2018 CONIFA World Football Cup

The 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup was the third 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 Barawa Football Association, with all games held in and around London.[1] The tournament was sponsored by Irish bookmaker Paddy Power. After being a late entry to the tournament, Kárpátalja won their first title on 9 June 2018, defeating Northern Cyprus 3–2 on penalties in the final. (0-0 after 90 minutes)

2018 CONIFA World Football Cup
Tournament details
Host country Barawa (official)
 England (location)
Dates31 May – 9 June
Teams16
Venue(s)10 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Kárpátalja (1st title)
Runners-up Northern Cyprus
Third place Padania
Fourth place Székely Land
Tournament statistics
Matches played41
Goals scored158 (3.85 per match)
Top scorer(s) Kamaljit Singh (6 goals)

Host selection

In June 2017, at the CONIFA meeting held during the 2017 CONIFA European Football Cup, it was announced that the Barawa Football Association had been selected to act as the host for the 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup. However, under CONIFA's criteria, the "host" is the CONIFA member that heads the organising committee for the tournament, which does not necessarily mean that it needs to be played in the host's territory.[2] Barawa is located in Somalia, but the Barawa FA represents members of the Somali diaspora in England.[3]

Venues

The first two CONIFA World Football Cup tournaments both featured no more than two venues each; the 2014 tournament featured all games played at the same stadium, while the 2016 edition had a stadium in each of two cities. The expansion from twelve to sixteen participants in 2018 saw a significant expansion in the number of venues used, with a total of ten selected in four separate towns and cities - of these, seven were located in Greater London itself, two were in the towns of Slough and Bracknell in Berkshire, and one in the borough of Thurrock in Essex.

Greater London
Sutton Bromley Enfield Haringey
Gander Green Lane Hayes Lane Queen Elizabeth II Stadium Coles Park
Capacity: 5,000 Capacity: 5,000 Capacity: 2,500 Capacity: 2,500
Greater London Greater London
Carshalton Rotherhithe
Colston Avenue St Paul's Sports Ground
Capacity: 5,000 Capacity: 1,000
Greater London Essex
Bedfont Aveley
Bedfont Recreation Ground Parkside
Capacity: 3,000 Capacity: 3,500
Berkshire
Bracknell Slough
Larges Lane Arbour Park
Capacity: 2,500 Capacity: 2,000

Qualification

CONIFA WFC 2018 teams

The process of qualification for the World Football Cup was originally laid out in a set of criteria published by CONIFA at its 2017 annual general meeting, which goes into the various ways by which teams can qualify.[4] This was subsequently revised by CONIFA in June 2017.[5]

  • Host - Providing at least 10 places are available for other qualifiers, then all hosts will qualify automatically. If there are less than 10 other places available, then the number of automatic host places is calculated by the total number of places in the tournament minus 10.
  • World Football Cup Holder - The current holder of the World Football Cup qualifies automatically.
  • Wild Card - CONIFA's Executive Committee issues a Wild Card place to a team that has not yet qualified for the WFC no later than 9 months prior to the start of the tournament. The committee also has the right to issue a second Wild Card if approved by CONIFA's Annual General Meeting.
  • Qualification tournament - Any member of CONIFA has the right to request that a tournament it hosts be sanctioned as a qualifier, providing it is held between 1 January of the year of the previous WFC, and 31 December of the year before the next WFC, and consists of at least four CONIFA members. The request to have the tournament sanctioned as a qualifier must be submitted at least two months prior to the start, and must be approved by CONIFA's Executive Committee.
  • Continental tournament - If a CONIFA continental championship is held after the previous WFC, then a number of its participants qualify for the WFC; the total qualifiers is worked out by the number of participants in the tournament divided by 4.
  • Qualification points - Remaining places are distributed according to the final positions in the various CONIFA continental rankings according to their accumulated ranking points. If two or more teams have the same number of qualification points, qualification will be determined by the CONIFA World Rankings.
Qualification points
Opposition Factor (OF)Result Factor (RF)
CONIFA Member = 3Win = 3
Other international
opposition = 2
Draw = 2
Any other opposition = 1Defeat = 1
Points for a single match = OF × RF
  • Matches played in WFC do not count towards qualification points totals.
  • Only the first two matches between teams accrue points.
  • Additional matches are only considered if played as part of a tournament.
  • Only the ten matches where a team accrued the most points are considered.
  • If a member hosts a continental championship during the qualifying period,
    it receives additional points (number of participants × 3).

