Merdeka Tournament or Pestabola Merdeka is a football tournament held in honour of the Malaysian National Day

Hari Merdeka

Hari Merdeka is a national day of Malaysia commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya from British colonial rule in 1957, celebrated on August 31 each year. It is not to be confused with the formation of Malaysia...

. The competition is named after the Malay

Malay language

Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...

 word for independence. While the tournament had been held annually from 1957 to 1988, it has been held only 7 times from 1989 to 2007. It is the oldest international football tournament in Asia.

Champions

Year	Champions	Runners-up	Score in final	Notes
1957 1957 Merdeka Tournament First Round Replay-Second round:The winning teams from the first round played a series of matches against one another. The team finishing top of the group was the tournament winner. -Consolation Tournament:...			2-1	(tournament in group stages)
1958
1959			-
1960			0-0	(trophy shared)
1961			2-1
1962 1962 Merdeka Tournament The 1962 Merdeka Tournament was the fifth edition of the annual tournament hosted by Malaya. It took place from September 8 to September 19 with nine participating nations.- Teams :...			2-1
1963			-	(tournament in group stages)
1964			1-0
1965			1-1	(trophy shared)
1966			1-0
1967			0-0	(trophy shared)
1968			3-0
1969			3-2
1970			1-0
1971 1971 Merdeka Tournament - Group A :- Group B :----------------- Eleventh place :- Ninth place :- Seventh place :- Fifth place :- Semi-finals :- Third place :- Final :- References :...			1-0
1972 1972 Merdeka Tournament The 1972 Merdeka Tournament was held from 12 July to 29 July 1972 in Malaysia. Twelve teams from 11 nations participated.- Group A :------------------------- Group B :----------------------------...			2-1
1973			3-1
1974			1-0
1975			1-0
1976			2-0
1977			1-0
1978			2-0
1979			0-0	(trophy shared)
1980			2-1
1981		Sao Paulo XI São Paulo São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...	1-0
1982	Santa Catarina XI Santa Catarina (state) Santa Catarina is a state in southern Brazil with one of the highest standards of living in Latin America. Its capital is Florianópolis, which mostly lies on the Santa Catarina Island. Neighbouring states are Rio Grande do Sul to the south and Paraná to the north. It is bounded on the east by...		3-0
1983	Buenos Aires XI Buenos Aires Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...		2-1
1984		Minas Gerais XI Minas Gerais Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...	2-0
1985		America FC Rio de Janeiro	7-4 (aet)
1986			3-0
1987			3-2
1988	Hamburger SV Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein, usually referred to as HSV in Germany and Hamburg in international parlance, is a German multi-sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department...	FC Tirol Innsbruck FC Tirol Innsbruck FC Tirol Innsbruck was an Austrian association footballclub from Innsbruck, Tyrol which existed between 1993 and 2002, when bankruptcy was declared....	1-0
1989–1990	(not held)
1991	SK Admira Wacker VfB Admira Wacker Mödling FC Admira Wacker Mödling is an Austrian football club from Mödling. The club was originally formed in 1905 as SK Admira Vienna in the Austrian capital...		3-0
1992	(not held)
1993 1993 Merdeka Tournament The 1993 Merdeka Tournament is the 34th editions of the Merdeka Tournament and was held on February 5 to February 14, 1993 at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.-Group stage:-Group A:-------------------------Group B:--------------------...			3-1
1994	(not held)
1995		Budapesti Vasas SC Vasas SC Vasas SC is one of Hungary's major sports clubs. Most of its facilities are situated in Budapest's 13th district in the north of the town. Members of the Hungarian Union of Iron Workers founded the club as Vas-és Fémmunkások Sport Clubja, the "Sport Club of Iron and Steel Workers", on 16 March 1911...	2-0
1996–1999	(not held)
2000 2000 Merdeka Tournament The 2000 Merdeka Tournament is the 36th editions of the Merdeka Tournament and was held on August 13 to August 19, 2000.-Group stage:Single Group Stage---------------------Finals:-External links:*...			2-0
2001 2001 Merdeka Tournament The 2001 Merdeka Tournament is the 37th editions of the Merdeka Tournament and was held on June 21 to June 30, 2001.-Group stage:Group A--------------------Group B---------------------Knockout stage:-Semi finals:...			2-1
2002–2005	(not held)
2006 2006 Merdeka Tournament The 2006 Merdeka Tournament is the 38th editions of the Merdeka Tournament and was held on August 23 to August 29, 2006. This is the first edition not played at Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur which is being refurbished...			2-1
2007 2007 Merdeka Tournament The 2007 Merdeka Tournament is the 39th editions of the Merdeka Tournament and was held on August 20 to August 29, 2007.-Group stage:-Group A:---------------------Group B:-------------------------Knockout stage:-Semi finals:...			3-1
2008 2008 Merdeka Tournament The 40th Merdeka Tournament was played from the 15th to the 5th of October 2008. The tournament was won by Vietnam Under-22s who defeated Malaysia 6-5 through a penalty kick in the final.-Teams:...			0-0	Penalty 6-5
2009	(Cancelled)
2010	(not held)

