Emirates Cup

Not to be confused with Emirates FA Cup.

Emirates Cup
A coloured photograph of the Arsenal squad standing on a podium, celebrating their fourth Emirates Cup win.
Arsenal celebrate with the trophy after winning the 2015 Emirates Cup.
Founded2007; 17 years ago (2007)
Number of teams2 (men's)
2 (women's)
Current championsEngland Arsenal (8th men's title)
Germany Bayern Munich (1st women's title)
Most successful club(s)England Arsenal (8 men's titles)
Germany Bayern Munich (1 women's title)
WebsiteOfficial homepage

The Emirates Cup is a pre-season association football invitational competition hosted by English club Arsenal at their home ground, Emirates Stadium, in Holloway, London. The two-day competition was inaugurated in 2007 and is named after Arsenal's main sponsor, Emirates.[1] It has been held every summer except 2012 due to the London Olympics, 2016 because of pitch renovation work, 2018 because of stadium building work, and 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The competition in its first decade followed a point scoring system much like the Amsterdam Tournament, whereby each team played two matches, with three points awarded for a win, one point for a draw and none for a loss.[2] An additional point is awarded for every goal scored; this was scrapped in 2011,[3] but made a return from the 2013 edition.[4] From 2009, total shots on target throughout the tournament has been used as a tiebreaker if teams are tied on points, goal difference and goals scored.[5] Since 2019, the Emirates Cup has been shortened to a one-day tournament with the inclusion of Arsenal Women.

Arsenal won the inaugural tournament in 2007, and further wins followed in 2009, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2022, 2023, and most recently 2024. Five other sides have won the Emirates Cup: Hamburger SV in 2008, New York Red Bulls in 2011, Galatasaray in 2013, Valencia in 2014 and Lyon in 2019. Lyon are the most regular guests, having been invited to compete in the tournament on four occasions; they won the tournament once and finished as runners-up twice.

Arsenal are the current champions, having defeated Lyon 2–0 in the 2024 tournament.

  1. ^ "The Emirates Cup". Emirates. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Emirates Cup – Competition rules & regulations". Arsenal F.C. 27 July 2007. Archived from the original on 29 June 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Emirates Cup 2011 – Rules and Regulations". Arsenal F.C. 29 July 2011. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  4. ^ "Emirates Cup returns for summer 2013". Arsenal F.C. 15 May 2013. Archived from the original on 9 February 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  5. ^ "Wenger – Goals galore at the Emirates Cup". Arsenal F.C. 28 July 2009. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.