By the criteria set out, the qualification process began in January 2016, when Western Armenia played its first official game against the reserve team of the French club Olympique de Marseille.[6] The first team to qualify automatically was Tamil Eelam, by winning the single match CONIFA Challenger Cup against the Romani people in March 2016. Following this, two further, multi-team competitions were awarded qualification status by CONIFA, the Hungary Heritage Cup, played between four CONIFA members representing the Hungarian diaspora, and the World Unity Cup, which was a tournament containing teams representing a number of displaced peoples.[7] The winners of both of these tournaments were guaranteed qualification for the World Football Cup.

Qualified teams

Team Region Method of
qualification
Date of
qualification
Finals
appearance
Previous
appearance
Previous best
performance
Notes
 Tamil Eelam Asia ConIFA Challenger Cup winners 13 March 2016 2nd 2014 Placement round (2014)
 Abkhazia Europe ConIFA World Football Cup winners 6 June 2016 3rd 2016 Winners (2016)
 Felvidék Europe Hungary Heritage Cup winners 3 August 2016 1st N/A N/A Subsequently withdrew
 Western Armenia Asia Wild card 14 January 2017 2nd 2016 Quarter-final (2016)
 Barawa Africa Host 8 June 2017 1st N/A N/A
 Tibet Asia Wild card 8 June 2017 1st N/A N/A
 Kiribati Oceania Regional qualification 8 June 2017 1st N/A N/A Subsequently withdrew
 Cascadia North America Regional qualification 8 June 2017 1st N/A N/A
 Padania Europe ConIFA European Football Cup winners 10 June 2017 3rd 2016 4th place (2016)
 Northern Cyprus Europe ConIFA European Football Cup runners-up 10 June 2017 2nd 2016 3rd place (2016)
 Panjab Asia Regional qualification 2 September 2017 2nd 2016 2nd place (2016)
 United Koreans in Japan Asia Regional qualification 2 September 2017 2nd 2016 Quarter-final (2016)
 Matabeleland Africa Regional qualification 2 September 2017 1st N/A N/A
 Kabylia Africa Regional qualification 2 September 2017 1st N/A N/A
 Ellan Vannin Europe Regional qualification 2 September 2017 2nd 2014 2nd place (2014)
 Székely Land Europe Regional qualification 2 September 2017 2nd 2016 Placement round (2016)
 Tuvalu Oceania Replacement 7 March 2018 1st N/A N/A Replaced Kiribati
 Kárpátalja Europe Replacement 4 May 2018 1st N/A N/A Replaced Felvidék

Draw

In December 2017, the sixteen participating teams were seeded into four pots of four for the group stage draw, based on the ConIFA rankings. The draw for the group stage was held on 6 January 2018 in Northern Cyprus.[8][9]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

Withdrawals

In March 2018, ConIFA announced that, owing to financial difficulties, the Kiribati team had been forced to withdraw from the tournament, with their place taken by Tuvalu.[10] In May 2018, it was announced that the Felvidék team had withdrawn, to be replaced by Kárpátalja.[11]

Squads

Referees

ConIFA announced a total of 28 referees for the tournament, led by former Premier League official Mark Clattenburg.[12] During the tournament, referees used a third card in addition to the red and yellow; the green card, introduced as a concept by the tournament sponsor Paddy Power, was issued to players either for dissent or diving; a player given a green card was required to be substituted immediately.[12]

Matches

Group stage

Key to colours in group tables
Team advanced to the quarter-finals
Team in the placement rounds

