European Cups Semifinal Balance


See the file on European Cups Trivia for additional clubwise data on quarterfinal appearances.


  • Country Classification
  • Final winning ratios
  • Semifinal-to-Cup ratios
  • Top Five
  • The Club List

  • Country Classification

    (according to number of cups won):
    
    up-to-date as of Sep 30, 2020 (after Super Cup final 2020)
    
                   Cups Won    Diff Winners     Finals    Diff Finalists  Semifinals    Diff Semis    SC IC
    Country       C1 C2 C3 Tt   C1 C2 C3 Tt   C1 C2 C3 Tt   C1 C2 C3 Tt   C1 C2 C3 Tt   C1 C2 C3 Tt
    
    Spain         18  7 18 43    2  4  6  6   29 14 26 69    4  6  9 10   57 19 43 119   7  7 13 16   15 11
    
    England       13  8 13 34    5  7  8 13   22 13 24 59    8  9 13 18   42 21 36 99   10 10 14 19    8  3
    
    Italy         12  7 10 29    3  6  5  9   28 11 19 58    6  6  8 10   37 20 38 95    6 11 12 15    9  9
    
    Germany        8  4  6 18    3  4  5  8   18  8 14 40    6  7 10 12   34 17 41 92    9 13 14 19    2  4
    
    Netherlands    6  1  4 11    3  1  3  3    8  2  7 17    3  1  5  5   14  8 10 32    3  4  5  5    3  3
    
    Portugal       4  1  2  7    2  1  1  3    9  2  7 18    2  2  4  4   11  5 11 27    2  3  5  5    1  2
    
    Belgium           3  1  4       2  1  2    1  7  4 12    1  4  2  5    4 12  9 25    3  7  6 11    3
    
    Scotland       1  2     3    1  2     3    2  4  3  9    1  2  3  4    8  8  7 23    5  4  6  8    1
    Ukraine           2  1  3       1  1  2       2  2  4       1  2  3    3  2  5 10    1  1  3  3    1
    
    France         1  1     2    1  1     2    7  3  5 15    5  2  3  7   17  9 11 37    8  6  9 12
    Sweden               2  2          1  1    1     2  3    1     1  2    2     2  4    2     1  2
    Russia               2  2          2  2       1  2  3       1  2  3    1  6  3 10    1  3  3  5    1
    
    Serbia         1        1    1        1    2     1  3    2     1  2    4  2  4 10    2  2  3  5       1
    Romania        1        1    1        1    2        2    1        1    4  1  2  7    2  1  2  3    1
    East Germany      1     1       1     1       3     3       3     3       6  2  8       5  2  6
    Slovakia          1     1       1     1       1     1       1     1    1  1     2    1  1     2
    Georgia           1     1       1     1       1     1       1     1       2     2       1     1
    Hungary              1  1          1  1       2  4  6       2  3  4    3  3  7 13    3  3  4  6
    Croatia              1  1          1  1          2  2          1  1       2  3  5       2  2  2        
    Turkey               1  1          1  1          1  1          1  1    1     3  4    1     3  3    1
    
    Austria                                       3  1  4       2  1  3    2  4  3  9    2  2  2  4
    Greece                                     1        1    1        1    3     1  4    1     1  2
    Poland                                        1     1       1     1    2  2     4    2  2     3
    
    Switzerland                                                            3     3  6    2     3  5
    Czech Republic                                                         1  3  2  6    1  3  2  5
    Bulgaria                                                               2  2     4    1  2     2
    Wales                                                                     1     1       1     1
    Bosnia-Herz.                                                                 1  1          1  1
    Denmark                                                                      1  1          1  1
    
    Totals        65 39 62 166  22 32 36 62                             256 156 248 660               46 33
                                            130 78 124 332 41 51 69 102                75 94 117 172
    
    Notes:
    
     1.There were no semifinals in the 1991/92 and 1992/93 editions of the Champions Cup.
     2.C1=Champions' Cup (League), C2=Cup Winners' Cup, C3=Fairs' Cup/UEFA Cup/Europa League.
     3.SC=Super Cup, IC=Intercontinental Club Cup/FIFA Club World Championship/FIFA Club World Cup.
    


    Final winning ratios

    NB: only finals against foreign opposition are included.
    
