The Soviet Cup, or USSR Cup (), was the premier football cup competition in the Soviet Union conducted by the Football Federation of the Soviet Union. The 1991–92 season of the tournament was known as Soviet/CIS Cup (). As a knockout tournament it was conducted parallel to the All-Union league competitions in double round-robin format.
The winner of the competition was awarded a qualification to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, unless it already qualified for the European Cup, in turn passed the qualification to the finalist. In case if a team would win the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and not win its national league cup titles the next year, it qualified to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup along with the new cup holder. The first participation in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup took place in 1965–66 when Dynamo Kyiv qualified for the European competition for winning the 1964 Soviet Cup.
On initiative of Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper starting from 1977, the Soviet Cup winner was invited to contest the Soviet Top League winner in a single match competition known as the Season's Cup which served as the Soviet Super Cup but was not considered official.
Format Format of competitions was constantly changing.
The very first edition of the competition in 1936 was a single-elimination tournament (more precisely sudden-death tournament) throughout all rounds. It was played during the season's summer intermission of the 1936 split season. The tournament consisted of seven rounds starting with the Round of 128.
The first changes took place in the 1938 Soviet Cup when there was introduced a preliminary (qualification) stage as the number of participants grew. The competition still was a single-elimination tournament with only more added rounds (up to 9). The Soviet Cup also featured the 1938 Cup of the Ukrainian SSR. All teams of masters (All-Union league teams) started from the final stage. The competition rounds were in-mixed within the league's playing calendar for the first time. The final stage contained 6 rounds.
In 1939 the competition was expanded as number of participants grew over 6 times. Starting from 1939 the preliminary stage was expanded and included republican football cup for each union republic, winners of which would qualify for the Soviet Cup finals.
In 1940 the competition was split. The league teams (Groups A and B) were scheduled to play for the All-Union Sports Committee Cup, while non-league teams (republican level) were competing in a separate bracket, winner of which would play the All-Union Sports Committee Cup holder. However, due to scheduling issues the All-Union Sports Committee Cup was postponed and never took place.
Involvement of the republican cup winners was suspended after the World War II and reintroduced in 1949. Those winners continued to qualify for the Soviet Cup until 1955 and starting from 1957 they were rerouted to the Soviet Amateur Cup. There is a legend that during that period the competition was nicknamed as the "Cup of Millions".
Until 1984 the Soviet Cup corresponded to the calendar of the whole Soviet football "spring"-"fall", however after that it changed to "fall"-"spring" calendar which synchronized it with the most of Europe.
In 1959-1960 the competition was conducted for two years. From 1965 to 1968 seasons were overlapping each other.
Until 1957, in the tournament participated "teams of physical culture" (Soviet "newspeak" (phraseology) for non-professional, amateur teams). After 1957 teams of physical culture competed in a separate competition known as the Soviet Amateur Cup. Since then, the tournament was restricted to professional clubs (teams of masters) of the All-Union competition (tiers 1 through 3).
In 1979 to 1982 there was a group stage better teams of which would continue in a traditional single-game elimination format.
The 1992 Soviet Cup Final took place after the fall of the Soviet Union in the independent Russia.Последний кубок СССР-СНГ по футболу 1991/1992. dzen.ru. 20 August 2023 (in Russian)30 лет последнему финалу Кубка СССР. «Спартак» выиграл трофей, который не хотел отдавать Садырин. www.sportsdaily.ru. 10 May 2022 (in Russian)Последний финал Кубка СССР пытался сорвать телефонный террорист. «Спартак» это не смутило. www.championat.com. 10 May 2021 (in Russian)Заминированные «Лужники», дубль Бесчастных, пенальти Харина. 31 год назад состоялся финал последнего Кубка СССР. www.sports.ru. 10 May 2023 (in Russian)
All tournaments final were played in a single game in Moscow, but until introduction of penalty kicks in early 1970s as a tiebreaker some finals that ended in tie were replayed. Introduction of the penalty shoot-out was adopted for tiebreaker took place in 1972 after such procedure was adopted by FIFA in 1970.
Until 1955 the tournament finals were played at Central Stadium "Dynamo", after being transferred to Central Stadium of Lenin (today Luzhniki Stadium).
