The Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament was an annual football tournament first held in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. It was also alternatively known as Colombo Cup. Established in 1952 by the Ceylon Football Association as a part of the Colombo Fair, the national sides of

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Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

(formerly known as Ceylon) and

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

played each other in a round robin tournament. The tournament was last played in 1955. In 1953 it was hosted in

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, in 1954 at

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, and finally at

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Background

Established in 1952 by the Ceylon Football Association as a part of the Colombo Exhibition, it was Initially scheduled for March 1952 to coincide with princess

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

visit to

, the event was canceled due to the death of

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

, which led to the cancellation of her visit. The trophy awarded to the winner of the tournament was called the ''Colombo Cup''. The competition featured four countries from the former

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, and

. It was commonly referred to as the ''Asian Quadrangular Football Tournament'' or sometimes simply the ''Quadrangular Tournament''. The success of the 1952 event led the four countries to agree to hold annual tournaments, with each country hosting in turn and additional trophies being awarded alongside the ''Colombo Cup''. For example, the ''Burma Bowl'' was introduced in 1953, and the ''Pakistan Silver Cup'' in 1955. However, after the fourth tournament in 1955, plans for the next edition in March 1957 in Ceylon fell through. The Ceylon government withheld funding, and the All-India Football Federation withdrew, arguing that the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

and the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

already provided enough international competition. In January 1958, there was a proposal for Ceylon and India to continue the Colombo Cup competition alone, but India rejected the idea.

Results

Stadiums

Statistics

Performance by nation

:* = ''host''

Top goal scorers by edition

References

{{reflist Sport in Colombo International association football competitions hosted by Sri Lanka Defunct international association football competitions in Asia Recurring sporting events established in 1952 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1955