Kirin Cup Soccer

The Kirin Cup Soccer (キリンカップサッカー) is an association football tournament organised in Japan by the Kirin Brewery Company. The host, Japan, is a participant in every edition. The tournament was founded in 1978 then known as Japan Cup (International competition which national teams and clubs participated in), and was last held in its full form in 2022.

From 1992 onwards, the format was changed to a round robin national team competition. The first nation to win the competition was Argentina. Japan are the tournament's most successful team with eleven titles, followed by Peru with three titles. As of 2022, the current cup holders are Tunisia.

Since the start of the international competitions in 1992, the tournament has hosted a variety of teams from South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Out of the South American members of CONMEBOL who have been invited (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Peru), Peru have been the most successful (three titles).

Out of the European invitees, there have been seven different champions, the most successful being the Czech Republic with two titles, with Hungary, France, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Slovakia and Scotland winning one title each. Aside from Japan, the only other Asian country to have won the tournament are the United Arab Emirates (2005), who shared the title with Peru.

In addition to the annual Kirin Cup Soccer there are a few Kirin Challenge Cup (キリンチャレンジカップ、キリンチャレンジ杯), friendlies also sponsored by the Kirin Corporation, played throughout the year in Japan. Japan took out the most recent 2021 Kirin Challenge Cup with 1–0 win over Serbia on 11 June 2021.

Tournaments
All times are Japan standard time (UTC+9)

1978 Japan Cup
Won by Borussia Mönchengladbach and Palmeiras. In the semi final Palmeiras beat English club Coventry City 1-0.

1979 Japan Cup
Won by Tottenham Hotspur.

1980 Japan Cup Kirin World Soccer
Won by Middlesbrough F.C.

1981 Japan Cup Kirin World Soccer
Won by Club Brugge KV.

2016 Kirin Cup Soccer
Kirin Cup returned in 2016, under a new name and format: Kirin Cup Soccer 2016.

2020 Kirin Challenge Cup
On 17 July, Japan national under-23 football team was planning to hold the 2020 Kirin Challenge Cup at Noevir Stadium Kobe, but it was cancelled due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

2021 Kirin Challenge Cup
''The friendly against 🇯🇲 jamaica on 3 June 2021 was cancelled due to multiple Jamaican players being unable to board their flight to Japan on account of not meeting the Japanese government's pre-travel COVID-19 testing requirements. The fixture was replaced with a match against the Japan under-24 team. ''

This match between Japanese teams was a substitute match for the Kirin Challenge Cup, which was a charity match, not the Kirin Challenge Cup.

2021 Kirin Challenge Cup (Under-24)
Japan, Honduras and Spain participated in the Kirin Challenge Cup (Under-24) 2021.

2022 Kirin Cup Soccer
2022 Kirin Cup Soccer was held between 10 and 14 June 2022, in a four-nation tournament format. Tunisia have won their first title, defeating Japan 3–0 in the final.
 * Teams
 * 🇯🇵 japan
 * 🇬🇭 ghana
 * 🇹🇳 tunisia
 * 🇹🇳 tunisia



Clubs

 * 1978: Borussia Mönchengladbach and 🇧🇷 SE Palmeiras (Shared)
 * 1979: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tottenham Hotspur
 * 1980: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Middlesbrough
 * 1981: 🇧🇪 Club Brugge
 * 1982: Werder Bremen
 * 1983: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Newcastle United
 * 1984: 🇧🇷 Internacional
 * 1985: 🇧🇷 Santos
 * 1986: Werder Bremen
 * 1987: 🇧🇷 Fluminense
 * 1988: 🇧🇷 CR Flamengo
 * 1989: Not Held
 * 1990: Not Held

National teams

 * 1992: 🇦🇷 argentina
 * 1993: 🇭🇺 hungary
 * 1994: 🇫🇷 france
 * 1995: 🇯🇵 japan
 * 1996: 🇯🇵 japan
 * 1997: 🇯🇵 japan
 * 1998: 🇨🇿 czech republic
 * 1999: 🇧🇪 belgium and 🇵🇪 peru (Shared)
 * 2000: 🇯🇵 japan and 🇸🇰 slovakia (Shared)
 * 2001: 🇯🇵 japan
 * 2002: Not Finished
 * 2003: Not Finished
 * 2004: 🇯🇵 japan
 * 2005: 🇵🇪 peru and (Shared)
 * 2006:
 * 2007: 🇯🇵 japan
 * 2008: 🇯🇵 japan
 * 2009: 🇯🇵 japan
 * 2010: Not Held
 * 2011: 🇯🇵 japan, 🇨🇿 czech republic and 🇵🇪 peru (Shared)
 * 2012: Not Held
 * 2013: Not Held
 * 2014: Not Held
 * 2015: Not Held
 * 2016: 🇧🇦 bosnia and herzegovina
 * 2017: Not Held
 * 2018: Not Held
 * 2019: Not Held
 * 2020: Not Held
 * 2021: Not Held
 * 2022: 🇹🇳 tunisia