# 1957 Tournoi de Paris

The 1957 Tournoi de Paris was the first edition of Tournoi de Paris, an association football intercontinental competition between European and South American clubs. In particular, the inaugural edition is considered the precursor of the Intercontinental Cup by FIFA, as it had the only continental champion clubs at the time (Vasco da Gama in 1948 South American Championship and Real Madrid in 1955–56 European Cup) competing in the final.
Vasco da Gama defeated Real Madrid 4–3 in the final in front of more than 65,000 spectators.

## Background

The competition was organized by the Racing Club de Paris in celebration of its 25th anniversary. Real Madrid were invited to participate in the competition as 1955–56 European Cup champions, and accepted a few days before winning the 1956–57 edition. Vasco da Gama's participation took place in the midst of the club's tour of the US and Europe, with several European newspapers citing Vasco as "Brazilian champion of 1956" for having won the 1956 Campeonato Carioca (there was no national competition at the time). Furthermore, Vasco held the title of South American champion after winning the 1948 South American Championship of Champions and no other South American tournament of the same proportion had taken place until the 1960 Copa Libertadores. Finally, Rot-Weiss Essen, the German champions at the time were invited, as Germany was the current champion of the FIFA World Cup.

## Teams

| Team | Location | Qualification |
| Racing Paris | Paris | Host |
| Real Madrid | Madrid | 1955–56 European Cup winners |
| Rot-Weiss Essen | Essen | 1955 German football championship winners |
| Vasco da Gama | Rio de Janeiro | 1948 South American Championship winners |

## Squads
### Racing Paris

Source:
Manager: Auguste Jordan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | FRA | Jean Taillandier |
| 2 | DF | ARG | Carlos Sosa |
| 3 | DF | FRA | Bernard Lelong |
| 6 | MF | FRA | Dalla Cieca |
| 7 | FW | FRA | Joël Pillard |
| 8 | DF | FRA | Bruno Bollini |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 11 | FW | FRA | Pierre Grillet |
| 14 | MF | FRA | Guy Sénac |
| 17 | MF | FRA | Jean Guillot |
| 18 | MF | FRA | Bolek Ugorenko |
| 19 | FW | POL | Thadée Cisowski |
| 21 | DF | FRA | Roger Marche |

### Real Madrid

Source:
Manager: José Villalonga
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | ESP | Juan Alonso |
| 2 | DF | ESP | Marquitos |
| 3 | DF | ESP | Manuel Torres |
| 4 | DF | URU | José Santamaría |
| 6 | MF | ESP | José María Zárraga |
| 7 | FW | FRA | Raymond Kopa |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Héctor Rial |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 11 | FW | ESP | Francisco Gento |
| 14 | MF | ESP | Ramón Marsal |
| 17 | MF | ESP | Enrique Mateos |
| 18 | MF | ESP | Miguel Muñoz |
| 19 | FW | ARG | Alfredo Di Stéfano |
| 21 | DF | ESP | Rafael Lesmes |

### Rot-Weiss Essen

Source:
Manager: Elek Schwartz
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | GER | Fritz Herkenrath |
| 2 | DF | GER | Willi Köchling |
| 4 | MF | GER | Heinz Ruppenstein |
| 5 | DF | GER | Walter Zastrau |
| 6 | MF | GER | Dieter Wöske |
| 9 | FW | GER | Franz Islacker |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 10 | FW | GER | Ulrich Kohn |
| 18 | DF | GER | Heinz Wewers |
| 20 | MF | NED | Fred Röhrig |
| 21 | FW | GER | Helmut Rahn |
| 24 | MF | GER | Willi Grewer |

### Vasco da Gama

Source:
Manager: Martim Francisco
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | BRA | Carlos Alberto |
| 2 | DF | BRA | Dario Damasceno |
| 3 | DF | BRA | Umbelino Viana |
| 4 | DF | BRA | Orlando Peçanha |
| 5 | MF | BRA | Laerte |
| 6 | DF | BRA | Ortunho |
| 7 | MF | BRA | Sabará |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 8 | MF | BRA | Livinho |
| 9 | FW | BRA | Vavá |
| 10 | FW | BRA | Pinga |
| 11 | FW | BRA | Walter Marciano |
| 17 | FW | BRA | Vadinho |
| 19 | FW | BRA | Almir Pernambuquinho |

## Matches

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 12 June - Paris | 12 June - Paris |
| Vasco da Gama | 3 |
| Vasco da Gama | 3 | 14 June - Paris | 14 June - Paris |
| Racing Paris | 1 | 14 June - Paris | 14 June - Paris |
| Racing Paris | 1 | Vasco da Gama | 4 |
| 12 June - Paris | 12 June - Paris | | Vasco da Gama | 4 |
| 12 June - Paris | 12 June - Paris | Real Madrid | 3 |
| Real Madrid | 5 | Real Madrid | 3 |
| Rot-Weiss Essen | 0 | | |
| Rot-Weiss Essen | 0 | Third place | Third place |
| | | 14 June - Paris | 14 June - Paris |
| | | Racing Paris | 7 |
| | | Rot-Weiss Essen | 5 |

### Final
## Recognitions

In a video report from Les Actualités Françaises, published on 19 June 1957 with narrated images of the match, cites the match between Vasco da Gama and Real Madrid in the final as the confrontation between "the best team in South America and the European champion".
After the final between Vasco da Gama and Real Madrid, the French newspaper L'Équipe wrote: "And then, suddenly, Real literally disappeared. Would it be the pale red shirts or the sad blue shorts that weakened the superb Spanish team? No. Rather, the wonderful bodies suddenly appeared on the other side, wrapped tightly in white shirts with a black stripe, of 11 football athletes, of 11 black devils who took control of the ball and never let go. During the next half hour the incredible, prodigious impression one had was that the great Real Madrid champion of Europe, the untouchable Real winner of all European constellations was learning to play football". The newspaper France Soir stated after the tournament: "Real Madrid is not the greatest team in the world. Talk to Vasco da Gama about that", and the Jornal dos Sports cited Vasco as "world champions". The Spanish newspaper ABC de Madrid wrote that "Real Madrid were no longer invincible".
According to the Brazilian newspaper Tribuna de Imprensa, the tournament inspired FIFA president João Havelange and European Cup co-founder Jacques Ferran to create the Intercontinental Cup. In 2023, FIFA recognized as "the most notable meeting between teams from two continents meeting before 1960".