The first time the champions of two European leagues met was in what was nicknamed

the 1895 World Championship, when English champions Sunderland beat Scottish
champions Hearts 5–3.[11] The first pan-European tournament was the Challenge Cup,
a competition between clubs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.[12] Three years later,
in 1900, the champions of Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland, which were the only
existing leagues in continental Europe at the time, participated in the Coupe Van
der Straeten Ponthoz, thus being dubbed as the "club championship of the continent"
by the local newspapers.[13][14]

The Mitropa Cup, a competition modelled after the Challenge Cup, was created in
1927, an idea of Austrian Hugo Meisl, and played between Central European clubs.
[15] In 1930, the Coupe des Nations (French: Nations Cup), the first attempt to
create a cup for national champion clubs of Europe, was played and organised by
Swiss club Servette.[16] Held in Geneva, it brought together ten champions from
across the continent. The tournament was won by Újpest of Hungary.[16] Latin
European nations came together to form the Latin Cup in 1949.[17]