World Military Cup

Football tournament

World Military CupFounded| 1946

|

Region| International (CISM)
Current champions| M:  Bahrain (2019)
W:  South Korea (2023)
Most successful team(s)| Men:
Italy (8 titles)
Women:
Brazil (5 titles)
2019 Military World Games

The World Military Cup is an international association football competition contested by national military teams. Organized by the International Military Sports Council (CISM), the tournament was first held in 1946 under the title World Military Championship. The name was changed to the World Military Cup ahead of the 2001 edition.

In 1995, the Military World Games—a multi-sport event for military personnel—was established, and the football championship became an integrated discipline within the Games. Despite this integration, the football tournament continues to be organized as a standalone biennial event under CISM governance.

A counterpart competition for women, the World Military Women's Championship, was established in 2001. Both tournaments remain key fixtures in CISM's sporting calendar, promoting camaraderie and sportsmanship among armed forces globally.

## History

[edit]

The inaugural World Military Championship was hosted in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) in 1946, organized by the Armed Forces Sports Council (AFSC). In 1948, the AFSC was restructured and renamed the International Military Sports Council (CISM), which has governed the competition since. Great Britain won the first title, defeating host nation Czechoslovakia in the final, where the latter finished as runners-up.[1]

## Format

[edit]

Since 2013, the World Military Cup has been restructured into two distinct competitions. The CISM World Football Cup, held on a four-year cycle, debuted in its current format in 2013. Its second edition took place from 23 to 28 January 2017 in Muscat, Oman.

Separately, the Military World Games—a multi-sport event organized by the International Military Sports Council (CISM)—features a football tournament branded as the Military World Championship. This competition also follows a four-year cycle, running concurrently with the Games.[1]

## Qualifications

[edit]

Teams qualify for the World Military Cup through continental tournaments organized by each confederation under CISM governance. The qualifying competitions are as follows:

Confederation  | Championship

|

Asia  | Asian Military Qualifying Tournament
Africa  | African Military Cup
Americas  | Americas Military Cup
Europe  | European Military Qualifying Tournament

These tournaments determine the regional representatives for the final World Military Cup event.

## Results

[edit]

### Men

[edit]

#### Military World Championship

[edit]

A football tournament has been held as part of the Military World Games every four years since 1995. This competition is recognized as part of the World Military Championship.

