Granatkin Memorial
Founded1981
RegionInternational
Number of teams12 (2019)
Current champions Argentina (1st title)
Most successful club(s) Russia (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
1981 West Germany Soviet Union-1 Spain
2
1982 Soviet Union-1 Brazil Soviet Union-2
3
1983 Soviet Union-1 France Czechoslovakia
4
1984 West Germany Soviet Union-1 Belgium
5
1985 Soviet Union-1 France Soviet Union-2
6
1986 Soviet Union-1 West Germany France
7
1987 Soviet Union-1 Soviet Union-2 France
8
1988 Soviet Union-1 China Soviet Union-2
9
1989 Soviet Union-1 Belgium Soviet Union-2
10
1990 Soviet Union-1 China West Germany
11
1991 Soviet Union-2 Soviet Union-1 China
12
1992 West Germany CIS-1 China
13
2001 Russia China Iran
14
2002 Russia Lithuania Ukraine
15
2003 South Korea China Belarus
16
2004 Russia Poland Belarus
17
2005 Russia Ukraine Belarus
18
2006 Germany Slovakia Russia
19
2007 Belarus Turkey Russia
20
2008 Russia Belarus Ukraine
21
2009 Russia Turkey Ukraine
22
2010 Russia Ukraine Turkey
23
2011 Finland China Ukraine
24
2012 Italy Finland Turkey
25
2013 Russia Saint Petersburg Ukraine
26
2014 Japan Russia Slovakia
27
2015 Russia South Korea Slovenia
28
2016 Slovenia Saint Petersburg Russia
29
2017 Russia Kazakhstan Saint Petersburg
30
2018 Saint Petersburg Turkey Russia
31
2019 Argentina Russia Turkey
—
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).

Team Titles Runners-up Third place
 Russia
(including USSR, CIS and Saint Petersburg XI)
 20 9 9
 Germany
(including West Germany)
 4 (1981, 1984, 1992, 2006) 1 (1986) 1 (1990)
 Belarus 1 (2007) 1 (2008) 3 (2003, 2004, 2005)
 Finland 1 (2011) 1 (2012)
 South Korea 1 (2003) 1 (2015)
 Slovenia 1 (2016) 1 (2015)
 Italy 1 (2012)
 Japan 1 (2014)
 Argentina 1 (2019)
 China 5 (1988, 1990, 2001, 2003, 2011) 2 (1991, 1992)
 Turkey 3 (2007, 2009, 2018) 3 (2010, 2012, 2019)
 Ukraine 2 (2005, 2010) 5 (2002, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013)
 France 2 (1983, 1985) 2 (1986, 1987)
 Belgium 1 (1989) 1 (1984)
 Slovakia 1 (2006) 1 (2014)
 Brazil 1 (1982)
 Lithuania 1 (2002)
 Poland 1 (2004)
 Kazakhstan 1 (2017)
 Spain 1 (1981)
 Czech Republic
(including Czechoslovakia)
 1 (1983)
 Iran 1 (2001)

Performances by confederations

Confederation Titles Runners-up
UEFA 28 (1981–2002, 2004–2013, 2015–2018) 24 (1981, 1983–1987, 1989, 1991–1992, 2002, 2004–2010, 2012–2014, 2016–2019)
AFC 2 (2003, 2014) 5 (1988, 1990, 2001, 2003, 2011)
CONMEBOL 1 (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.
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