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Barawa 3 2 0 1 7 2 +5 6
 Cascadia 3 2 0 1 9 5 +4 6
 Ellan Vannin 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 6
 Tamil Eelam 3 0 0 3 0 12 12 0
Source:
Ellan Vannin 4–1 Cascadia
Whitley  15'
Jones  41'
Caine  62'
McVey  70'
Report Doughty  18'
Referee: Ivan Mrkalj
Barawa 4–0 Tamil Eelam
Sambou  17'
Lucien  30' (pen.), 80' (pen.)
Crichlow  43'
Report

Barawa 12 Cascadia
Bettamer  9' Report Doughty  35'
Morales  45+1'
Referee: Utku Hamamcioglu
Ellan Vannin 20 Tamil Eelam
Whitley  47'
Caine  57'
Report
Referee: Mario Guastafierro

Barawa 20 Ellan Vannin
Bettamer  40'
Ismail  56'
Report
Referee: Ivan Mrkalj
Tamil Eelam 06 Cascadia
Report Nouble  10' (pen.), 87'
Hayden-Smith  32', 71'
Farkas  69'
Ferguson  89'

Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Kárpátalja 3 2 1 0 8 2 +6 7
 Northern Cyprus 3 1 2 0 6 4 +2 5
 Abkhazia 3 1 1 1 5 4 +1 4
 Tibet 3 0 0 3 2 11 9 0
Source:
Abkhazia 3–0 Tibet
Akhvlediani  12'
Maskayev  61'
Shoniya  77'
Report
Referee: Raymond Mashamba

Abkhazia 0–2 Kárpátalja
Report Gajdos  11'
I. Sándor  90+8'
Referee: Dmitrii Zhukov
Northern Cyprus 31 Tibet
Turan  2', 67'
Gök  73'
Report Topgyal  38'
Referee: John McCallum

Abkhazia 22 Northern Cyprus
Maskayev  21'
Argun  90' (pen.)
Report Kaya  27'
Oshan  77'
Referee: Dmitrii Zhukov
Kárpátalja 51 Tibet
Gajdos  2'
G. Sándor  36' (pen.)
Takács  42', 77'
Svedjuk  75'
Report Yougyal  69'
Referee: Raymond Mashamba

Group C

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Padania 3 3 0 0 17 2 +15 9
 Székely Land 3 2 0 1 10 3 +7 6
 Matabeleland 3 1 0 2 4 12 8 3
 Tuvalu 3 0 0 3 1 15 14 0
Source:
Székely Land 4–0 Tuvalu
Bajkó  23', 63', 68'
Magyari  75'
Report
Padania 6–1 Matabeleland
Innocenti  10', 45'
Piantoni  39', 42'
Rosset  60'
Rota  61'
Report Ndlela  78'

Székely Land 50 Matabeleland
Fülöp  31' (pen.)
Györgyi  40'
Magyari  42', 54'
Hodgyai  90+1'
Report
Referee: Igor Gorshkov
Padania 8–0 Tuvalu
Corno  8', 12', 38'
Ravasi  17'
Valente  32', 44', 89'
Rosset  71'
Report
Referee: Raymond Mashamba

Padania 31 Székely Land
Rolandone  19'
Innocenti  27'
Pllumbaj  45'
Report Szőcs  90'
Referee: Fehim Dayı
Tuvalu 13 Matabeleland
Timuani  27' Report S. Ndlovu  25', 38'
Mlalazi  90+1' (pen.)
Referee: Clément Auclair

Group D

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Western Armenia 3 2 1 0 5 0 +5 7
 Panjab 3 1 1 1 9 2 +7 4
 United Koreans in Japan 3 0 3 0 1 1 0 3
 Kabylia 3 0 1 2 0 12 12 1
Source:
United Koreans in Japan 0–0 Western Armenia
Report
Referee: Fehim Dayı
Panjab 8–0 Kabylia
Sandhu  24', 53'
Purewal  45', 62'
G. Singh  51' (pen.), 90+3'
K. Singh  75', 82'
Report