Year  | Host  |  | Final  |  | Third Place Match

|
|
|
|
|

Champions  | Score  | Runners-Up  | Third Place  | Score  | Fourth Place
1946
Details |  Prague |
United Kingdom |  |
Czechoslovakia |
Belgium |  |
1947
Details |  Hanover |
Belgium |  |
Netherlands |
Denmark |  |
1948
Details |  Copenhagen |
France |  |
Belgium |
Denmark |  |
Luxembourg
1949
Details |  Lille / Paris |
France | 3–1 |
Turkey |
Belgium | 3–1 |
Netherlands
1950
Details |  The Hague |
Italy | 2–1 |
Belgium |
France | 4–4
(France win on corners) |
Netherlands
1951
Details |  Cairo |
Italy | 3–1 |
Egypt |
France | 3–1 |
Belgium
1952
Details |  Athens |
Greece | 3–2 |
Belgium |
Netherlands | 1–0 |
Turkey
1953
Details |  Ankara / Istanbul 1 |
Belgium | n/a |
Turkey |
Greece
1954
Details |  Brussels |
Belgium | 5–1 |
Turkey |
Portugal | 1–0 |
France
1955
Details |  Rome |
Turkey | n/a |
Italy |
Egypt | n/a |
Netherlands
1956
Details |  Lisbon |
Italy | n/a |
Portugal |
Egypt | n/a |
Turkey
1957
Details |  Buenos Aires |
France | n/a |
Argentina |
Italy | n/a |
Brazil
1958
Details |  Lisbon |
Portugal | 2–1 |
France |
Netherlands | 4–3 |
Belgium
1959
Details |  Florence 1 |
Italy | n/a |
Portugal |
France
1960
Details |  Oran 2 |
Belgium | n/a |
Turkey |
Greece | n/a |
France
1961
Details |  Ankara |
Turkey | n/a |
Greece |
France | n/a |
Netherlands
1962
Details |  Seoul |
Greece | 1st leg: 3–1
2nd leg: 1–2 |
South Korea |
Turkey |  |
1963
Details |  Athens / Saloniki |
Greece | n/a |
Belgium |  France and  Turkey
1964
Details |  Ankara / Istanbul |
France | n/a |
Turkey |  West Germany and  Netherlands
1965
Details |  Gijón |
Spain | 3–0 |
Turkey |
Morocco | 2–1 |
Belgium
1966
Details |  Rabat |
Turkey | 1st leg: 2–1
2nd leg: 0–0 |
Morocco |  Netherlands and  Spain
1967
Details |  Brussels |
Turkey | n/a |
Belgium |  Morocco and  Netherlands
1968
Details |  Baghdad |
Greece | 4–1 |
Turkey |  Netherlands and  Spain
1969
Details |  Athens |
Greece | w/o |
Algeria |
Iran | 1–1 |
South Korea
1972
Details |  Baghdad |
Iraq | n/a |
Italy |
Greece | n/a |
Turkey
1973
Details |  Brazzaville |
Italy | n/a |
Iraq |
Kuwait | n/a |
Congo
1975
Details |  Hagen |
West Germany | 1–0 |
Netherlands |
Kuwait | 6–5 (a.e.t.)  |
Cameroon
1977
Details |  Damascus |
Iraq | 0–0
(5–4 p)  |
Kuwait |
Italy | 3–1 (a.e.t.)  |
France
1979
Details |  Kuwait City |
Iraq | 0–0
(4–3 p)  |
Italy |
Kuwait | 3–1 |
Austria
1981
Details |  Doha |
Kuwait | 1–0 |
Qatar |
Syria | 2–0 |
France
1983
Details |  Kuwait City |
Kuwait | 2–0 |
Belgium |  |  |
1987
Details |  Arezzo |
Italy | 2–0 |
West Germany |
Egypt | 4–1 |
Belgium
1989
Details |  Caserta |
Italy | 3–0 |
Morocco |
Belgium | 1–0 |
United Arab Emirates
1991
Details |  Arnhem / Apeldoorn |
Italy | 3–3 (a.e.t.)
(5–4 p)  |
Germany |
Turkey | 1–0 |
France
1993
Details |  Rabat |
Egypt | 3–2 (a.e.t.)  |
Morocco |
Germany | 3–0 |
France
1995
Details |  Rome *  |
France | 1–0 |
Iran |
South Korea | 1–0 |
Cyprus
1997
Details |  Tehran |
Greece | 1–0 |
Italy |
France | 3–2 (a.e.t.)  |
Burkina Faso
1999
Details |  Zagreb *  |
Egypt | 3–3
(5–4 p)  |
Greece |
Croatia | 2–0 |
Germany
2001
Details |  Cairo |
Egypt | 3–0 |
Greece |
North Korea | 5–0 |
Guinea
2003
Details |  Catania *  |
North Korea | 3–2 |
Egypt |
Italy | 3–2 |
Lithuania
2005
Details |  Warendorf |
Egypt | 1–0 |
Algeria |
Qatar | 3–1 |
Germany
2007
Details |  Hyderabad *  |
Egypt | 2–0 |
Cameroon |
North Korea | 2–0 |
Qatar
2011
Details |  Rio de Janeiro * [2] |
Algeria | 1–0 |
Egypt |
Brazil | 1–0 (a.e.t.)  |
Qatar
2015
Details |  Mungyeong *  |
Algeria | 2–0 (a.e.t.)  |
Oman |
South Korea | 3–2 |
Egypt
2019
Details |  Wuhan *  |
Bahrain | 3–1 |
Qatar |
Algeria | 4–0 |
North Korea

* ^n/a Round-robin tournament determined final standings.
* ^n1 Only three teams in the final group.
* ^n2 Tournament held in French Algeria.
* * Event integrated into the Military World Games.

