Published by the Belgrade-based Politika publishing company, it reached its peak in the 1970s and 1980s as one of the most popular sports publications in SFR Yugoslavia, notable for its coverage of domestic and international football, basketball, and other team sports.

Tempo was founded in Belgrade in 1966, as a weekly sports magazine under Politika's umbrella.

[1] Most of its coverage centered on football, with basketball, handball, volleyball, and water polo also featuring prominently.

For decades, Tempo was famous among the youth of SFR Yugoslavia for publishing glossy color posters of their favourite domestic and foreign sporting heroes.

It was the publication's 1879th issue and its cover featured the Greece national football team that had just won EURO 2004.