A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the previous season.
It is typically contested on a national level by two competition winners of the previous season: the national knock-out cup winner and the highest level league champion. There are also continental super cups, like the UEFA Super Cup in football, which puts together winners of the top and second-tier UEFA competitions and the Recopa Sudamericana between CONMEBOL Libertadores and the Sudamericana winners, and cross-border super cups between champions of neighbouring leagues, such as the Campeones Cup between the winners of the highest level leagues in the United States and Mexico, and the Champions Cup for the champions of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
The now-defunct Intercontinental Cup was a super cup played between the continental champions of Europe and South America, with winners retroactively recognised by world governing body FIFA as World Champions prior to the creation of the official FIFA Club World Cup and the CONMEBOL-UEFA Cup of Champions between the winners of the European Football Championship and the Copa América, which rebranded once again in 2022 after the 29-year hiatus.
Sometimes, these are , with a match played at each side's stadium, but increasingly they are one-off fixtures at a neutral venue, such as a national stadium. Some Super Cups have even been staged in venues outside their home country, such as the Italian, French, Spanish, Turkish, Mexican, and Egyptian games and increasingly function as publicity events for that league in the global market.
If the league champions are also the national cup winners, they may play a selected XI team, or more commonly the runners-up from one of the competitions, typically from the league.
The Finalissima between the national team continental champions of UEFA and CONMEBOL, also known as the CONMEBOL-UEFA Cup of Champions, plus its women's counterpart, are rare examples of 'super cups' between national sides.
Football
National super cups
The following nations have an active super cup competition:
AFC
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Bahraini Super Cup
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Bangladesh Challenge Cup
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Brunei Super Cup
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CNCC Charity Cup
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Chinese FA Super Cup
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Indian Super Cup
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Iranian Super Cup
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Iraqi Super Cup
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Japanese Super Cup
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Jordan Super Cup
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Kyrgyzstan Super Cup
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Kuwait Super Cup
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Lebanese Super Cup, Lebanese Women's Super Cup
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Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Cup
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Maldivian FA Charity Shield
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Mongolia Super Cup
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MFF Charity Cup
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Oman Super Cup
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Gaza Strip Super Cup, West Bank Super Cup
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Qatari Sheikh Jassim Cup, Qatar Cup
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Saudi Super Cup
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Singapore Charity Shield
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Syrian Super Cup
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Tajik Supercup
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Thailand Champions Cup
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LFA Super Taça
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Turkmenistan Super Cup
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Uzbekistan Super Cup
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UAE Super Cup
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Vietnamese Super Cup
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Yemeni Super Cup
CAF
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Algerian Super Cup
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Coupe Houphouët-Boigny
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Djibouti Super Cup
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Egyptian Super Cup
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Ghana Super Cup, Ghana Women's Super Cup
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Kenyan Super Cup
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Libyan Super Cup
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Mauritanian Super Cup
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Namibia Super Cup
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Nigeria Women's Super Cup
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Super Coupe du Congo
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Senegalese Super Cup
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Somalia Super Cup
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Tanzania Community Shield
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Tunisian Super Cup
CONCACAF
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Supercopa de Costa Rica
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Salvadoran Supercup
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Copa Campeón de Campeones
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Honduran Supercup
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Campeón de Campeones
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Suriname President's Cup
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Trinidad and Tobago Charity Shield
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NWSL Challenge Cup
CONMEBOL
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Supercopa Argentina
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Trofeo de Campeones de la Liga Profesional
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Supercopa Internacional
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Supercopa do Brasil
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Supercopa de Chile
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Superliga Colombiana
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Supercopa Ecuador
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Supercopa Paraguay
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Supercopa Peruana
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Supercopa Uruguaya
OFC
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Champion versus Champion
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Charity Cup
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Tahiti Coupe des Champions
UEFA
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Albanian Supercup
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Andorran Supercup
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Armenian Supercup
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Belarusian Super Cup
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Belgian Supercup
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Bosnian Supercup
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Bulgarian Supercup
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Croatian Supercup
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Cypriot Super Cup, Cypriot Women's Super Cup
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FA Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield), Women's FA Community Shield
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Estonian SuperCup, Estonian Women's Supercup
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Faroe Islands Super Cup
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Trophée des Champions, Trophée des Championnes
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Georgian Super Cup
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DFL-Supercup, DFB-Supercup Frauen
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Pepe Reyes Cup
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Greek Super Cup
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Icelandic Super Cup
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Israel Super Cup
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Supercoppa Italiana, Supercoppa Italiana (women)
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Kazakhstan Super Cup
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Kosovar Supercup
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Latvian Supercup
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Lithuanian Supercup
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Maltese Super Cup
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Moldovan Super Cup
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Johan Cruyff Shield
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Mesterfinalen
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NIFL Charity Shield
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Polish SuperCup
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Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, Supertaça de Portugal Feminina
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President's Cup