United Koreans in Japan 0–0 Kabylia
Report
Referee: Leon Dastych
Panjab 0–1 Western Armenia
Report Militosyan  14'
Referee: Kristian Michel

Panjab 11 United Koreans in Japan
Purewal  77' (pen.) Report Mun  90+4'
Referee: David Murphy
Western Armenia 40 Kabylia
Mosoyan  23'
Valenza-Berberian  61', 87'
Militosyan  89'
Report
Referee: Massimo Amitrano

Knockout stage

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
5 June – Sutton
 
 
 Barawa0
 
7 June – Carshalton
 
 Northern Cyprus8
 
 Northern Cyprus3
 
5 June – Bracknell
 
 Padania2
 
 Padania2
 
9 June – Enfield
 
 Panjab0
 
 Northern Cyprus0 (2)
 
5 June – Sutton
 
 Kárpátalja0 (3)
 
 Kárpátalja3
 
7 June – Carshalton
 
 Cascadia1
 
 Kárpátalja4
 
5 June – Bromley
 
 Székely Land 2 Third place
 
 Western Armenia 0
 
9 June – Enfield
 
 Székely Land4
 
 Padania0 (5)
 
 
 Székely Land 0 (4)
 

Quarter-Finals

Barawa 0–8 Northern Cyprus
Report Gök  15', 80'
Önet  51'
Turan  54', 69'
Ali  58' (o.g.)
Mehmet  84'
Osman  88'
Referee: Ivan Mrki

Padania 2–0 Panjab
Innocenti  59' (pen.)
Pavan  90'
Report
Referee: Vitalii Mazin

Kárpátalja 3–1 Cascadia
Gyürki  49'
Takács  59'
Gadjos  87' (pen.)
Report Haddadi  80'
Referee: Fehim Dayı

Western Armenia 0–4 Székely Land
Report Tankó  36'
Csizmadia  61'
L. Fülöp  65'
Bajkó  86'
Referee: Givi Todua

Semi-Finals

Northern Cyprus 3–2 Padania
Mehmet  36', 84'
Turan  80'
Report Ravasi  30'
Pavan  47'
Referee: Dmitrii Zhukov

Kárpátalja 4–2 Székely Land
Toma  36', 57'
Gyürki  75' (pen.)
Peres  90+1'
Report Csizmadia  77'
Bajkó  79'

Third-Place Play-Off

Padania 0–0 Székely Land
Report
Penalties
5–4
Referee: Utku Hamamcioglu

Final

Northern Cyprus 0–0 Kárpátalja
Report
Penalties
Mehmet
Kurt
Oshan
Ersalan
Turan
2–3 Gyürki
Toma
Baksa
I. Sándor
Svedjuk
Northern Cyprus
Kárpátalja
 ConIFA World Football Cup 2018 Winners 

Kárpátalja
First title

Placement Round 1

Ellan Vannin [note 1]0–3
Awarded
 Tibet
Report
Referee: Mario Guastafierro

Matabeleland 0–0 Kabylia
Report
Penalties
P. Ndlovu
Mlalazi
G. Ndlovu
George
Nkomo
Sthamburi
3–4 Belalsa

Hadid


Mezaib
Referee: Kristian Michel

Abkhazia 6–0 Tamil Eelam
Akhvlediani  40', 71'
Logua  63'
Shoniya  74', 88'
Tarba  83'
Report
Referee: Karl Parker

United Koreans in Japan 5–0 Tuvalu
Taniyama  18'
Lee  20', 58'
Shin  23'
Mun  83'
Report
Referee: Leon Dastych

Placement Round 2

Ellan Vannin [note 2]0–3
Awarded
 Matabeleland
Report

Tamil Eelam 4–3 Tuvalu
Ragavan  7', 86', 90+1'
Perananthan  90+4'
Report Petoa  3', 73'
Vailine  55'
Referee: Leon Dastych

