2016 ConIFA World Football Cup

The 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup was the second edition of the ConIFA World Football Cup, an international football tournament for states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions unaffiliated with FIFA organised by ConIFA. The tournament was hosted by the Football Federation of Abkhazia, with the Abkhazia team becoming the first host nation to win the tournament.

2016 ConIFA World Football Cup
Tournament details
Host country Abkhazia (official)
Dates29 May – 5 June
Teams12
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Abkhazia (1st title)
Runners-up Panjab
Third place Northern Cyprus
Fourth place Padania
Tournament statistics
Matches played28
Goals scored115 (4.11 per match)
Top scorer(s) Amar Purewal (7 goals)

Host selection

Following the 2015 ConIFA European Football Cup, in which the teams from Abkhazia and South Ossetia were refused visas by the Hungarian government, ConIFA announced that they had delivered strong objections to what they saw as political interference.[1] As a consequence, in July 2015, ConIFA announced that its Executive Committee had unanimously voted to award the 2016 World Football Cup to Abkhazia. It stated that, in addition to the quality of the bid, the decision would send out the message that ConIFA would stand by all of its members.[1]

Hosts

 Abkhazia

Sukhumi Gagra
Dinamo Stadium Daur Akhvlediani Stadium
43.004911°N 41.014472°E / 43.004911; 41.014472 (Dinamo Stadium) 43.2860657°N 40.2606291°E / 43.2860657; 40.2606291 (Daur Akhvlediani Stadium)
Capacity:4,300 Capacity:1,500

Qualification
Partial world map showing the national teams that entered the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup. Note that the Panjab and Chagos teams largely consisted of diaspora members living in England.
Main article: 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup qualification

The 2016 World Football Cup was the first ConIFA tournament to feature qualification, as the competitors in both the previous tournament and 2015 European Football Cup were invited. The qualification process was designed around a number of different tournaments; initially, ConIFA announced that the top three teams in the 2015 EFC would gain automatic qualification for the 2016 WFC.[2] Subsequent to this decision, ConIFA announced that it would sanction a number of friendly tournaments featuring its members as part of the qualification, with the first of these being the Niamh Challenge Cup, a four team tournament hosted by Ellan Vannin.[3] A further tournament, the Benedikt Fontana Cup was also planned to be hosted by Raetia.[4] The winners of these tournaments would gain qualification to the WFC.

In addition to the hosts, and the teams that gained entry to the tournament through the qualification process, ConIFA extended an invitation to the team representing the Aymara people to become the first South American side to participate.[5]

Qualified teams
Team Continent Method of
qualification		 Date of
qualification		 Finals
appearance		 Previous
appearance		 Previous best
performance		 Notes
Aymará South America Invitation 13 May 2015 1st N/A N/A Subsequently, withdrew from competition
 Ellan Vannin Europe Niamh Challenge Cup winners 31 May 2015 2nd 2014 Runners-up (2014) Subsequently, withdrew from competition
 Padania Europe European Football Cup Winner 21 June 2015 2nd 2014 5th Place (2014) Expelled from competition subsequent to qualification; subsequently restored following withdrawal of Romani People
 County of Nice Europe European Football Cup Runner Up 21 June 2015 2nd 2014 Winners (2014) Subsequently, withdrew from competition
 Abkhazia Europe Host 7 July 2015 2nd 2014 8th Place (2014)
 Raetia Europe Benedikt Fontana Cup Winners 6 September 2015 1st N/A N/A
 Somaliland Africa Selected 9 January 2016 1st N/A N/A
 Chagos Islands Asia Selected 9 January 2016 1st N/A N/A
 Kurdistan Region Asia Selected 9 January 2016 2nd 2014 6th Place (2014)
 Panjab Asia Selected 9 January 2016 1st N/A N/A
 United Koreans in Japan Asia Selected 9 January 2016 1st N/A N/A
 Northern Cyprus Europe Selected 9 January 2016 1st N/A N/A
 Romani people Europe Selected 9 January 2016 1st N/A N/A Subsequently, withdrew from competition
 Sápmi Europe Selected 9 January 2016 2nd 2014 10th Place (2014)
 Western Armenia Europe Selected 9 January 2016 1st N/A N/A
 Székely Land Europe Selected 2 March 2016 1st N/A N/A Replaced Padania

Draw

The twelve participating teams were divided into three pots of four for the group stage, which would see them drawn into four groups of three. The draw was made by ConIFA World President Per-Anders Blind in Luleå on 1 April 2016:[6]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3

Withdrawals

In December 2015, following advice from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office over security concerns regarding travel to Abkhazia, the Manx Independent Football Alliance announced that the Ellan Vannin team would withdraw from the World Football Cup, and instead take part in the 2016 Europeada Championship in Italy.[7] Subsequently, both the Aymará team, and County of Nice also withdrew.