    Czechoslovakia    1/ 1   = 1.00
    Turkey            1/ 1   = 1.00
    Soviet Union      6/ 8   = 0.75 [includes (since split) Russia 2/ 2, Ukraine 1/ 2]
    Sweden            2/ 3   = 0.67             
    Spain            35/53   = 0.66 [8 inter-Spanish finals;    43/69 = 0.62]
    Netherlands      11/17   = 0.65
    England          30/51   = 0.59 [4 inter-English finals;    34/59 = 0.58]
    Italy            24/48   = 0.50 [5 inter-Italian finals;    29/58 = 0.50]
    Romania           1/ 2   = 0.50
    Germany          16/36   = 0.44 [2 inter-German finals;     18/40 = 0.45]
    Yugoslavia        2/ 5   = 0.40
    Portugal          6/16   = 0.38 [1 inter-Portuguese final;   7/18 = 0.39]
    Belgium           4/12   = 0.33
    Scotland          3/ 9   = 0.33
    East Germany      1/ 3   = 0.33
    Hungary           1/ 6   = 0.17
    France            2/15   = 0.13
    Greece            0/ 1   = 0.00
    Poland            0/ 1   = 0.00
    Austria           0/ 4   = 0.00
    
    Note that among the "top five" (countries with 10 or more cups), the Netherlands and
    Spain have won almost two thirds of their finals (only counting those with foreign
    opposition), while French clubs fail at the final hurdle with impressive consistency.
    

    Semifinal-to-Cup ratios

    NB: not adjusted for "internal meetings".
    
    Sweden            2/  4   = 0.50
    Spain            43/119   = 0.36
    Netherlands      11/ 32   = 0.34
    England          34/ 99   = 0.34
    Italy            29/ 95   = 0.31          
    Soviet Union      6/ 22   = 0.27 [includes (since split) Russia 2/ 5, Ukraine 1/ 6] 
    Portugal          7/ 27   = 0.26           
    Turkey            1/  4   = 0.25    
    Germany          18/ 92   = 0.20
    Belgium           4/ 25   = 0.16
    Romania           1/  7   = 0.14
    Scotland          3/ 23   = 0.13
    Yugoslavia        2/ 16   = 0.13
    Czechoslovakia    1/  8   = 0.13 [includes (since split) Czech Republic 0/ 1]
    East Germany      1/  8   = 0.13
    Hungary           1/ 13   = 0.08
    France            2/ 37   = 0.05
    Denmark           0/  1   = 0.00
    Wales             0/  1   = 0.00
    Bulgaria          0/  4   = 0.00
    Greece            0/  4   = 0.00
    Poland            0/  4   = 0.00
    Switzerland       0/  6   = 0.00
    Austria           0/  9   = 0.00
    
    Again, the French record is woeful beyond belief, while the Hungarians and 
    Austrians also made little or no impact beyond the semifinal stage.  Alone
    among the "top five" (countries with 10 or more cups), the Germans score 
    under 20%, while the other four have a success rate of about one in three.
    

    Top Five

    It currently is customary to refer to the "Top Five" European leagues as those of (in alphabetical order) England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. While this may seem justified in terms of financial prowess, population of the countries (ignoring Russia) and position on UEFA's coefficient ranking in recent years, historically this is blatantly absurd – to put it mildly. Of course, as can be seen above, Spain, England, Italy and Germany (in that order) have been the most successful leagues in terms of cups won, finals played, and semifinals reached, and the four are at a roughly comparable level (although Germany's success rate at the semifinal stage makes poor reading compared to the other three).

    However, the inclusion of France with the other four is clearly ludicrous. In terms of cups won, they barely managed 10 percent of Germany's total (the least successful of the top four) and lag far behind both the Netherlands and Portugal. Even Belgium won twice as many European cups as France, and that is excluding the three Super Cups that Anderlecht and KV Mechelen secured together. If we would include those, countries such as Romania, Sweden and Turkey all won exactly as many European trophies as la Grande Nation, while Scotland and the Ukraine managed double the Gallic total.

    And while the numbers look a little better in terms of finals played (15 for France, as compared to 40 for Germany and nearly 60 or more for the top three countries), still the French clubs only manage a meagre seventh place, below Portugal (18) and the Netherlands (17). Only when we start looking at semifinals reached, France are in fifth place, somewhat ahead of the Netherlands and Portugal but far, far behind the top four (less than 40 for France, more than 90 for each of the top four). Going down to the number of quarterfinals reached does not change the picture: Spain lead with over 180, while England, Germany and Italy all boast more than 150, more than double France's total (73) which is only insignificantly higher than the corresponding numbers for Portugal (69) and the Netherlands (66). (All numbers as after the conclusion of the 2019/20 season, or 65 years of European competition.)

