Granatkin Memorial
Founded1981
RegionInternational
Number of teams12 (2019)
Current championsArgentina U18 (1st title)
Most successful clubRussia U18 (20 titles)
WebsiteOfficial website

The Granatkin Memorial (Russian: Мемориал Гранаткина) is a youth association football tournament which traditionally features invited national teams composed of U-17/U-18/U-19 players.[1] The tournament is held in Saint Petersburg since 2006 (previously in Moscow and Leningrad / Saint Petersburg), and since 2017 the final is held in summer (previously indoors in winter).

Tournament history

In 1981 in Moscow started the first Granatkin Memorial – the International youth football tournament initiated by the FIFA President Joao Havelange to perpetuate the memory of the FIFA First Vice-President Valentin Granatkin.[2]

The tournament attracted the attention of both professionals and football fans. The matches of the Memorial were attended by the President of the International Olympic Committee Juan Antonio Samaranch.[3] The prize to the winners was presented by Granatkin’s daughter Marina Valentinovna.

In 1981 and 1982 the tournament was held in Moscow. Since 1983 Leningrad became the Memorial residence. Till 1992 in twelve tournaments have taken part combined teams from 16 countries.

The second period of the Memorial started in the year 2001. Since that time the scheme of the competition radically changed. The number of the participants increased to 8 combined teams, which are divided into two groups. Every group plays round robin. When in play-off teams contest the places from 1 to 8.

Granatkin tournament is noted as a place of discoveries. Memorial is a first loud word from the future stars of world football – Andreas Moeller, Tony Meola, Oliver Bierhoff, Carsten Jancker, Marcel Desailly, Igor Kolyvanov, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk and Alexandr Mostovoi — many used to participate in the tournament.

Results

EditionYearWinnerRunner up3rd places
1
1981West GermanyUSSR-1Spain
2
1982USSR-1BrazilUSSR-2
3
1983USSR-1FranceCzechoslovakia
4
1984West GermanyUSSR-1Belgium
5
1985USSR-1FranceUSSR-2
6
1986USSR-1West GermanyFrance
7
1987USSR-1USSR-2France
8
1988USSR-1ChinaUSSR-2
9
1989USSR-1BelgiumUSSR-2
10
1990USSR-1ChinaWest Germany
11
1991USSR-2USSR-1China
12
1992GermanyCIS-1China
13
2001RussiaChinaIran
14
2002RussiaLithuaniaUkraine
15
2003South KoreaChinaBelarus
16
2004RussiaPolandBelarus
17
2005RussiaUkraineBelarus
18
2006GermanySlovakiaRussia
19
2007BelarusTurkeyRussia
20
2008RussiaBelarusUkraine
21
2009RussiaTurkeyUkraine
22
2010RussiaUkraineTurkey
23
2011FinlandChinaUkraine
24
2012Italy U18Finland U18Turkey U18
25
2013Russia U18Saint PetersburgUkraine U18
26
2014Japan U18Russia U18Slovakia U18
27
2015Russia U18South KoreaSlovenia U18
28
2016Slovenia U18Saint PetersburgRussia U18
29
2017Russia U18KazakhstanSaint Petersburg
30
2018Saint PetersburgTurkey U18Russia U18
31
2019Argentina U18Russia U18Turkey U18
—
2020Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia
32
2021

Statistics

Performances by countries

In total, eight countries celebrated the victory in the tournament. Young players from 22 countries finished in top 3. The most titled is team USSR / Russia with 20 wins. Young talents from Germany won gold medals four times. The third in the list of successful teams is Belarus (1 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals). In terms of the number of medals, the leaders are: USSR / Russia (38 medals), China and Ukraine (7 medals each).

TeamTitlesRunners-upThird place

Russia U18

(including USSR, CIS and Saint Petersburg XI)

20

9

9

Germany U18

(including West Germany)
4 (1981, 1984, 1992, 2006)1 (1986)1 (1990)
Belarus U181 (2007)1 (2008)3 (2003, 2004, 2005)
Finland U181 (2011)1 (2012)
South Korea1 (2003)1 (2015)
Slovenia U181 (2016)1 (2015)
Italy U181 (2012)
Japan1 (2014)
Argentina U181 (2019)
China5 (1988, 1990, 2001, 2003, 2011)2 (1991, 1992)
Turkey U183 (2007, 2009, 2018)3 (2010, 2012, 2019)
Ukraine U182 (2005, 2010)5 (2002, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013)
France U182 (1983, 1985)2 (1986, 1987)
Belgium U181 (1989)1 (1984)
Slovakia U181 (2006)1 (2014)
Brazil1 (1982)
Lithuania U181 (2002)
Poland U181 (2004)
Kazakhstan1 (2017)
Spain U181 (1981)

Czech Republic U18

(including Czechoslovakia)
1 (1983)
Iran1 (2001)

Performances by confederations

ConfederationTitlesRunners-up
UEFA28 (1981–2002, 2004–2013, 2015–2018)24 (1981, 1983–1987, 1989, 1991–1992, 2002, 2004–2010, 2012–2014, 2016–2019)
AFC2 (2003, 2014)5 (1988, 1990, 2001, 2003, 2011)
CONMEBOL1 (2019)1 (1982)
CAF––
CONCACAF––

See also

References

  1. ^ Valentin A.Granatkin Memorial - International Youth Tournament. rsssf.org
  2. ^ "Биография Гранаткина на сайте турнира, посвящённого его памяти". Archived from the original on 2013-01-06. Retrieved 2016-09-07.
  3. ^ "История Мемориала Валентина Гранаткина". Archived from the original on 2015-02-06. Retrieved 2016-09-07.