In March 2016, ConIFA announced that Padania had been expelled from the tournament due to procedural irregularities, to be replaced by Székely Land.[8]

In May 2016, three weeks prior to the start of the tournament, ConIFA announced that the Romani team had been forced to withdraw from the tournament due to difficulties in obtaining travel documents for their squad. Padania, who had been expelled, were invited to take the place of the Romani team.[9]

Matches

Group stage
Key to colours in group tables
Team advanced to the quarter-finals
Team in the 9th-12th place play-offs

Group A
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Abkhazia 2 2 0 0 10 0 +10 6
 Western Armenia 2 1 0 1 12 1 +11 3
 Chagos Islands 2 0 0 2 0 21 −21 0
Source:
Abkhazia 9–0 Chagos Islands
Dmitri Kortava  18' (pen.)
Vladimir Argun  19'
Dmitri Akhba  34'
Albert Prus  39', 43'
Ruslan Shoniya  47', 57'
Astamur Tarba  50'
Victor Pimpia  88'		 Report
Chagos Islands 0–12 Western Armenia
Report David Ghandilyan  3', 20', 30', 34', 45', 53'
Tamaz Avolian  55'
Armen Kapikiyan  58', 81'
Ruslan Trapizoyan  64'
Vahagn Militosyan  69'
Hiraç Yagan  73'
Western Armenia 0–1 Abkhazia
Dmitri Kortava  9'

Group B
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Kurdistan Region 2 2 0 0 6 0 +6 6
 United Koreans in Japan 2 1 0 1 1 3 −2 3
 Székely Land 2 0 0 2 0 4 −4 0
Source:
Kurdistan Region 3–0 Székely Land
Farhang Wriya  34'
Farhan Shakor  55'
Hunar Ahmed  73'		 Report
United Koreans in Japan 1–0 Székely Land
Lee Son-Chon  60'
United Koreans in Japan 0–3 Kurdistan Region
Report Diyar Rahman  27'
Miran Khesro  45' (pen)
Hunar Ahmad  73'

Group C
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Northern Cyprus 2 2 0 0 9 1 +8 6
 Padania 2 1 0 1 7 2 +5 3
 Raetia 2 0 0 2 0 13 −13 0
Source:
Padania 1–2 Northern Cyprus
Matteo Prandelli  48' Report Ünal Kaya  62'
Halil Turan  67'
Raetia 0–6 Padania
Matteo Prandelli  23', 35', 54', 61'
Nicolo Mercorillo  21'
Andrea Rota  80'
Northern Cyprus 7–0 Raetia
Esin Sonay  5', 13', 48'
Tansel Ekingen  60'
Hüseyin Sadiklar  73'
Halil Turan  81', 87'

Group D
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Panjab 2 2 0 0 6 0 +6 6
 Sápmi 2 1 0 1 5 1 +4 3
 Somaliland 2 0 0 2 0 10 −10 0
Source:
Sápmi 5–0 Somaliland
Lars Iver Strand  15'
Jarkko Lahdenmäki  50'
Jon Steinar Eriksen  60'
Stein Arne Mannsverk  70'
Hans Åge Yndestad  80'		 Report
Sápmi 0–1 Panjab
Report Gurjit Singh  2'
Somaliland 0–5 Panjab
Amar Purewal  30', 67', 80'
Arjun Purewal  38'
Gurjit Singh  74'

Knockout stage
 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
1 June – Sukhumi
 
 
 United Koreans in Japan 1 (2)
 
4 June – Sukhumi
 
 Northern Cyprus1 (4)
 
 Northern Cyprus0
 
1 June – Sukhumi
 
 Abkhazia 2
 
 Abkhazia 2
 
5 June – Sukhumi
 
 Sápmi0
 
 Abkhazia1 (6)
 
2 June – Sukhumi
 
 Panjab 1 (5)
 
 Kurdistan Region 2 (6)
 
4 June – Sukhumi
 
 Padania2 (7)
 
 Padania0
 
2 June – Sukhumi
 
 Panjab 1 Third place
 
 Western Armenia 2
 
5 June – Sukhumi
 
 Panjab3
 
 Padania 0
 
 
 Northern Cyprus 2
 

Quarter-Finals
United Koreans in Japan 1–1 Northern Cyprus
On Song-Tae  54' Ünal Kaya  31'
Penalties
Kim Kwang-Woo
On Song-Tae
Kim Su-Yong
An Suug-Tae 		2–4 Esin Sonay
Halil Turan
Ünal Kaya
Ibrahim Çıdamlı
Abkhazia 2–0 Sápmi
Dmitri Kortava  35', 73' (pen.)
Kurdistan Region 2–2 Padania
Matteo Prandelli  22' (o.g.)
Jassim Mohammed Haji  25'		 Luca Ferri  13'
Marco Garavelli  71'
Penalties
Kosrat Baiz
Kamaran Ali (?)
Khalid Mushir
Diyar Rahman
Farhan Shakor
Hunar Ahmad
(?)
Miran Khesro 		6–7 Matteo Prandelli
Marco Garavelli
Alex Mazzocca
Luca Mosti (?)
Luca Ferri
Stefano Tignonsini (?)
Gianluca Rolandone (?)
Antonio Pizzolla
Western Armenia 2–3 Panjab
Tamaz Avolian  67'
Raffi Kaya  79'		 Amar Purewal  2', 36', 44'