    In conclusion, including France among the "Top Five" European football leagues is every bit as nonsensical as the (mostly British) habit of referring to the "Big Four" tennis players of the first two decades of the twenty-first century, as those four include three all-time greats with more than 15 Grand Slam titles each and one British player who has, in that respect, been equally successful as the second best Swiss player of the era. Thus, "The Big Four", apart from quite possibly the worst work of detective fiction ever written by Agatha Christie, is one of the most outrageously ridiculous misnomers in contemporary sports writing. It would make far more sense when referring to European football leagues.


    The Club List

                               Cups Won   Finals Reached  Semis Reached Country       SC IC
    Club                      C1 C2 C3 Tt   C1 C2 C3 Tt    C1 C2 C3 Tt                45 33
    
    1-2 [10 or more cups]
    Real Madrid               13     2 15   16  2  2 20    29  2  3 34  Spain 1        4  7
    Barcelona                  5  4  3 12    8  6  4 18    17  6  8 31  Spain 2        5  3
    
    3-5 [8 or 9 cups]
    Milan                      7  2     9   11  3    14    13  3  2 18  Italy 1        5  4
    Liverpool                  6     3  9    9  1  4 14    11  2  6 19  England 1      4  1
    Bayern München             6  1  1  8   11  1  1 13    20  4  4 28  Germany 1      2  3
    
    6-9 [6 or 7 cups]
    Ajax                       4  1  1  6    6  2  2 10     9  2  3 14  Netherlands 1  3  2
    Internazionale             3     3  6    5     5 10     8    10 18  Italy 2           3
    Juventus                   2  1  3  6    9  1  6 16    12  3  8 23  Italy 3        2  2
    Sevilla                          6  6          6  6           6  6  Spain 3        1
    
    10-14 [4 or 5 cups]
    Manchester United          3  1  1  5    5  1  1  7    12  2  3 17  England 2      1  2
    Chelsea                    1  2  2  5    2  2  2  6     7  4  3 14  England 3      1
    Porto                      2     2  4    2  1  2  5     3  1  2  6  Portugal 1     1  2 
    Atlético Madrid               1  3  4    3  3  3  9     6  5  6 17  Spain 4        3  1
    Valencia                      1  3  4    2  1  4  7     2  1  7 10  Spain 5        2
    
    15-18 [3 cups]
    Feyenoord                  1     2  3    1     2  3     2  3  2  7  Netherlands 2     1
    Anderlecht                    2  1  3       4  3  7     2  4  3  9  Belgium 1      2
    Parma                         1  2  3       2  2  4        2  3  5  Italy 4        1
    Tottenham Hotspur             1  2  3    1  1  3  5     2  2  4  8  England 4      
    
    19-22 [2 cups, at least 1 EC1]
    Benfica                    2        2    7     3 10     8  2  4 14  Portugal 2
    Nottingham Forest          2        2    2        2     2     1  3  England 5      1
    Hamburger SV               1  1     2    2  2  1  5     3  2  4  9  Germany 2
    Borussia Dortmund          1  1     2    2  1  2  5     4  1  3  8  Germany 3         1
    PSV                        1     1  2    1     1  2     3  2  1  6  Netherlands 3
    
    23-29 [2 cups, no EC1]
    Dynamo Kyiv                   2     2       2     2     3  2  1  6  Ukraine 1      1
    Arsenal                       1  1  2    1  3  3  7     2  3  4  9  England 6
    Real Zaragoza                 1  1  2       1  2  3        3  2  5  Spain 6
    Leeds United                     2  2    1  1  3  5     3  1  5  9  England 7   
    Borussia Mönchengladbach         2  2    1     4  5     2  1  5  8  Germany 4
    IFK Göteborg                     2  2          2  2     1     2  3  Sweden 1
    
    30-34 [1 EC1]
    Olympique de Marseille     1        1    2     3  5     3  1  3  7  France 1
    Celtic                     1        1    2     1  3     4  2  1  7  Scotland 1
    Steaua Bucuresti           1        1    2        2     3     1  4  Romania 1      1
    Crvena zvezda Beograd      1        1    1     1  2     3  1  2  6  Yugoslavia 1      1
    Aston Villa                1        1    1        1     1        1  England 8      1
    
    35-42 [1 EC2, more finals]
    Fiorentina                    1     1    1  2  1  4     1  3  3  7  Italy 5
    Rangers                       1     1       3  1  4     1  3  2  6  Scotland 2
    FC Paris Saint-Germain        1     1    1  2     3     2  3  1  6  France 2
    Sampdoria                     1     1    1  2     3     1  3     4  Italy 6
    West Ham United               1     1       2     2        3     3  England 9
    Sporting CP                   1     1       1  1  2        2  3  5  Portugal 3
    Werder Bremen                 1     1       1  1  2        1  4  5  Germany 5
    SS Lazio                      1     1       1  1  2        1  2  3  Italy 7        1
    
