Nehru Cup

The Nehru Cup was an international association football tournament organised by the All India Football Federation (AIFF), named after the First Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. It was launched in 1982, but was not held from 1998 to 2006. After the trophy was won by Iraq in 1997, it was reinstated only in 2007 before officially being held last in 2012 and was replaced in 2017.

For the cricket competition, see Nehru Cup (cricket).
Nehru Cup
Founded1982
RegionInternational
Current champions India
(3rd title)
Most successful team(s) Soviet Union
(4 titles)

TV coverage

1st Nehru Cup was covered by Prabir Roy with a 5 on-line camera operation. This was long before Doordarshan started the same during the Delhi Asian Games in November 1982. It was inaugurated by Indira Gandhi. This was apparently the first Color T.V. coverage.

Absence, revival and replacement

The tournament was shelved after 1997 due to lack of sponsorship and other reasons. It was revived in 2007 mainly due to persuasion by the former coach of India national football team Bob Houghton. The original rolling trophy could not be recovered from Iraq, and a new trophy was designed.

The tournament held during 2007 was called the ONGC Nehru Cup, to acknowledge sponsorship from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. The 2007 Nehru Cup took place from 17–29 August 2007 with Syria, Kyrgyzstan, India, Cambodia and Bangladesh as participating nations where India won their first title after hosting it for the last couple of decades defeating the much higher ranked Syria in the final by a 1-0 margin, on a goal scored by N. P. Pradeep in the 44th minute on a back pass from Bhaichung Bhutia.[1]

2009 Nehru Cup took place in New Delhi from 19 August – 31 August 2009. After the participation of Palestine was cancelled by the AIFF, the tournament was changed into a round-robin format with five teams playing each other and the top two clashing in the final.[2] India defeated Syria by 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the final on 31 August 2009.

The 2012 Nehru Cup was the 15th edition of the Nehru Cup and 3rd Nehru Cup since it was revived in 2007. It was held from 22 August to 2 September.[3] The tournament was hosted in New Delhi, India. A total of 5 teams participated in the tournament through being invited by the All India Football Federation. The final match happened between India and Cameroon B and India won the match in penalty shoot out 5-4 after the match ended 2-2 after 120 minutes of play.[4]

Hopes to have another tournament in 2014 were shelved in August 2014 due to the AIFF not being able to pursue capital investment.[5]

AIFF revealed on 17 May 2016 that it plans to replace Nehru Cup with a new Champions Cup.[6]

Results
Year Host Final Third place match Teams
Winner Score Runner-up 3rd Place Score 4th Place Number of Teams
Nehru Cup
1982
Details		 Kolkata, India
Uruguay		 2 – 0
China		  South Korea Round robin Italy Olympic 6
1983
Details		 Kochi, India
Hungary Olympic		 2 – 1

China (U19)		  Cameroon and (Semifinals)  Romania (U21) 7
1984
Details		 Kolkata, India
Poland		 1 – 0
China		  Argentina Round robin Vasas Budapest 6
1985
Details		 Kochi, India
Soviet Union		 2 – 1
Yugoslavia		  Morocco and (Semifinals)  South Korea (South Korea Youth) 8
1986
Details		 Thiruvananthapuram, India
Soviet Union B		 1 – 0
China		  East Germany Round robin  Peru 6
1987
Details		 Kozhikode, India
Soviet Union Olympic		 2 – 0
Bulgaria Olympic		  Denmark (Denmark League) and (Semifinals)  Germany (East Germany Olympic) 8
1988
Details		 Siliguri, India
Soviet Union Olympic		 2 – 0
Poland Olympic		  Bulgaria (Bulgaria Olympic) Round robin  Hungary (Hungary Olympic) 8
1989
Details		 Margao, India
Hungary Olympic		 2 – 0
Soviet Union U21		  North Korea Round robin  Iraq (Iraq Youth) 6
1991
Details		 Thiruvananthapuram, India
Romania B		 3 – 1
Hungary		  Soviet Union Round robin  China PR 6
1993
Details		 Chennai, India
North Korea		 2 – 0
Romania B		  Cameroon and (Semifinals)  Finland 7
1995
Details		 Kolkata, India
Iraq		 1 – 0
Russia U-20		  Thailand Round robin  India 5
1997
Details		 Kochi, India
Iraq		 3 – 1
Uzbekistan U-19		  China PR 2 – 1  India 5
2007
Details		 New Delhi, India
India		 1 – 0
Syria		  Kyrgyzstan Round robin  Bangladesh 5
2009
Details		 New Delhi, India
India		 1 – 1 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)
Syria		  Kyrgyzstan Round robin  Lebanon 5
2012
Details		 New Delhi, India
India		 2 – 2 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)
Cameroon[7]		  Maldives Round robin  Syria 5

Medal summary
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Russia4217
2 India3003
3 Hungary2103
4 Iraq2002
5 Romania1113
6 Poland1102
7 North Korea1012
8 Uruguay1001
9 China PR0415
10 Syria0202
11 Cameroon0123
12 Bulgaria0112
13 Uzbekistan0101
 Yugoslavia0101
15 Germany0022
 Kyrgyzstan0022
 South Korea0022
18 Argentina0011
 Denmark0011
 Finland0011
 Maldives0011
 Morocco0011
 Thailand0011
Totals (23 nations)15151949

References
  1. http://www.kolkatafootballs.com/ongc_nehru_2007.html
  2. "Palestine not part of Nehru Cup". The Indian Express. 11 August 2009. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  3. "Wim Koevermans named as new Senior Team Coach". The All India Football Federation. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  4. "India beat Cameroon to win third successive Nehru Cup title". The Times Of India. 2 September 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  5. "India could host inaugural BRICS tourney". Goal. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  6. "The Blue Tigers will be in action next August as the Indian FA plan to replace the Nehru Cup with the Champions Cup". goal.com. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  7. https://www.fifa.com/live-scores/teams/country=ind/men/matches/index.html#year2012
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