# Lunar New Year Cup

The Lunar New Year Cup, previously known as the Carlsberg Challenge or the Carlsberg Cup, is an annual invitational football tournament organised in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) since 1908. It is usually held on the first and the fourth day of the Lunar New Year as a part of the new year celebrations. The tournament was called the Carlsberg Cup from 1986 to 1989, from 1993 to 2006 as Carlsberg was the major sponsor of the event.
Since the 2007 edition of the event, the competition has officially been known as the "Lunar New Year Cup" by the Hong Kong Football Association. This is because Carlsberg is now no longer the major sponsor but a mere co-sponsor. During 2011 and 2012, the name of the event was changed to "Asian Challenge Cup".

## History

Initially, a touring team (usually European) visited Hong Kong playing exhibition matches vs local combined. In the period before and around the Second World War, the Lunar New Year Cup was competed for by teams from Hong Kong and mainland China. Since 1950, HKFA has invited at least one overseas team to enter the competition. Before 1982, there were three exhibition matches in the tournament. The first two were usually played by the Hong Kong national football team, Hong Kong player team and Hong Kong League XI while the Chinese XI played the last match.
In 1983, there was a main sponsorship for the competition for the first time and the number of invited teams was increased to three. From 1993 onwards, national teams rather than club teams were invited to participate in the competition. Many of the matches in that period were recognised as "full internationals" by FIFA.

## Competition name and sponsorship

| Year | Name | Sponsor |
| 1983 | Coupe du Solvil et Titus | Solvil et Titus |
| 1984 | Adidas Gold Cup | Adidas |
| 1986–89 | Carlsberg Cup | Carlsberg |
| 1990–92 | Marlboro Cup | Marlboro |
| 1993–2006 | Carlsberg Cup | Carlsberg |
| 2008 | Wing Lung Bank Cup | Wing Lung Bank |
| 2010 | Fortis Insurance Company Tiger Lunar New Year Cup | Fortis Insurance Company |
| 2011 | RedMR Asian Challenge Cup | RedMR |
| 2012 | Nikon Asian Challenge Cup | Nikon |
| 2013 | China Mobile Satellite Communications Cup | China Mobile Satellite Communications |
| 2014 | AET Cup | AET |
| 2017 | Nike Lunar New Year Cup | Nike |
| 2019 | Tonghai Financial Chinese New Year Cup | China Tonghai Financial |
| 2024–25 | FWD Insurance Chinese New Year Cup | FWD Group |