    43-49 [1 EC2, no other finals]
    Manchester City               1     1       1     1     1  2     3  England 10
    Aberdeen                      1     1       1     1        2     2  Scotland 3     1
    KV Mechelen                   1     1       1     1        2     2  Belgium 2      1
    Dynamo Tbilisi                1     1       1     1        2     2  Georgia 1
    Everton                       1     1       1     1        1     1  England 11
    1.FC Magdeburg                1     1       1     1        1     1  East Germany 1
    Slovan Bratislava             1     1       1     1        1     1  Slovakia 1
    
    50-62 [1 EC3]
    Roma                             1  1    1     2  3     2  1  3  6  Italy 8
    Ferencváros                      1  1       1  2  3        1  4  5  Hungary 1
    Eintracht Frankfurt              1  1    1     1  2     1  1  3  5  Germany 6
    Bayer Leverkusen                 1  1    1     1  2     1     2  3  Germany 7
    Dynamo Zagreb                    1  1          2  2        1  2  3  Croatia 1
    Schalke 04                       1  1          1  1     1  1  2  4  Germany 8
    Napoli                           1  1          1  1        1  2  3  Italy 9
    Shahtar Donets'k                 1  1          1  1           3  3  Ukraine 2 
    Galatasaray SK                   1  1          1  1     1     1  2  Turkey 1       1
    Newcastle United                 1  1          1  1           2  2  England 12
    CSKA Moskva                      1  1          1  1           1  1  Russia 1
    Ipswich Town                     1  1          1  1           1  1  England 13
    Zenit Sankt-Peterburg            1  1          1  1           1  1  Russia 2       1
    
    63-69 [reached EC1 finals]
    Stade Reims                              2        2     2        2  France 3
    AS Monaco                                1  1     2     4  2  1  7  France 4
    Club Brugge KV                           1     1  2     1  1  2  4  Belgium 3
    Panathinaikos                            1        1     3        3  Greece 1
    AS Saint-Etienne                         1        1     2        2  France 5
    Malmö FF                                 1        1     1        1  Sweden 2
    Partizan Beograd                         1        1     1        1  Yugoslavia 2
    
    70-82 [reached EC2 finals]
    Rapid Wien                                  2     2     1  2     3  Austria 1
    VfB Stuttgart                               1  1  2        1  3  4  Germany 9
    Austria Wien                                1     1     1  2     3  Austria 2
    Dynamo Moskva                               1     1        3     3  Russia 3
    Standard Ličge                              1     1     1  2     3  Belgium 4
    Carl Zeiss Jena                             1     1        2     2  East Germany 2
    1.FC Lokomotive Leipzig                     1     1        1  1  2  East Germany 3
    MTK Budapest                                1     1        1  1  2  Hungary 2
    Antwerp                                     1     1        1     1  Belgium 5
    Fortuna Düsseldorf                          1     1        1     1  Germany 10
    Górnik Zabrze                               1     1        1     1  Poland 1
    RCD Mallorca                                1     1        1     1  Spain 7
    TSV 1860 München                            1     1        1     1  Germany 11
    
    83-102 [reached EC3 finals]
    Birmingham City                                2  2           3  3  England 14
    Athletic Bilbao                                2  2           2  2  Spain 8
    Espanyol                                       2  2           2  2  Spain 9
    1.FC Köln                                      1  1     1  1  6  8  Germany 12
    FC Girondins de Bordeaux                       1  1     1  1  1  3  France 6
    Újpesti Dózsa                                  1  1     1  1  1  3  Hungary 3
    FC Twente                                      1  1        1  2  3  Netherlands 4
    Dundee United                                  1  1     1     1  2  Scotland 4
    Torino                                         1  1        1  1  2  Italy 10 
    Wolverhampton Wanderers                        1  1        1  1  2  England 15
    Austria/RB Salzburg                            1  1           2  2  Austria 3
    AZ '67                                         1  1           2  2  Netherlands 5
    Alavés                                         1  1           1  1  Spain 10
    SEC Bastia                                     1  1           1  1  France 7
    SC Braga                                       1  1           1  1  Portugal 4
    Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk                          1  1           1  1  Ukraine 3
    Fulham                                         1  1           1  1  England 16
    London Select XI                               1  1           1  1  England 17
    Middlesbrough                                  1  1           1  1  England 18
    Videoton Székesfehérvár                        1  1           1  1  Hungary 4
    
