Soviet Cup

Soviet Cup
Organising bodyFootball Federation of the USSR
Founded1936; 88 years ago (1936)
Abolished1992
RegionSoviet Union
Number of teams80 (1991–92)
Qualifier forEuropean Cup Winners' Cup (from 1965)
Last championsSpartak Moscow (10th title)
Most successful club(s)Spartak Moscow (10 titles)

The Soviet Cup, or USSR Cup (Russian: Кубок СССР),[nb 1] was the premier football cup competition in the Soviet Union conducted by the Football Federation of the Soviet Union. The 1991–92 season of the tournament was known as Soviet/CIS Cup (Russian: Кубок СССР—СНГ). As a knockout tournament it was conducted parallel to the All-Union league competitions in double round-robin format.

The winner of the competition was awarded a qualification to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, unless it already qualified for the European Cup, in turn passed the qualification to the finalist. In case if a team would win the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and not win its national league cup titles the next year, it qualified to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup along with the new cup holder. The first participation in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup took place in 1965–66 when Dynamo Kyiv qualified for the European competition for winning the 1964 Soviet Cup.

On initiative of Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper starting from 1977, the Soviet Cup winner was invited to contest the Soviet Top League winner in a single match competition known as the Season's Cup which served as the Soviet Super Cup but was not considered official.
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