#### CISM World Football Cup

[edit]

Year  | Host  |  | Final  |  | Third Place Match

|
|
|
|
|

Champions  | Score  | Runners-Up  | Third Place  | Score  | Fourth Place
2013
Details |  Baku |
Iraq | 3–2 |
Oman |
Ivory Coast | 1–0 |
Azerbaijan
2017
Details |  Muscat |
Oman | 0–0
(4–1 p)  |
Qatar |
Syria | 2 – 2
(6–5 p)  |
Egypt

#### Teams reaching the top four

[edit]

Team | Titles | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | Total

|
|
|
|
|

Italy | 8 (1950, 1951, 1956, 1959, 1973, 1987, 1989, 1991)  | 4 (1955, 1972, 1979, 1997)  | 3 (1957, 1977, 2003)  | —  | 15
Greece | 6 (1952, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1969, 1997)  | 3 (1961, 1999, 2001)  | 3 (1953, 1960, 1972)  | —  | 12
Egypt | 5 (1993, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007)  | 3 (1951, 2003, 2011)  | 3 (1955, 1956, 1987)  | 2 (2015, 2017)  | 13
France | 5 (1948, 1949, 1957, 1964, 1995)  | 1 (1958)  | 6 (1950, 1951, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1997)  | 6 (1954, 1960, 1977, 1981, 1991, 1993)  | 18
Turkey | 4 (1955, 1961, 1966, 1967)  | 7 (1949, 1953, 1954, 1960, 1964, 1965, 1968)  | 2 (1962, 1991)  | 4 (1952, 1956, 1963, 1972)  | 17
Belgium | 4 (1947, 1953, 1954, 1960)  | 6 (1948, 1950, 1952, 1963, 1967, 1983)  | 3 (1946, 1949, 1989)  | 4 (1951, 1958, 1965, 1987)  | 14
Iraq | 4 (1972, 1977, 1979, 2013)  | 1 (1973)  | —  | —  | 5
Algeria | 2 (2011, 2015)  | 2 (1969, 2005)  | 1 (2019)  | —  | 5
Kuwait | 2 (1981, 1983)  | 1 (1977)  | 3 (1973, 1975, 1979)  | —  | 6
Germany | 1 (1975)  | 2 (1987, 1991)  | 2 (1964, 1993)  | 2 (1999, 2005)  | 7
Portugal | 1 (1958)  | 2 (1956, 1959)  | 1 (1954)  | —  | 4
Oman | 1 (2017)  | 2 (2013, 2015)  | —  | —  | 3
North Korea | 1 (2003)  | —  | 2 (2001, 2007)  | 1 (2019)  | 4
Spain | 1 (1965)  | —  | —  | 2 (1966, 1968)  | 3
Bahrain | 1 (2019)  | —  | —  | —  | 1
England | 1 (1946)  | —  | —  | —  | 1
Morocco | —  | 3 (1966, 1989, 1993)  | 2 (1965, 1967)  | —  | 5
Qatar | —  | 3 (1981, 2017, 2019)  | 1 (2005)  | 2 (2007, 2011)  | 6
Netherlands | —  | 2 (1947, 1975)  | 4 (1952, 1958, 1966, 1968)  | 6 (1949, 1950, 1955, 1961, 1964, 1967)  | 12
Iran | —  | 1 (1995)  | 1 (1969)  | —  | 2
South Korea | —  | 1 (1962)  | 2 (1995, 2015)  | —  | 3
Cameroon | —  | 1 (2007)  | —  | 1 (1975)  | 2
Argentina | —  | 1 (1957)  | —  | —  | 1
Czechoslovakia | —  | 1 (1946)  | —  | —  | 1
Denmark | —  | —  | 2 (1947, 1948)  | —  | 2
Syria | —  | —  | 2 (1981, 2017)  | —  | 2
Brazil | —  | —  | 1 (2011)  | 1 (1957)  | 2
Croatia | —  | —  | 1 (1999)  | —  | 1
Ivory Coast | —  | —  | 1 (2013)  | —  | 1
Austria | —  | —  | —  | 1 (1979)  | 1
Congo | —  | —  | —  | 1 (1973)  | 1
Cyprus | —  | —  | —  | 1 (1995)  | 1
Guinea | —  | —  | —  | 1 (2001)  | 1
Lithuania | —  | —  | —  | 1 (2003)  | 1
Luxembourg | —  | —  | —  | 1 (1948)  | 1
United Arab Emirates | —  | —  | —  | 1 (1989)  | 1
Burkina Faso | —  | —  | —  | 1 (1997)  | 1
Azerbaijan | —  | —  | —  | 1 (2013)  | 1

### Women

[edit]

