About Emirates Cup

History, Format, Organization, Media Coverage

The Emirates Cup is an annual invitational friendly football competition hosted by English club Arsenal at its Emirates Stadium. Founded in 2007, the tournament is named after the Gunners’ main sponsor, the UAE airline company Emirates, and features both the men’s and women’s teams.

As a pre-season tournament, the Emirates Cup takes place during the summer, shortly before the start of the Premier League campaign or the FA Community Shield, if Arsenal is involved. Initially, the cup was a two-day event featuring four teams — the home team and three others. However, by its 10th edition, the format changed, reducing the number of participants to two and the duration to one day.

Unsurprisingly, Arsenal won the inaugural tournament in 2007, defeating PSG, Valencia, and Inter Milan to claim the title. Hamburg was crowned champion in 2008, followed by the Gunners lifting back-to-back Emirates Cup titles in 2009 and 2010. Other teams, including the New York Red Bulls, Galatasaray, Valencia, and Lyon, have also found success in this pre-season invitational tournament.

The Arsenal Women made their Emirates Cup debut in 2019 but faced a tough challenge, losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich Women.