NFC Champions Cup
 | |
| Organising body | Nortua Football Confederation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1997 |
| Region | Nortua |
| Number of teams | 34 |
 2024 NFC Nations Cup | |
The NFC Champions Cup is an annual international football competition organized by the Nortua Football Confederation, and contested by top-division Nortuan clubs, deciding the competition winners through a round robin group stage to qualify for a double-legged knockout format, and a single leg final. It is the second most-watched club competition in the world, behind the EFC Champions League, and the fifth most-watched football competition overall behind only the aforementioned EFC Champions League, the EFC Nations League, NFC Nations Cup, and the World Cup. It is one of the most prestigious football tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in Nortuan football, played by the national league champions (and, for some nations, one or more runners-up) of their national associations.
In its present format, the Champions Cup begins in late February, usually following the World Cup, with a preliminary round, three qualifying rounds and a play-off round, all played over two legs. The six surviving teams enter the group stage, joining 26 teams qualified in advance. The 32 teams are drawn into eight groups of four teams and play each other in a double round-robin system. The eight group winners and eight runners-up proceed to the knockout phase that culminates with the final match in mid-late May. The winner of the Champions Cup automatically qualifies for the following year's Champions Cup.
Format
Qualification
The NFC Champions Cup begins with a double round-robin group stage of 32 teams, which is preceded by two qualification 'streams' for teams that do not receive direct entry to the tournament proper. The two streams are divided between teams qualified by virtue of being league champions, and those qualified by virtue of finishing second or third in their national championship.
Four of the remaining six qualifying places are granted to the winners of a six-round qualifying tournament between the remaining national champions, within which those champions from associations with higher coefficients receive byes to later rounds.
In addition to sporting criteria, any club must be licensed by its national association to participate in the Champions Cup. To obtain a license, the club must meet certain stadium, infrastructure and finance requirements.
Group stage and knockout phase
The tournament proper begins with a group stage of 32 teams, divided into eight groups of four. The draw to determine which teams go into each group is seeded based on teams' performance in NFC competitions, and no group may contain more than one club from each nation. Each team plays six group stage games, meeting the other three teams in its group home and away in a round-robin format. The winning team and the runners-up from each group then progress to the next round.
For the next stage – the last 16 – the winning team from one group plays against the runners-up from another group. From the quarter-finals onwards, the draw is entirely random, without association protection.
The group stage is played from February to April, whilst the knock-out stage starts in late-April or early May. The knock-out ties are played in a two-legged format, with the exception of the final. The final is typically held in the middle two weeks of May.
Results
| Season | Final | Third place play-off | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Score | Runner-up | Third | Score | Fourth | |
| 1997 |  Aalen-Brenz FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Runner-up |  Tessau FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Fourth |
| 1998 |  Asamandia FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
 FC Purac
|
 SK Torunzidis
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Pourmaun Polars
|
| 1999 |  Tinegard FK
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
|
Fourth |
| 2000 |  Millerrath City
|
score stadium, city, country
|
 Allengin FC
|
 Slanwell United
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Fourth |
| 2001 |  Rouville FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
|
Fourth |
| 2002 |  Tyrnatini FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
 FC Peggau Laitstadt
|
 Vostoc FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
 Port Casarta FC
|
| 2003 | FC Neidenstein-Rot
|
score stadium, city, country
|
 Ambaliana FC
|
Aassillit FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Harlingen FC
|
| 2004 | Allengin FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
 Tarasto FC
|
Etlannai
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Keschem FC
|
| 2005 | FC Schwarz-Weiß Melmingen
|
score stadium, city, country
|
 Rød Sol
|
 Selika Hammerheads
|
score stadium, city, country
|
 Kasema United
|
| 2006 |  Apelnisse United
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Wellvale United
|
FC Halsholm Jakartaburg
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Nordfjall BK
|
| 2007 |  Vogoci FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Runner-up |  Chamart FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Fourth |
| 2008 | Gvardia Varšava
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Asamandia FC
|
Allengin FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
FC Sümmingen
|
| 2009 | SK Torunzidis
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Harlingen FC
|
Vostoc FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Fourth |
| 2010 | winner | score stadium, city, country
|
Norasa FC
|
Millerrath City
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Slanwell United
|
| 2011 | Rød Sol
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Selika Hammerheads
|
Port Casarta FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Tinegard FK
|
| 2012 | Aassillit FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Chamart FC
|
Kasema United
|
score stadium, city, country
|
SK Lyco
|
| 2013 | Eçio FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Autrataya Union
|
Hillsberg FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Tyrnatini FC
|
| 2014 | Rakohovo FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
IFK Brekket
|
Eblium FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Tarasto FC
|
| 2015 | Harlingen FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
FC Schwarz-Weiß Melmingen
|
Vogoci FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Ambaliana FC
|
| 2016 | FC Selonia-Benn
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Oftbon-Mells FC
|
Rød Sol
|
score stadium, city, country
|
FC Purac
|
| 2017 | Vepovo United
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Aalen-Brenz FC
|
Tessau FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Port Casarta FC
|
| 2018 | Rød Sol
|
score stadium, city, country
|
 Cascay Club
|
Kasema United
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Aalen-Brenz FC
|
| 2019 | SK Lyco
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Tinegard FK
|
Eçio FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Pourmaun Polars
|
| 2020 | FC Schwarz-Weiß Melmingen
|
score stadium, city, country
|
FC Selonia-Benn
|
Allhofen United
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Norasa FC
|
| 2021 | Oskarsviik FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Wellvale United
|
Tinegard FK
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Highsite FC
|
| 2022 | Allhofen United
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Loughdalk FC
|
FC Schwarz-Weiß Melmingen
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Balgita City
|
| 2023 | Slanwell United
|
score stadium, city, country
|
Gran Telea FC
|
Oskarsviik FC
|
score stadium, city, country
|
FC Sümmingen
|
| 2024 | winner | score stadium, city, country
|
Runner-up | Third | score stadium, city, country
|
Fourth |