... is named after the American pool player William Joseph ('Willie') Mosconi (1913–93). Nicknamed 'Mr. Pocket Billiards', Mosconi won the World Straight Pool Championship an unmatched fifteen times between 1941 and 1957, and (according to Wikipedia) "helped to popularize pool as a [US] national recreation activity."
Also according to Wikipedia, "the Mosconi Cup was created by Sky Sports and Matchroom Sport as an exhibition event to increase public awareness of pool in the United Kingdom." In its early days, several top women players appeared alongside the men in both teams; "many famous snooker players participated, but only Steve Davis continued into the event's more serious era, bowing out when the event began to clash with snooker's UK Championship."
Since Davis's withdrawal, all players have been obliged to earn their places in the tournament by virtue of their performances in other events. The last professional snooker player to take part was Malta's Tony Drago in 2007.
The first tournament (in 1994) was held in Steve Davis's spiritual home – Romford, Essex. The second and third (1995 and 1996) were played in Basildon and Dagenham (both also in Essex) respectively. From 1997 to 2002 the event was held in Bethnal Green, in London's East End, and in 2003 it was held in the USA for the first time as Las Vegas hosted. Las Vegas has been the venue in every odd–numbered year since; in 2004 and 2006 it was played in the Netherlands, and in even years from 2008 onwards it's been in various places in England. In 2020 it was held at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.
The 1994 tournament was won by the USA, but in 1995 Europe evened the score with a narrow victory by 16 points to 15. The USA then won nine of the next ten tournaments; but after a tie in 2006, Europe won ten of the next eleven to lead by twelve wins to eleven. The USA won in 2018 and 2019 to lead 13–12, but in 2020 Europe scored a convincing 11–3 victory to level the overall scores at thirteen wins each.
© Haydn Thompson 2021