Tibet 1–8 Kabylia
Topgyal  43' (pen.) Report Baudia  25', 74', 77', 87'
Hadid  45'
Mezaib  49', 51'
Bouabbas  81'
Referee: Clément Auclair

Abkhazia 2–0 United Koreans in Japan
Akhvlediani  38'
Kogoniya  78'
Report
Referee: Zekai Tore

Barawa 0–5 Panjab
Report K. Singh  8', 65', 72', 90+2'
Minhas  46'
Referee: David Murphy

Cascadia 4–0 Western Armenia
Ferguson  24', 62'
Oldham  54'
Farkas  79'
Report
Referee: Ivan Mrkalj

Placement Round 3


Matabeleland 1–0 Tamil Eelam
Ndlela  81' Report
Referee: Vitalii Mazin

Tibet 1–1 United Koreans in Japan
Yougyal  20' Report Gelek  84' (o.g.)
Penalties
1–4

Kabylia 0–2 Abkhazia
Report Logua  29'
Zhanaa  56'
Referee: Kristian Michel

Barawa 0–7 Western Armenia
Report  ?' Norik Hovsepyan
 ?' David Hovsepyan
 ?' Artur Yedigaryan
 ?' Fabrice Guzel
 ?' Zaven Varjabetyan
 ?' Vahagn Militosyan
 ?' Arman Mosoyan
Referee: Leon Dastych

Panjab 3–3 Cascadia
Virk  18'
Minhas  24', 34'
Report Morales  45'
Ferguson  54', 60'
Penalties
Purewal
Zia
Virk
Dhillon
K. Singh
Jung
4–3 Riley
Gregory
J. Wilson
Oldham
Haddadi
Levock
Referee: Mariano Sasso

Statistics

Goalscorers

6 goals
  • Kamaljit Singh
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Own goals

Final positions

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD
1  Kárpátalja 6 4 2 0 15 5 +10
2  Northern Cyprus 6 3 3 0 17 6 +11
3  Padania 6 4 1 1 21 5 +16
4  Székely Land 6 3 1 2 16 7 +9
5  Panjab 6 2 2 2 17 7 +10
6  Cascadia 6 3 1 2 17 11 +6
7  Western Armenia 6 3 1 2 12 8 +4
8  Barawa 6 2 0 4 7 22 15
9  Abkhazia 6 4 1 1 15 4 +11
10  Kabylia 6 1 1 4 8 15 7
11  United Koreans in Japan 6 1 4 1 7 4 +3
12  Tibet 5 0 1 4 4 20 16
13  Matabeleland 5 2 1 2 5 12 7
14  Tamil Eelam 6 1 0 5 4 22 18
15  Tuvalu 5 0 0 5 4 24 20
16  Ellan Vannin[lower-alpha 1] 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3
Source:
Notes:
  1. Ellan Vannin withdrew from the competition after the group stage.

Player awards

Three individual awards were handed out by ConIFA at the conclusion of the tournament:[13]

  • Paddy Power Player of the Tournament: Béla Fejér
  • ConIFA Golden Boot: Kamaljit Singh
  • Global FCE Young Player of the Tournament: Sami Boudia

As winner of Young Player of the Tournament, Sami Boudia was offered a one-month residency at one of the Global Football Centre Of Excellence's academies.

Marketing

Tournament programme

A programme for the entire tournament was produced, with the bulk of the content produced by football writer Mat Guy and blogger Pat McGuinness, and produced by Programme Master.[14]

Official anthem

The official anthem of the tournament is "Bring The House Down" by English duo Right Said Fred, which was released on 29 May 2018.[15]

