1997 FIFA Confederations Cup

1997 FIFA Confederations Cup
1997 السعودية
1997 FIFA Confederations Cup official logo
Tournament details
Host countrySaudi Arabia
CityRiyadh
Dates12–21 December
Teams8 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Brazil (1st title)
Runners-up Australia
Third place Czech Republic
Fourth place Uruguay
Tournament statistics
Matches played16
Goals scored52 (3.25 per match)
Attendance333,500 (20,844 per match)
Top scorer(s)Brazil Romário (7 goals)
Best player(s)Brazil Denílson
Fair play award South Africa
1995
1999

The 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup was the first Confederations Cup to be organized by FIFA. The tournament had previously been played in 1992 and 1995 as the King Fahd Cup. This edition of the tournament was hosted by Saudi Arabia, as with the previous editions, in December 1997 and was the first to feature representatives from all of the FIFA confederations.

It was won by Brazil, who, in a rematch of their goalless group stage encounter, beat Australia 6–0 in the final. After winning the 1997 tournament, Brazil became the first country to be the reigning champion of both major FIFA tournaments (the World Cup and the Confederations Cup), as well as champion of their respective confederation by winning the 1997 Copa América. This feat has since been accomplished once by France, victorious in the 1998 World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000 and the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup.

Qualified teams

Team Confederation Qualification method Date qualification secured Participation no.
 Saudi Arabia AFC Hosts and 1996 AFC Asian Cup winners 3rd
 Brazil CONMEBOL 1994 FIFA World Cup winners 17 July 1994 1st
 Uruguay CONMEBOL 1995 Copa América winners 22 July 1995 1st
 Mexico CONCACAF 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup winners 20 January 1996 2nd
 South Africa CAF 1996 African Cup of Nations winners 3 February 1996 1st
 Czech Republic UEFA UEFA Euro 1996 runners-up1 30 June 1996 1st
 Australia OFC 1996 OFC Nations Cup winners 1 November 1996 1st
 United Arab Emirates AFC 1996 AFC Asian Cup runners-up2 21 December 1996 1st

1Germany, the UEFA Euro 1996 winner, declined to participate. Czech Republic, the runners-up, were invited to their place.

2The United Arab Emirates was awarded a spot in the competition because Saudi Arabia had won the 1996 AFC Asian Cup.

Venue

All matches were played in 67,000-seat King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh.[citation needed]

Match referees

Squads

Group stage

1997 FIFA Confederations Cup participating teams

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Brazil 3 2 1 0 6 2 +4 7
 Australia 3 1 1 1 3 2 +1 4
 Mexico 3 1 0 2 8 6 +2 3
 Saudi Arabia (H) 3 1 0 2 1 8 −7 3

(H) Hosts

Saudi Arabia 0–3 Brazil
Report César Sampaio 65'
Romário 73', 80'
Attendance: 80,000

Mexico 1–3 Australia
Hernández 80' (pen.) Report Viduka 45'
Aloisi 59'
Mori 90'

Saudi Arabia 0–5 Mexico
Report Palencia 20', 62'
Blanco 68', 76'
Luna 75'

Australia 0–0 Brazil
Report

Saudi Arabia 1–0 Australia
Al-Khilaiwi 40' Report

Brazil 3–2 Mexico
Romário 41' (pen.)
Denílson 61'
Júnior Baiano 66'
Report Blanco 51'
Ramírez 90'

Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Uruguay 3 3 0 0 8 4 +4 9
 Czech Republic 3 1 1 1 9 5 +4 4
 United Arab Emirates 3 1 0 2 2 8 −6 3
 South Africa 3 0 1 2 5 7 −2 1
United Arab Emirates 0–2 Uruguay
Report Olivera 45+2'
Pacheco 90+2'

South Africa 2–2 Czech Republic
Augustine 39'
Mkhalele 86'
Report Šmicer 19', 40'

United Arab Emirates 1–0 South Africa
H. Mubarak 1' Report
Attendance: 11,000

Czech Republic 1–2 Uruguay
Siegl 89' Report Olivera 26'
Zalayeta 88'
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: Saad Mane (Kuwait)

United Arab Emirates 1–6 Czech Republic
Al Talyani 78' Report Obaid 11' (o.g.)
Nedvěd 22', 31'
Šmicer 42', 68', 71'
Attendance: 8,000

Uruguay 4–3 South Africa
Silva 12', 66'
Recoba 42'
Callejas 90'
Report Radebe 11'
Mkhalele 69'
Ndlanya 77'

Knockout stage

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
December 19 - Riyadh
 
 
 Brazil2
 
December 21 - Riyadh
 
 Czech Republic0
 
 Brazil6
 
December 19 - Riyadh
 
 Australia0
 
 Uruguay0
 
 
 Australia (a.e.t.)1
 
Third place
 
 
December 21 - Riyadh
 
 
 Czech Republic1
 
 
 Uruguay0

Semi-finals

Brazil 2–0 Czech Republic
Romário 54'
Ronaldo 83'
Report

Uruguay 0–1 (a.e.t./g.g.) Australia
Report Kewell gold-colored soccer ball 92'
Attendance: 22,000

Third place play-off

Czech Republic 1–0 Uruguay
Lasota 63' Report

Final

Brazil 6–0 Australia
Ronaldo 15', 27', 59'
Romário 38', 53', 75' (pen.)
Report

Awards

Golden Ball Golden Shoe FIFA Fair Play Trophy
Brazil Denílson Brazil Romário  South Africa
Silver Ball Silver Shoe
Brazil Romário Czech Republic Vladimír Šmicer
Bronze Ball Bronze Shoe
Czech Republic Vladimír Šmicer Brazil Ronaldo

Source: FIFA[1]

Statistics

Goalscorers

Romário received the Golden Shoe award for scoring seven goals. In total, 52 goals were scored by 32 different players, with only one of them credited as own goal.

7 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Own goal

Tournament ranking

Per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Final result
1 A  Brazil 5 4 1 0 14 2 +12 13 Champions
2 A  Australia 5 2 1 2 4 8 −4 7 Runners-up
3 B  Czech Republic 5 2 1 2 10 7 +3 7 Third place
4 B  Uruguay 5 3 0 2 8 6 +2 9 Fourth place
5 A  Mexico 3 1 0 2 8 6 +2 3 Eliminated in
group stage
6 B  United Arab Emirates 3 1 0 2 2 8 −6 3
7 A  Saudi Arabia (H) 3 1 0 2 1 8 −7 3
8 B  South Africa 3 0 1 2 5 7 −2 1
Source: FIFA[2]
(H) Hosts

Team of the Tournament

[3]

Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards

Saudi Arabia Mohamed Al-Deayea

Czech Republic Michal Horňák
South Africa Mark Fish
Brazil Júnior Baiano
South Africa David Nyathi

Australia Ned Zelic
Brazil Dunga
Brazil Roberto Carlos
Uruguay Nicolás Olivera

Czech Republic Vladimír Šmicer
Brazil Romário

See also

References

  1. ^ "FIFA Confederations Cup Saudi Arabia 1997 | Awards". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Archived from the original on 2 January 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  2. ^ "Statistical Kit: FIFA Confederations Cup (FCC 2017 post-event edition) – Ranking by tournament" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 10 July 2017. p. 21. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Soccer Nostalgia: FIFA Confederations Cup-Part Five (1997 FIFA Confederations Cup)". 3 February 2018.