Semi-Finals
Northern Cyprus 0–2 Abkhazia
Levan Logua  9'
Ruslan Shoniya  69'
Padania 0–1 Panjab
Omar Rio Riaz  76'

Third-Place Play-Off
Padania 0–2 Northern Cyprus
Halil Turan  50'
Tansel Ekingen  79'

Final
Abkhazia 1–1 Panjab
Ruslan Shoniya  88' Report Amar Purewal  57'
Penalties
Anri Khagba
Anri Khagush
Dmitriy Akhba
Tarash Khagba
Ruslan Shoniya
Alan Khugaev
Shabat Logua
Vladimir Argun 		6–5 Amar Purewal
Radjpal Virk
Terlochan Singh
Karum Shanker
Jhai Dhillon
Aran Basi
Amarvir Sandhu
Aaron Minhas
 ConIFA World Football Cup 2016 Winners 

Abkhazia
First title

Placement Rounds
Placement round 1 Placement round 2 Placings
2 June – Gagra3 June – Gagra Sápmi5th place
 Chagos Islands2 Chagos Islands3 (2) Western Armenia6th Place
 Somaliland3 Raetia3 (3) United Koreans in Japan7th Place
2 June – Gagra3 June - Gagra Kurdistan Region8th Place
 Székely Land7 Somaliland3 Székely Land9th place
 Raetia0 Székely Land10 Somaliland10th place
3 June - Sukhumi4 June - Gagra Raetia11th place
 United Koreans in Japan1 United Koreans in Japan1 (4) Chagos Islands12th place
 Sápmi2 Kurdistan Region1 (2)
3 June - Sukhumi4 June - Gagra
 Kurdistan Region0 (5) Sápmi3
 Western Armenia0 (6) Western Armenia0

Placement Round 1
Chagos Islands 2–3 Somaliland
Székely Land 7–0 Raetia
United Koreans in Japan 1–2 Sápmi
Kim Su-Yong  2'  9' (pen)
 61'
Kurdistan Region 0–0 Western Armenia
Penalties
Miran Khesro
Farhan Shakor
Hunar Ahmad
Farhang Wriya
Diyar Rahman
Aras Mustafa
Znar Faidhi 		5–6 Hiraç Yagan
Raffi Kaya
Tamaz Avolian
Loris Berberian
Jules Tepelian
Herant Yagan
Denis Oz

Placement Round 2
Chagos Islands 3–3 Raetia
Penalties



 2–4


Somaliland 3–10 Székely Land
United Koreans in Japan 1–1 Kurdistan Region
An Suug-Tae  90+5'  80'
Penalties
Kim Su-Yong
An Suug-Tae
Kim Kwang-Woo
Huo Yang
Shin Yong-Ki 		4–2


Sápmi 3–0 Western Armenia

Final Positions
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Result
1  Abkhazia 5 4 1 0 15 1 +14 13
2  Panjab 5 4 1 0 11 3 +8 13
3  Northern Cyprus 5 3 1 1 12 4 +8 10
4  Padania 5 1 1 3 9 7 +2 4
5  Sápmi 5 3 0 2 10 4 +6 9 Eliminated
in the
Quarterfinals
6  Western Armenia 5 1 1 3 14 7 +7 4
7  United Koreans in Japan 5 1 2 2 4 7 −3 5
8  Kurdistan Region 5 2 3 0 9 3 +6 9
9  Székely Land 4 2 0 2 17 7 +10 6 Eliminated
in the
First Stage
10  Somaliland 4 1 0 3 6 22 −16 3
11  Raetia 4 0 1 3 3 23 −20 1
12  Chagos Islands 4 0 1 3 5 27 −22 1
Source:

References
  1. "Looking back and moving forward!". ConIFA. 7 July 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  2. "European Football Cup 2015". ConIFA. Confederation of independent Football Associations. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  3. "Ellan Vannin to host tournament at end of month". Yorkshire Evening Post. 13 May 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-07-15. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  4. "Benedikt Fontana Cup". ConIFA. Confederation of Independent Football Associations. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  5. Jockel, Jens (16 May 2015). "Signing of Team Aymara – Chile-Trip of our South America Director". ConIFA. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  6. The official draw CONIFA World Football Cup 2016 (Video). ConIFA. 1 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  7. "Ellan Vannin set for new European adventure". IOM Today. 17 December 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  8. "Replacement in ConIFA WFC 2016". Facebook. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  9. "BREAKING!Sad news approached us from the Romani People Football Team". Facebook. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
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