Year  | Host nation  |  | Final  |  | Third Place Match

|
|
|
|
|

Winner  | Score  | Second Place  | Third Place  | Score  | Fourth Place
2001
Details |  Netherlands |
Germany | n/a |
Netherlands |
England | n/a |
Canada
2002
Details |  Kingston |
United States | 1–0 |
Germany |
Netherlands | 4–0 |
Canada
2003
Details |  Warendorf |
Germany | 7–3 |
Netherlands |
United States | 1–0 |
Canada
2004
Details |  Fort Eustis |
Netherlands | 3–0 (a.e.t.)  |
Germany |
United States | 3–1 |
Canada
2006
Details |  Assen |
Netherlands | 2–0 |
United States |
Germany | 6–4 (a.e.t.)  |
France
2007
Details |  Hyderabad *  |
North Korea | 5–0 |
Germany |
France | 1–0 |
Netherlands
2008
Details |  Ede |
Germany | 3–0 |
France |
Netherlands | 2–1 |
South Korea
2009
Details |  Biloxi |
Brazil | 1–0 |
South Korea |
Netherlands | 2–1 |
France
2010
Details |  Cherbourg-Octeville |
Brazil | 1–0 |
South Korea |
France | 2–1 |
Netherlands
2011
Details |  Rio de Janeiro *  |
Brazil | 5–0 |
Germany |
Netherlands | 2–0 |
France
2012
Details |  Warendorf |
Germany | 1–0 |
South Korea |
Brazil | 2–0 |
France
2015
Details |  Mungyeong *  |
Brazil | 2–1 (a.e.t.)  |
France |
South Korea | 3–0 |
Netherlands
2016
Details |  France  |
France | 2–1 |
Brazil |
South Korea | 3–3 (a.e.t.)
(4–3 p)  |
Cameroon
2018
Details |  Fort Bliss |
Brazil | 3–2 |
South Korea |
China | 3–1 |
France
2019
Details |  Wuhan *  |
North Korea | 2–1 |
China |
Brazil | 3–1 |
South Korea
2020  |  Yaoundé[3] | Cancelled | Cancelled
2022
Details |  Spokane |
France | 2–1 |
Cameroon |
South Korea | 3–0 |
United States
2023
Details |  Bunschoten-Spakenburg |
South Korea | 1–0 |
France |
Cameroon | 4–0 |
Netherlands
2025
Details |  Pyongyang |  | – |  |  | – |

* ^n/a Round-robin tournament determined final standings.
* * Event integrated into the Military World Games.

#### Teams reaching the top four

[edit]

Team | Titles | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | Total

|
|
|
|
|

Brazil | 5 (2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2018)  | 1 (2016)  | 2 (2012, 2019)  | —  | 8
Germany | 4 (2001, 2003, 2008, 2012)  | 4 (2002, 2004, 2007, 2011)  | 1 (2006)  | —  | 9
France | 2 (2016, 2022)  | 3 (2008, 2015, 2023)  | 2 (2007, 2010)  | 5 (2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2018)  | 12
Netherlands | 2 (2004, 2006)  | 2 (2001, 2003)  | 4 (2002, 2008, 2009, 2011)  | 4 (2007, 2010, 2015, 2023)  | 12
North Korea | 2 (2007, 2019)  | —  | —  | —  | 2
South Korea | 1 (2023)  | 4 (2009, 2010, 2012, 2018)  | 3 (2015, 2016, 2022)  | 2 (2008, 2019)  | 10
United States | 1 (2002)  | 1 (2006)  | 2 (2003, 2004)  | 1 (2022)  | 5
Cameroon | —  | 1 (2022)  | 1 (2023)  | 1 (2016)  | 3
China | —  | 1 (2019)  | 1 (2018)  | —  | 2
England | —  | —  | 1 (2001)  | —  | 1
Canada | —  | —  | —  | 4 (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)  | 4

## See also

[edit]

* International Military Sports Council
* Football at the Military World Games
* African Military Cup
* Americas Military Cup

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "CISM World Football Cup". CISM. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
2. ^ "5th Military World Games – Football competition". 2011 Military World Games official website. 24 July 2011. Archived from the original on 16 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2011.
3. ^ "Cancellation of the 13th World Military Women's Football Championship". CISM official website. CISM Media and Communication Department. 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-07-15. Retrieved 2022-07-15.

## External links

[edit]

* RSSSF (men)
* RSSSF (women)