Trophy The cup itself is an artistically crafted crystal vase in a silver frame. The cup is crowned with a bronze figurine of a football player with a ball. The names of the teams that won the cup are engraved on the lid and base.
The trophy's height is , weight is . In 1992, after Spartak Moscow won the last Soviet Cup, the trophy was given to the club forever.
The cup itself was bought in an ordinary Moscow thrift store. The first chairman of the All-Union Football Section, Aleksei Sokolov, took a liking to the small pitcher, which it was decided to make a transferable trophy.Истории из хрустальных кубков. www.xfile.ru. 9 May 2017. accessed 27 February 2024Кубком СССР по футболу была обычная ваза. sport.sevastopol.su. 30 October 2023 Few people knew about the Davis Cup in the Soviet Union at that time, and accusations of plagiarism could not follow by definition.
Together with the All-Union Council on Physical Culture and Sport inspector Morar, Aleksei Sokolov created a sketch of the future prize.ГОД 1936. ЧАСТЬ ПЯТАЯ. ПАТЕНТ НА "ВНЕЗАПНУЮ СМЕРТЬ". www.sport-express.ru (Sport-Express). 10 October 2003 The jewelers attached silver legs to the base and built a lid with a small hole on top. There they mounted a figurine of a football player, donated by Raspevin, a great fan of this game. The crystal chest of the trophy was decorated with the State Emblem of the Soviet Union.
Venues of the final match All finals were played in the Soviet Union capital, Moscow. In 1936 to 1955 it was Central Dynamo Stadium, while since 1957 it was Luzhniki Stadium which was known then as Lenin Central Stadium. There were also exceptions such as the venue of the final in 1977 and 1987/88 was Dynamo, while in 1978 it was the only time when Torpedo Stadium hosted the final match. The last final match in 1992 at Luzhniki was played following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
While Spartak Moscow is the absolute leader in total number of trophies won, Dinamo Kiev won the most Soviet Cup in those finals played in Luzhniki Stadium. Also, Luzhniki were even favorable to the Western Ukrainian team of Karpaty.
Venues by the number of final matches 32 – Lenin Central Stadium, Moscow 18 – Dynamo Central Stadium, Moscow 1 – Torpedo Stadium, Moscow
Seasons and final games +SeasonDatesWinnersScoreRunners–up193618 July – 28 August94Lokomotiv Moscow2–0Dinamo Tbilisi193723 May – 16 July125Dynamo Moscow5–219385 May – 14 September64*Spartak Moscow3–2Elektrik Leningrad193929 July – 12 September493–1Stalinets Leningrad194022 September – 10 Novembercanceled, only its qualification stage had been completed1941No competition due to World War II19421943194430 July – 27 August24Zenit Leningrad2–1CDKA Moscow19459 September – 14 October32CDKA Moscow2–1Dynamo Moscow19466 – 20 October16Spartak Moscow3–2 Dinamo Tbilisi19471 June – 21 July19*2–0Torpedo Moscow194825 September – 24 October20CDKA Moscow3–0Spartak Moscow194916 June – 4 November54*Torpedo Moscow2–1Dynamo Moscow195010 September – 6 November69Spartak Moscow3–0195111 August – 14 October51CDSA Moscow2–1 Kalinin team195221 August – 2 November50Torpedo Moscow1–0Spartak Moscow19532 September – 10 October56Dynamo Moscow1–0Zenit Kuybyshev195415 August – 20 October67Dynamo Kyiv2–1Spartak Yerevan195525 May – 16 October16*CDSA Moscow2–1Dynamo Moscow1956no competition195728 April – 26 October24*Lokomotiv Moscow1–0Spartak Moscow19589 June – 2 November16*Spartak Moscow1–0 Torpedo Moscow1959–6011 June 1959 – 31 October 196032*Torpedo Moscow4–3 Dinamo Tbilisi19619 