    103-122 [EC1 semifinalists]
    Olympique Lyonnais                                      2  1  1  4  France 8
    Villarreal CF                                           1     3  4  Spain 11
    CSKA Sofia                                              2  1     3  Bulgaria 1
    Spartak Moskva                                          1  1  1  3  Russia 4
    FC Zürich                                               2        2  Switzerland 1
    Deportivo La Coruńa                                     1  1     2  Spain 12
    Dinamo Bucuresti                                        1  1     2  Romania 2
    Dukla Praha                                             1  1     2  Czech Rep 1
    Legia Warszawa                                          1  1     2  Poland 2
    FC Nantes                                               1  1     2  France 9
    Dundee                                                  1     1  2  Scotland 5
    Hibernian                                               1     1  2  Scotland 6
    Derby County                                            1        1  England 19
    ETO Györ                                                1        1  Hungary 5
    RB Leipzig                                              1        1  Germany 13
    Real Sociedad                                           1        1  Spain 13
    Spartak Trnava                                          1        1  Slovakia 2
    Vasas Budapest                                          1        1  Hungary 6
    Widzew Lódz                                             1        1  Poland 3
    BSC Young Boys                                          1        1  Switzerland 2
    
    123-138 [EC2 semifinalists]
    Lokomotiv Moskva                                           2     2  Russia 5
    Hajduk Split                                               1  1  2  Croatia 2
    Atalanta                                                   1     1  Italy 11
    Banik Ostrava                                              1     1  Czech Rep 2
    Bayer Uerdingen                                            1     1  Germany 14
    Beveren                                                    1     1  Belgium 6
    Cardiff City                                               1     1  Wales 1
    Dunfermline Athletic                                       1     1  Scotland 7
    BFC Dynamo                                                 1     1  East Germany 4
    1.FC Nürnberg                                              1     1  Germany 15
    OFK Beograd                                                1     1  Yugoslavia 3
    Sachsenring Zwickau                                        1     1  East Germany 5
    Slavia Sofia                                               1     1  Bulgaria 2
    Sparta Praha                                               1     1  Czech Rep 3
    THOR Waterschei                                            1     1  Belgium 7
    Vicenza                                                    1     1  Italy 12
    
    139-172 [EC3 semifinalists]
    Bologna                                                       2  2  Italy 13
    1.FC Kaiserslautern                                           2  2  Germany 16
    AEK                                                           1  1  Greece 2
    AJ Auxerre                                                    1  1  France 10
    FC Basel                                                      1  1  Switzerland 3
    Beograd XI                                                    1  1  Yugoslavia 4
    Boavista FC                                                   1  1  Portugal 5
    Bohemians Praha                                               1  1  Czech Rep 4
    Brřndbyernes IF                                               1  1  Denmark 1
    Cagliari                                                      1  1  Italy 14
    Celta (Vigo)                                                  1  1  Spain 14
    Dynamo Dresden                                                1  1  East Germany 6
    Fenerbahçe                                                    1  1  Turkey 2
    Genoa 1893                                                    1  1  Italy 15
    Göztepe Izmir                                                 1  1  Turkey 3
    Grasshopper Club                                              1  1  Switzerland 4
    Hertha BSC                                                    1  1  Germany 17
    Karlsruher SC                                                 1  1  Germany 18
    Kilmarnock                                                    1  1  Scotland 8
    Lausanne Sports                                               1  1  Switzerland 5
    RC Lens                                                       1  1  France 11
    FC Ličge                                                      1  1  Belgium 8
    MSV Duisburg                                                  1  1  Germany 19
    Osasuna (Pamplona)                                            1  1  Spain 15
    Radnicki Nis                                                  1  1  Yugoslavia 5
    RWD Molenbeek                                                 1  1  Belgium 9
    Slavia Praha                                                  1  1  Czech Rep 5
    FC Sochaux                                                    1  1  France 12
    CD Tenerife                                                   1  1  Spain 16
    FC Tirol                                                      1  1  Austria 4
    Union St. Gilles                                              1  1  Belgium 10
    Universitatea Craiova                                         1  1  Romania 3
    Waregem                                                       1  1  Belgium 11
    Zeljeznicar Sarajevo                                          1  1  Bosnia-H 1
    
    

    About this document

    Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

    Author: Karel Stokkermans
    Last updated: 29 Sep 2020

    (C) Copyright Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 1995/2020
    You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the author. All rights reserved.