Teams achievements

Below are the record of teams in Merdeka Tournament competitions (1957–present).

#	Teams	Champions	Runner-ups	Trophy shared	Total
1	(including Malaya Malaysia national football team The Malaysian national football team nicknamed Harimau Malaya, as the Malayan Tiger, is the national team of Malaysia and is controlled by the Football Association of Malaysia... )	9	8	2	11
2		7	3	4	11
3		3	4	1	4
4		3	4
3
5		2	2
2
6	(including )	2	0
2
7		1	1
1
8		1
1	2
9	SK Admira Wacker VfB Admira Wacker Mödling FC Admira Wacker Mödling is an Austrian football club from Mödling. The club was originally formed in 1905 as SK Admira Vienna in the Austrian capital...	1
1
9	Buenos Aires XI Buenos Aires Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...	1
1
9	Hamburger SV Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein, usually referred to as HSV in Germany and Hamburg in international parlance, is a German multi-sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department...	1
1
9		1
1
9		1
1
9		1
1
9	Santa Catarina XI Santa Catarina (state) Santa Catarina is a state in southern Brazil with one of the highest standards of living in Latin America. Its capital is Florianópolis, which mostly lies on the Santa Catarina Island. Neighbouring states are Rio Grande do Sul to the south and Paraná to the north. It is bounded on the east by...	1
1
9		1
1
9		1
1
18
2
(2)
18
2
(2)
20
1
(1)
20
1
(1)
20	Sao Paulo XI São Paulo São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
1
(1)
20
1
(1)
20
1
(1)
19	Minas Gerais XI Minas Gerais Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, of which it is the second most populous, the third richest, and the fourth largest in area. Minas Gerais is the Brazilian state with the largest number of Presidents of Brazil, the current one, Dilma Rousseff, being one of them. The capital is the...
1
(1)
19	América FC Rio de Janeiro
1
(1)
19	FC Tirol Innsbruck FC Tirol Innsbruck FC Tirol Innsbruck was an Austrian association footballclub from Innsbruck, Tyrol which existed between 1993 and 2002, when bankruptcy was declared....
1
(1)
19	China Olympic Team China national under-23 football team The China national under-23 football team, also known as the China Olympic team , represents the People's Republic of China in international football competitions in the Olympic Games, Asian Games, as well as any other under-23 international football tournaments...
1
(1)
19	Budapesti Vasas SC Vasas SC Vasas SC is one of Hungary's major sports clubs. Most of its facilities are situated in Budapest's 13th district in the north of the town. Members of the Hungarian Union of Iron Workers founded the club as Vas-és Fémmunkások Sport Clubja, the "Sport Club of Iron and Steel Workers", on 16 March 1911...
1
(1)
19
1
(1)

External links

• Merdeka Tournament at RSSF.com website