Cupa României

Cupa României

Founded	1933
Region	Romania
Number of teams	164
Current champions	Astra Giurgiu (1st cup)
Most successful club(s)	Steaua Bucureşti (21 cups)
Television broadcasters	PRO TV Sport.ro Digi Sport
Website	Official website
2014–15 Cupa României

The Cupa României (English: Romanian Cup) is a football competition which was held annually since 1933-34, except during the World War II. It is the country's main cup competition, and it is open to all clubs affiliated with FRF (Romanian Football Federation) and the county football associations regardless of the league they belong to. Currently, the winner of the competition is granted a place in the play-off round of the Europa League. The cup is sponsored by the Timișoreana beer brand, hence the name Cupa României Timișoreana.

Most finals have been held at the Stadionul Național (formerly known as "23 August"), and occasionally at other stadiums in Bucharest. During the construction of the new Stadionul Național, the final was staged each year in a different major city of the country. In 2007, the final was held in Timișoara at the Dan Păltinișanu stadium, this being the second occasion when the last game was played outside Bucharest (the first occurrence taking place in 1989, when Brașov hosted the event). Then, the next three finals were staged in Piatra Neamț, Târgu Jiu, Iași and again in Brașov.

The competition has been dominated by Bucharest-based teams, the most successful performers being Steaua București with twenty-one trophies, followed by Rapid București and Dinamo București with thirteen each.

Sponsorship

On 22 July 2005, FRF and Samsung Electronics signed a one-year sponsorship deal. The name of the competition was changed to Cupa României Samsung.^[1]

On 9 October 2006, FRF and Ursus Breweries (part of the SABMiller group) signed a sponsorship agreement for the next three seasons. Ursus Breweries changed the name of the competition to Cupa României Timișoreana, after the Timișoreana beer brand.^[2][3]

Competition format

The competition often suffered minor changes in format over the last seasons. The following format came in use in the 09-10 season. The main differences between the current system and the last one are the dates at which rounds take place, and the two-legged format of the semifinals.^[4]

County phase

The competition at this phase is organized by the county football associations. 42 teams (one from each county) will advance to the next phase.

National phase

The competition at this phase is organized by the Romanian Football Federation. For the first five phases, teams are paired using geographical criteria in order to avoid long travel distances. The teams from a lower division or with a lower ranking in the last league season host the games.

• First round - 140 teams (42 teams qualified from the county phase and 98 Liga III teams)

• Second round - 80 teams (70 winners from the first round and the remaining 10 Liga III teams)

• Third round - 40 teams (winners from the second round)

• Fourth round - 56 teams (20 winners from the third round and all 36 Liga II teams)

• Fifth round - 28 teams (winners from the fourth round)

• Round of 32 - (14 winners from the fifth round and all 18 Liga I teams)

Starting with this round a seeding system is used for the draw, as follows:

• • Pot A: Teams 1 - 6 from last seasons Liga I final table (6 teams)
  • Pot B: The remaining Liga I teams (12 teams)
  • Pot C: Teams from the lower divisions (14 teams)

Teams from Pot A will be paired with teams from pot C, then the 8 remaining pot C teams will be paired with pot B teams, with the lower league clubs hosting the games. The 4 remaining pot B teams will play each other, with the host club determined by means of a draw.

• Round of 16 (winners from the Round of 32)

• Quarterfinals

• Semifinals

• Final

Every year, based on the national and international football calendar, FRF's executive committee may choose a two-leg or one-leg system for the Round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals.^[5] Games at these stages are, when played using a one-leg system, hosted by a neutral venue. The final is held at a pre-established venue, normally in Bucharest.

List of champions

Performance by club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning Years
Steaua București	21	8	1948–49, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1955, 1961–62, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1975–76, 1978–79, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1991–92, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2010–11
Dinamo București	13	8	1958–59, 1963–64, 1967–68, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1989–90, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2011–12
Rapid București	13	6	1934–35, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07
Universitatea Craiova	6	5	1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1990–91, 1992–93
Petrolul Ploiești	3	1	1962–63, 1994–95, 2012–13
CFR Cluj	3	1	2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
Politehnica Timișoara	2	6	1957–58, 1979–80
Ripensia Timișoara	2	2	1933–34, 1935–36
UTA Arad	2	2	1947–48, 1953
Progresul București	1	4	1959–60
Universitatea Cluj	1	3	1964–65
Progresul Oradea	1	1	1956
Jiul Petroșani	1	1	1973–74
Gloria Bistrița	1	1	1993–94
CFR Turnu Severin	1	0	1942–43
Metalul Reșița	1	0	1954
Arieșul Turda	1	0	1960–61
Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea	1	0	1972–73
Astra Giurgiu	1	0	2013–14

Performance by cities

The following table sorts cities by the number of Cups won by local teams. Bucharest, hosting the three most decorated sides in the competition and having staged the majority of the Cup finals, is easily the most prolific city.

City	Cups	Winning Clubs
București	48	Steaua (21), Dinamo (13), Rapid (13), Progresul (1)
Craiova	6	Universitatea (6)
Timișoara	4	Politehnica (2), Ripensia (2)
Cluj-Napoca	4	CFR (3), Universitatea (1)
Ploiești	3	Petrolul (3)
Arad	2	UTA (2)
Oradea	1	CAO (1)
Petroșani	1	Jiul (1)
Bistrița	1	Gloria (1)
Drobeta-Turnu Severin	1	CFR (1)
Reșița	1	CSM (1)
Turda	1	Arieşul (1)
Râmnicu Vâlcea	1	Chimia (1)
Giurgiu	1	Astra (1)

Records

As of 22 April 2011. (outdated) ^[6]

Top Five Goalscorers

Player		Period	Club	Goals
1	Ionel Dănciulescu		Electroputere Craiova, Dinamo București, Steaua București	41
2	Florea Voinea		Steaua București, Prahova Ploiești	40
3	Gyula Barátky		Rapid București, Crișana Oradea	37
4	Ion Alecsandrescu		Steaua București, CA Câmpulung Moldovenesc	34
5	Ştefan Dobay		Ripensia Timișoara	33

References

External links

• Official site
• The Romanian Cup on the FRF's official site

Cupa României Seasons 1933-34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941-42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 Finals 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

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