Tuesday, 6 October 2026

Baltic Cup

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, with one guest nation since 2012 · Every two years

HoldersEstonia2026
Most titlesLatvia13 titles
Editions301928 to 2026
Founded1928
All Baltic Cup news →

Past winners

YearChampionsRunners-upThird placeFourth place
2026 Estonia6 Lithuania Faroe Islands Latvia
2024 Estonia5 Lithuania Latvia Faroe Islands
2022 Iceland1 Latvia Estonia Lithuania
2020 Estonia4 Latvia Lithuania
2018 Latvia13 Estonia Lithuania
2016 Latvia12 Lithuania Estonia
2014 Latvia11 Lithuania Finland Estonia
2012 Latvia10 Finland Estonia Lithuania
2010 Lithuania10 Latvia Estonia
2008 Latvia9 Lithuania Estonia
2005 Lithuania9 Latvia Estonia did not participate due to scheduling conflicts.
2003 Latvia8 Lithuania Estonia
2001 Latvia7 Lithuania Estonia
1998 Lithuania8 Latvia Estonia
1997 Lithuania7 Latvia Estonia
1996 Lithuania6 Estonia Latvia
1995 Latvia6 Lithuania Estonia
1994 Lithuania5 Latvia Estonia
1993 Latvia5 Estonia Lithuania
1992 Lithuania4 Latvia Estonia
1991 Lithuania3 Latvia Estonia
1940-1990 Not held due to Soviet occupation.
1939 Not held due to strained sporting relations between Latvia and Lithuania after EuroBasket 1939.
1938 Estonia3 Latvia Lithuania
1937 Latvia4 Estonia Lithuania
1936 Latvia3 Estonia Lithuania
1935 Lithuania2 Latvia Estonia
1934 Not held due to disagreements over the 1933 competition.
1933 Champion undecided due to disagreements over match times.
1932 Latvia2 Lithuania Estonia
1931 Estonia2 Latvia Lithuania
1930 Lithuania1 Latvia Estonia
1929 Estonia1 Latvia Lithuania
1928 Latvia1 Estonia Lithuania

About the cup

The Baltic Cup is an international biennial competition that pits the Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia national teams against one another. Established in 1928, it is one of the oldest national team football tournaments in Europe (after the British Home Championship) and the oldest still played.

While the format and frequency of the competition varied over the years, since 2008 the cup is contested once every two years and includes one guest nation in order to facilitate a knockout format.

Much like the lands that it represents, the Baltic Cup has a long and turbulent history that includes plenty of conflict and controversy. The origins of the cup lie in a series of international friendlies won by Estonia against Latvia, Poland, Lithuania and Finland. Having done so, Estonians declared themselves the Baltic champions, providing impetus for a formal competition to be established.

One of the goals of the Baltic Cup was to promote friendship and cooperation between the recently independent Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. However, relations between the three young republics back then were not what they are now, and plenty of hostility, petty rivalry and controversy accompanied the pre-WW2 editions of the cup.

Officially, the Baltic Cup ceased to be contested once the Soviet occupation of the three nations began (1940 to 1990), although some historians trace continuity throughout the occupation years in the form of various regional football competitions that partially resemble the original Baltic Cup. For its part, the Soviet Union did not sanction any events or symbols that bore reminder of independent Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia. With occupation, the original Baltic Cup trophy was also lost, reportedly taken to Moscow never to be seen again.

The Baltic Cup was officially reinstated in 1991, now on much friendlier terms. A replica trophy was created by Indulis Urbāns from photographs, and youth and women’s editions were launched in 2008 and 1996 respectively.

Latvia holds the overall record with 13 trophies, followed by Lithuania with 10, Estonia with six and Iceland with one.