2 teams only)

2019 |  Shandong Luneng | 3–1 |  Sagan Tosu |  Hong Kong League XI | 1–0 |  Auckland City
2020 | Cancelled [note 4]
2021
2022
2023
2024 | World Legends | 7–3 |  Hong Kong Legends  |

(2 teams only)

2025 | World Legends | 3–3
(6–5 p)  |  Hong Kong Legends  |

(2 teams only)

Notes

1. ^ a b c Exhibition matches.[1]
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Three-team round-robin tournament
3. ^ a b Four-team round-robin tournament
4. ^ The 2020 to 2022 event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong and 2023 event due to safety concerns of Russian invasion of Ukraine.[10]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Lunar New Year Cup Archived 2023-01-07 at the Wayback Machine by Neil Morrison at the RSSSF
2. ^ "富通保險虎年賀歲盃". Archived from the original on 2017-10-08. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
3. ^ "China Mobile Satellite Communications Cup Final Busan IPARK (KOR) 1:0 Shanghai East Asia (CHN)". Archived from the original on 2017-10-08. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
4. ^ "Exciting Nike Lunar New Year Cup 2017 kicks-off Year of the Rooster on Saturday afternoon". Archived from the original on 2018-09-01. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
5. ^ "TONGHAI FINANCIAL Chinese New Year Cup 2019". Archived from the original on 2019-02-09. Retrieved 2019-02-08.
6. ^ "FWD Insurance Chinese New Year Cup". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
7. ^ "Hallelujah FC finished runners-up in Hongkong football tournament". Archived from the original on 2021-02-15. Retrieved 2017-01-30.
8. ^ "Daewoo FC finished 3rd in Adidas Cup". Archived from the original on 2021-02-15. Retrieved 2017-01-30.
9. ^ "Lucky-Goldstar FC finished 3rd Place in Carlsberg Cup". Archived from the original on 2021-02-15. Retrieved 2017-01-30.
10. ^ Chan, Kin-wa. "Wuhan coronavirus: Lunar New Year Cup cancelled by government just hours after HKFA promotes the event". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.

## External links

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* Lunar New Year Cup results RSSSF
* HKFA Website 漫談賀歲足球賽事(一) (in Chinese)

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Lunar New Year Cup

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Friendly association football tournaments in Asia

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