May – 29 October64*Shakhtyor Stalino3–1Torpedo Moscow196222 April – 11 August32*Shakhtyor Donetsk2–0Znamya Truda Orekhovo-Zuyevo19637 April – 10 August48*Spartak Moscow2–0Shakhtar Donetsk196416 April – 27 September52*Dynamo Kyiv1–0Krylya Sovetov Kuybyshev19654 April – August 1556*Spartak Moscow0–0Dynamo Minsk2–1 1965–662 April 1965 – 8 November 196679*Dynamo Kyiv2–0Torpedo Moscow1966–6723 April 1966 – 8 November 196785*Dynamo Moscow3–0CSKA Moscow1967–6816 March 1967 – 8 November 1968107*Torpedo Moscow1–0Pakhtakor Tashkent196923 March – 17 August32*Karpaty Lviv2–1SKA Rostov-on-Don197031 March – 8 August32*Dynamo Moscow2–1Dinamo Tbilisi19716 March – August 838Spartak Moscow2–2SKA Rostov-on-Don1–0 197220 February – August 1336Torpedo Moscow0–0Spartak Moscow1–1 19734 March – 10 October36Ararat Yerevan2–1 Dynamo Kyiv19746 March – 10 August36Dynamo Kyiv3–0 Zorya Voroshilovgrad197516 March – 9 August36Ararat Yerevan2–1197621 March – 3 September42Dinamo Tbilisi3–0Ararat Yerevan197727 March – 13 August48Dynamo Moscow1–0Torpedo Moscow19783 March – 12 August48Dynamo Kyiv2–1 Shakhtar Donetsk197928 February – 11 August48Dinamo Tbilisi0–0 Dynamo Moscow198025 February – 9 August48Shakhtar Donetsk2–1Dinamo Tbilisi198120 February – 9 May48SKA Rostov-on-Don1–0Spartak Moscow198219 February – 9 May40Dynamo Kyiv1–0Torpedo Moscow198319 February – 8 May40Shakhtar Donetsk1–0Metalist Kharkiv198418 February – 24 June48Dynamo Moscow2–0 Zenit Leningrad1984–8531 July 1984 – 23 June 198550Dynamo Kyiv2–1Shakhtar Donetsk1985–8624 June 1985 – 2 May 198674Torpedo Moscow1–01986–872 May 1986 – 14 June 198780Dynamo Kyiv3–3 Dynamo Minsk1987–886 June 1987 – 28 May 198880Metalist Kharkiv2–0Torpedo Moscow1988–892 May 1988 – 25 June 198980Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk1–01989–902 May 1989 – 2 May 199080Dynamo Kyiv6–1Lokomotiv Moscow1990–9114 April 1990 – 23 June 199178CSKA Moscow3–2Torpedo Moscow1991–9217 April 1991 – 10 May 199280Spartak Moscow2–0«Стою голым в судейской. Вдруг бросается овчарка — хорошо, ничего не оторвала». Матчи ЦСКА со «Спартаком» навсегда запомнились этому арбитру. www.sport-express.ru. 14 October 2022 (in Russian)CSKA Moscow
Notes: The "teams" column includes number of participants in the final stage (tournament proper). Those with asterisk (x*) indicates that there was a preliminary (qualification) stage with additional number of participants.
Overall statistics Until 1959-1960 season, the competition was dominated by Muscovite clubs, particularly Spartak and CSKA. Unlike the round-robin competitions, Dinamo Kiev was not as successful yet managed to get as close as possible to Spartak surpassing all other clubs out of Moscow and other Soviet cities. The first non-Moscow team that won the trophy was Zenit Leningrad which won it in the first post war season of 1944. It became the single achievement for the team out of the "northern capital". In 1961 and 1962, the competition was won back-to-back by Shakhter Donetsk which became a unique achievement. In 1969, Karpaty Lvov won the competition while playing in the second tier (Pervaya Liga) by beating SKA Rostov-na-Donu in Moscow. In 1970s teams from the Caucasus region (Dinamo Tbilisi and Ararat Yerevan) have shown good performance winning 4 trophies with 2 for each.
The only other than Moscow or Leningrad teams from Russian SFSR that won the Soviet Cup was SKA Rostov-na-Donu in 1981. Twice reached the finals but did not manage to win it were Krylya Sovetov Kuibyshev, Dinamo Minsk, Zaria Voroshilovgrad.
Performance by club