## Results

Lunar New Year Cup – year by year :
| Year | Final | Final | Final | Third place match | Third place match | Third place match |
| Year | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place |
| 1908–73 | (Interport and exhibition matches) | (Interport and exhibition matches) | (Interport and exhibition matches) | (Interport and exhibition matches) | (Interport and exhibition matches) | (Interport and exhibition matches) |
| 1974 | Hong Kong | — | CA Juventus | Sporting CP | — | — |
| 1975 | Independiente | — | Hong Kong | Hong Kong League XI | — | — |
| 1976 | Grasshopper | — | Hong Kong League XI | Hong Kong | — | — |
| 1977 | Sparta Rotterdam | — | Hong Kong | Hong Kong League XI | — | — |
| 1978 | China | — | Servette FC | Hong Kong | — | — |
| 1979 | Guangdong | — | Östers IF | Hong Kong League XI | — | — |
| 1980 | Red Star Belgrade | — | Hong Kong League XI | Hong Kong | — | — |
| 1981 | Dinamo Zagreb | — | Hong Kong League XI | Hong Kong | — | — |
| 1982 | FK Austria Wien | 1–0 | Hallelujah FC | Seiko SA | 1–1 (5–3 p) | Hong Kong League XI |
| 1983 | Hong Kong League XI | 2–0 | Hallelujah FC | AGF | 3–1 | Beijing Selection |
| 1984 | FK Partizan | 1–0 | Hong Kong League XI | Daewoo Royals | 2–1 | Lyngby Boldklub |
| 1985 | Hong Kong League British XI | 1–0 | Hong Kong League XI | Guangzhou | n/a | Shanghai |
| 1986 | Paraguay | — | South Korea | Hong Kong League XI | — | — |
| 1987 | Brøndby IF | 2–0 | Hong Kong | Beijing | 1–0 | Shanghai |
| 1988 | Hong Kong League XI | 0–0 (5–3 p) | AGF | Lucky-Goldstar FC | 3–0 | Dalian Shide |
| 1989 | Malmö FF | — | China | Hong Kong | — | Odense BK |
| 1990 | Sparta Prague | 2–0 | China | Spartak Moscow | 4–1 | Hong Kong League XI |
| 1991 | Hong Kong League XI | 3–1 | Aston Villa | FC Dynamo Moscow | 2–0 | Thailand |
| 1992 | Hong Kong League XI | 2–2 (3–2 p) | FK Partizan | Steaua București | 2–0 | BSC Young Boys Bern |
| 1993 | Switzerland | 3–2 | Hong Kong League XI | Denmark U-21 | 2–1 | Japan |
| 1994 | Denmark | 2–0 | Hong Kong League XI | Romania League XI | 2–1 | United States |
| 1995 | FR Yugoslavia | 1–0 | South Korea | Colombia | 3–1 | Hong Kong League XI |
| 1996 | Sweden | 1–1 (5–4 p) | Japan | Poland | 1–0 | Hong Kong League XI |
| 1997 | Russia | 2–1 | Switzerland | FR Yugoslavia | 3–1 | Hong Kong League XI |
| 1998 | Nigeria | 2–0 | Hong Kong League XI | Iran | 1–1 (4–2 p) | Chile |
| 1999 | Mexico | 3–0 | Egypt | Bulgaria | 3–0 | Hong Kong League XI |
| 2000 | Czech Republic | 2–1 | Mexico | Japan | 0–0 (6–5 p) | Hong Kong League XI |
| 2001 | Norway | 2–1 | Hong Kong League XI | South Korea | 1–1 (6–5 p) | Paraguay |
| 2002 | Honduras | 1–0 | Hong Kong League XI | Slovenia | 0–0 (4–3 p) | China |
| 2003 | Uruguay | 1–1 (4–2 p) | Iran | Denmark League XI | 2–1 | Hong Kong League XI |
| 2004 | Norway | 3–1 | Honduras | Sweden | 3–0 | Hong Kong League XI |
| 2005 | Brazil | 7–1 | Hong Kong | (2 teams only) | (2 teams only) | (2 teams only) |
| 2006 | Denmark | 3–1 | South Korea | Croatia | 4–0 | Hong Kong |
| 2007 | Jamaica Olympic Team | 0–0 (5–4 p) | China PR Olympic Team | Australia Olympic Team | 2–2 (5–3 p) | Hong Kong League XI |
| 2008 | Hong Kong League XI | 2–1 | HNK Hajduk Split | Peñarol | 1–1 (5–4 p) | Ulsan Hyundai |
| 2009 | South China & Pegasus United | 2–1 | Sparta Prague | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 0–0 (5–4 p) | Hong Kong League XI |
| 2010 | Pohang Steelers | — | Kitchee | Pegasus Invitation Team | — | — |
| 2011 | Tianjin Teda | 0–0 (5–3 p) | Guangzhou Evergrande | Ulsan Hyundai | 4–2 | South China |
| 2012 | Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma | 5–1 | Shimizu S-Pulse | Guangzhou R&F | 1–1 (3–1 p) | South China |
| 2013 | Busan IPark | 1–0 | Shanghai East Asia | Hong Kong League XI | 1–0 | Muangthong United |
| 2014 | Citizen & Cuenca United | 2–0 | Olhanense | Krylia Sovetov | 1–0 | FC Tokyo |
| 2015 | New York Cosmos | 2–2 (4–2 p) | South China | (2 teams only) | (2 teams only) | (2 teams only) |
| 2016 | Hong Kong League XI | 4–0 | Hong Kong | (2 teams only) | (2 teams only) | (2 teams only) |
| 2017 | Auckland City | 1–0 | Kitchee | Muangthong United | 1–0 | FC Seoul |
| 2018 | Hong Kong League XI | 4–3 | Hong Kong | (2 teams only) | (2 teams only) | (2 teams only) |
| 2019 | Shandong Luneng | 3–1 | Sagan Tosu | Hong Kong League XI | 1–0 | Auckland City |
| 2020 | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled |
| 2021 | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled |
| 2022 | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled |
| 2023 | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cancelled |
| 2024 | World Legends | 7–3 | Hong Kong Legends | (2 teams only) | (2 teams only) | (2 teams only) |
| 2025 | World Legends | 3–3 (6–5 p) | Hong Kong Legends | (2 teams only) | (2 teams only) | (2 teams only) |

### Notes

* 1 2 3 Exhibition matches.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Three-team round-robin tournament
* 1 2 Four-team round-robin tournament
* ↑ The 2020 to 2022 event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong and 2023 event due to safety concerns of Russian invasion of Ukraine.