Copa Roca

The Roca Cup () was a football competition contested between Argentina and Brazil national teams from 1914 to 1976 on irregular basis. The Copa Roca was the first trophy, official or unofficial, ever won by a Brazil national team.

History

The competition was created by former President of Argentina, General Julio Argentino Roca, in 1913. A football enthusiast, Roca was at the time the Argentine ambassador in Brazil and felt matches between both countries would create a healthy rivalry and help the sport to develop. The Cup would be played each year in a different country, a fact that was actually kept in spite of the many changes to the Cup's format.

Roca donated a trophy to dissident body Federación Argentina de Football ("Argentine Football Federation" – FAF) and it was agreed that the competition would be played for three consecutive years in a single-leg format and the country with two wins would conquer the trophy forever. But in 1915 the FAF merged with Argentine Football Association, and the following matches were not played. In 1922, the Brazilian Football Confederation agreed to play the competition again, which Brazil won for the second time, and thus claimed the Roca Cup ownership, even though Argentina beat them the following year. Many sources say the 1922 match would not be a ''Class A match'', because Brazil played with their B team; the brazilian first team played the same day the 1922 Copa America final vs. Paraguay). Argentine Football Association do not consider this match as official.
FIFA official´s page (archive). Argentina vs. Brazil head to head. February 2013. To see the complete list of matches according to this FIFA´s source, please click in "Advanced search", and then in "Show all matches"
Asociación del fútbol argentino official´s page. “Historial de los enfrentamientos entre las selecciones de Argentina y Brasil”. November 19, 2023. Article with the complete list of matches.
Goleamos.com

In 1938, both football associations, AFA and CBF, accepted to play the competition once again. The format was changed and the trophy would be kept by the most recent winner. In case the first two matches finished in draws or each team had a win, then a third leg had to be played. In January 1939, Argentina got a 5–1 victory in Rio de Janeiro. The following game was packed with incidents and the visiting team left the pitch enraged after the referee awarded a penalty to Brazil. However the home side went on to score a third goal when the Argentine team had already left the field in protest. A third and fourth match were played in São Paulo, giving the victory to Argentina. The 1940 edition was played in Argentina, where Argentina won two matches (6–1 and 5–1) and Brazil won one (7-1)

In 1957's match, at Maracanã, Pelé made his debut in Brazil national team, drafted by coach Sylvio Pirillo, where he scored the first of many goals with the Brazilian jersey. From 1940 on, Brazil won every edition, except for the 1971 Cup, when with two draws, the Cup was also declared tied.

List of champions

Matches

The following list includes all the editions of the Copa Julio A. Roca. Since 1939, the cup was played under a two-legged format. No goal difference was taken into account so in case of both teams won one match each, a playoff was held to define a champion. Nevertheless, since 1957 the cup was defined by goal difference between both matches.Copa Julio Roca
by José L. Pierrend on the RSSSF

Titles by country

Notes

References

{{Superclásico de las Américas

Argentina–Brazil football rivalry
Argentine football friendly trophies
Brazilian football friendly trophies
International association football competitions hosted by Argentina
International association football competitions hosted by Brazil
Defunct international association football competitions in South America
Football in Buenos Aires