Controversies

Ellan Vannin withdrawal

Following the completion of the group stage, Ellan Vannin entered a protest regarding the fact that Barawa had been able to bring in a replacement player to their squad after the tournament had started, in apparent contravention of the tournament's rules. The addition of the player, Mohamed Bettamer, a former Libyan youth international, was permitted by ConIFA, who stated that this was a rule change, but who did not inform the other 15 teams in the competition, who had submitted their own squad lists according to the published pre-tournament rule book.[16] Ellan Vannin launched an appeal against the Barawa team's fielding of an apparently ineligible player, which at an initial meeting of the tournament committee was upheld, before subsequently being overturned.[17] As a result, Ellan Vannin withdrew from the remainder of the tournament, and Tibet, their opponents in the First Placement Round, were awarded a 3–0 victory.[18] Their place in the remaining fixtures were taken by Chagos Islands. [19] A meeting of ConIFA's Executive Committee made the decision to provisionally expel the Manx Independent Football Alliance from the organization on 7 June, subject to ratification at the Annual General Meeting in January 2019.[20] They were reinstated in January.

Replacement matches

London Turkish Select 4–0 Tibet
Nalbant
Ali Avci
Report
Referee: Mario Guastafierro

Chagos Islands 0–1 Matabeleland
Report Sthamburi  60'
Referee: Massimo Amitrano

Chagos Islands 1–6 Tuvalu
Leonce  28' (pen.) Report Tinilau  8', 63'
Uaelasi  20', 81'
Oride  26' (o.g.)
Vailine  71'
Referee: Raymond Motumba

Goalscorers

3 goals
  • Hassan Nalbant
2 goals
1 goal
Own goals
  • Nicolas Oride (against  Tuvalu)

Broadcasting rights

CONIFA provided live streaming through football streaming service Mycujoo and edited highlights provided by FC Video. Select games were also live streamed on the Paddy Power Facebook page.

In Northern Cyprus the games were broadcast by EURO GENÇ TV.

Notes

  1. Ellan Vannin withdrew from the tournament on 5 June. Tibet instead played a "London Turkish Select" team when this fixture was due to be played.
  2. Chagos Islands agreed to fulfil Ellan Vannin's remaining fixtures.

References

  1. "16 nations - one goal!". Facebook. ConIFA. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  2. "World Football Cup Qualification System". ConIFA. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  3. "About". Barawa Football Association. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  4. "CONIFA World Football Cup Qualification Guidelines" (PDF). conifa.org. ConIFA. October 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  5. "World Football Cup Qualification System". ConIFA. Confederation of Independent Football Associations. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  6. "Football Federation of Western Armenia Plays First Game". Asbarez. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  7. "ConIFA Activity Report 2016" (PDF). ConIFA. 2017-01-18. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  8. "Official Seeding - World Cup London 2018 group stage". Twitter. ConIFA. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  9. "Going to be very interesting. Draw in Northern Cyprus on January 6th, 2018". Twitter. Manx IFA. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  10. "Tuvalu to replace Kiribati at the 2018 Paddy Power World Football Cup". ConIFA. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  11. "Karpatalya to replace Felvidék at 2018 Paddy Power World Football Cup". ConIFA. 4 May 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  12. Wilson, Jack (14 May 2018). "Premier League revelation: Mark Clattenburg reveals the player who 'annoys EVERYONE'". Daily Express. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  13. "Fejer, Boudia and Singh Scoop #WFC2018 Awards". CONIFA. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  14. "ConIFA 2018 World Football Cup Official Programme". Programme Master. Archived from the original on 6 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  15. Wright, Chris (29 May 2018). "'Bring The House Down' – Right Said Fred Record Official Anthem For 2018 ConIFA World Cup". Who Ate All The Pies. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  16. "Should Ellan Vannin appeal their elimination?". Prost Amerika. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  17. "Manx FA react furiously to rejection of Bettamer appeal". Prost Amerika. 5 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  18. "CONIFA Statement Regarding Ellan Vannin". CONIFA.org. CONIFA. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  19. "CONIFA is pleased to advise that Chagos Islands will fulfill Ellan Vannin's fixtures". Twitter Conifa. 5 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  20. "CONIFA Statement Regarding Ellan Vannin". ConIFA. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
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