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Romanian Super Cup
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Russian Super Cup
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Super Coppa Sammarinese
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Supercopa de España, Supercopa de España Femenina
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Turkish Super Cup
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Ukrainian Super Cup
Defunct super cups
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Trofeo de Campeones
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Austrian Supercup
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Azerbaijan Supercup
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Bangladesh Super Cup
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BeNe Super Cup
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Super Coupe Roger Milla
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North American Club Championship
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Czech Supercup
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Danish Supercup
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Baltic Champions Cup
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Supercoupe du Gabon
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DFV-Supercup
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Hong Kong Community Cup
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Szuperkupa
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Indian Super Cup
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Indonesian Community Shield
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Supercopa MX
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Moroccan Super Cup
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Top Four Cup
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Macedonian Super Cup
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Copa Federación
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Slovak Super Cup
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Slovenian Supercup
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Korean Super Cup
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Swiss Super Cup
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Supercupen
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Thai Super Cup (top 4 places in last season, 2009 only)
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Kor Royal Cup
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Sheriff of London Charity Shield
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Soviet Super Cup (also known as the Season's Cup)
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Yugoslav Super Cup
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Northern Cypriot Super Cup
Cross-border super cups
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Copa Aldao (league champions)
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Czech-Slovak Supercup (cup winners)
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Livonia Cup (league champions)
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Champions Cup (league champions)
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Campeones Cup (league champions)
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Saudi-Egyptian Super Cup (league champions vs. cup champions)
Continental super cups
Some continental football federations also have their own super cups:
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AFC: Asian Super Cup (defunct)
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CAF: CAF Super Cup
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CONMEBOL: Recopa Sudamericana
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UEFA: UEFA Super Cup
Regional super cups
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UAFA: Arab Super Cup (defunct)
Intercontinental super cups
Most of the continental football confederations have jointly held a competition pitting their champions against each other:
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CONMEBOL & UEFA: Intercontinental Cup (defunct)
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CONCACAF & CONMEBOL: Copa Interamericana (defunct)
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AFC & CAF: Afro-Asian Club Championship (defunct)
All of these competitions are now defunct and have been succeeded by the FIFA Club World Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup, which features the champions of all of the confederations. In 2017, FIFA retroactively recognised the winners of the European/South American Cup as world champions.
A similar tournament was held at international level, the FIFA Confederations Cup. It was initially held on a biennial basis, every odd year, from 1993 until 2005 when it became quadrennial, the year before a World Cup in its host country. It featured the six continental champions, the World Cup winners and the host. The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup was the 10th and last Confederations Cup before FIFA abolished it for an expanded Club World Cup. CONMEBOL and UEFA relaunched the CONMEBOL-UEFA Cup of Champions in 2020, previously held as the European/South American Nations Cup in 1985 and 1993, to be contested between the champions of both confederations. The rebooted cup, now branded as the Finalissima, held its first edition in 2022, with quadrennial editions to follow. The two confederations launched a Women's Finalissima in 2023, involving the most recent winners of the Copa América Femenina and Women's Euro. It is also planned to be a quadrennial event.
Other tournaments like this have been held, including the Intercontinental Champions' Supercup (contested by the past winners of the Intercontinental Cup), the Club Challenge, previously held as Supercopa Euroamericana (pitting the Copa Sudamericana and UEFA Europa League winners), the J.League-Sudamericana Championship (pitting the Copa Sudamericana and J.League Cup winners), the Copa de Oro (pitting all the most recent CONMEBOL competition winners), and the Copa Iberoamericana (pitting the Copa de Oro and Copa del Rey winners).
Basketball
National super cups
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Algeria Basketball Supercup
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Austrian Supercup
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Belgian Supercup
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Dutch Supercup
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French Match des Champions
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German BBL Champions Cup
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Greek Super Cup
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Israeli Supercup
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Italian Supercup
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Jordan Basketball Supercup
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Polish Supercup
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Portuguese SuperCup
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Romanian Supercup
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Slovenian Supercup
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Spanish Supercup
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Turkish Presidential Cup
Regional
&
Continental level
Water polo
National super cups
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Supercopa de España de Waterpolo: an annual men's water polo match contested between the winners of División de Honor de Waterpolo and Copa del Rey de Waterpolo.
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Supercopa de España de Waterpolo Femenino: an annual women's water polo match contested between the winners of División de Honor Femenina de Waterpolo and Copa de la Reina de Waterpolo.
Continental super cups
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Men's LEN Super Cup: an annual water polo match organized by LEN (European Swimming League) and contested by the reigning champions of the two European club competitions, the LEN Champions League and the LEN Euro Cup.
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Women's LEN Super Cup: an annual water polo match organized by the LEN (European Swimming League) and contested by the reigning champions of the two European club competitions, the LEN Euro League and the LEN Trophy.
Motorsports
Rugby
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The current format of the rugby league World Club Challenge sees the winners of the Super League from Europe face the National Rugby League winners from Australasia, and was last played in 2024. In 1997, 2015, 2016 and 2017, the game formed part of an expanded tournament that included as few as four and as many as twenty-two teams.
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The Charity Shield is a defunct super cup competition in British rugby league, contested by the winners of the RFL Championship First Division and Challenge Cup.
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The Super Powers Cup was an annual international rugby union competition contested by national teams from Canada, Japan, Russia and United States. In 2005, its name was changed to the Super Cup.
Other sports
See also
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Super League (disambiguation)
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Superbowl (disambiguation)
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World Series (disambiguation)
