IQA World Cup

The IQA World Cup is an international quidditch tournament contested by the national teams of the members of the International Quidditch Association, the sport's global governing organisation. The championship, which was named Summer Games and Global Games in its first two editions, has been awarded every two years since 2012. The current champions are the United States, who defeated Belgium in 2018.[1]

For the club competition formerly called Quidditch World Cup, see US Quidditch Cup.
IQA World Cup
Most recent season or competition:
2018 IQA World Cup
FormerlySummer Games
Global Games
SportQuidditch
Founded2012
Inaugural season2012 IQA Summer Games
No. of teamsVaries
Most recent
champion(s)		 United States
Most titles United States (3)
Official websiteiqasport.org

History
Locations of the IQA World Cups in Europe
Locations of the IQA World Cups in North America

The World Cup was first held in July 2012. The tournament was named the "Summer Games" in accordance with its unofficial tie-in to the 2012 Summer Olympics, and because the name "World Cup" was already being used since 2007 for a club championship held in the United States. The tournament was held in Oxford, United Kingdom as the Olympic torch was passing through the city. Five teams participated: Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The event followed a round-robin format, with the lowest ranked team being eliminated and the others advancing to the bracket phase. The UK was defeated by all other competitors and did not make the bracket. The US took first place, defeating France in the final, and Australia claimed bronze by defeating Canada.[2]

In 2014, the tournament was renamed "Global Games" and took place under an updated IQA which became an international sports federation.[3] The Games were under the supervision of US Quidditch but were held in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.[4] Seven teams came out to compete: Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Italy had planned to compete but had to pull out. The event was contested over a round-robin, with positions in a series of playoffs determined by each team's result in the first round. Due to limited media relations and improper planning, the tournament was relatively unknown and had a lacking medical staff which became evident when Belgium chose to forfeit after suffering multiple injuries.[5] The United States defended their title by defeating Australia in the final, and Canada claimed bronze by defeating the United Kingdom.[6]

The 2016 World Cup took place in Frankfurt, Germany. The initial tournament plan involved 24 competing teams, but because of the dropouts of five teams, the number of expected nations was reduced to 19.[7] Later, Brazil and Slovakia were added to the roster of teams, resulting in a field of 21 nations.[8] The tournament took place using a pool-play format, followed by a single-elimination bracket with all 21 teams. Ahead of the tournament, exhibition matches were held between Canada and the United Kingdom, Turkey and Mexico and Australia and Germany. A planned exhibition match between Uganda and South Korea was canceled after Uganda dropped out of the competition.[9] After a pool-play and bracket tournament, Australia defeated the United States 150*–130 in the final. The United States had first made a snitch catch which was disallowed on the grounds of charging the snitch. When the Australian seeker caught the snitch, the catch was initially challenged due to the seeker having been hit by a bludger. However the beat was ruled out as the beater had himself been hit by a bludger. The catch was therefore called good and Australia won the match and the United States suffered their first defeat. In the third place match, the United Kingdom avenged their defeat in the 2014 third place playoff years prior by beating Canada 190*–60. Both the final and bronze playoff were therefore re-runs of the same games from the previous World Cup, both with the reverse result.[10]

The 2018 World Cup was held in Florence, Italy with 29 teams competing.[11][12] There has been much online controversy about the unexpected hike in tournament fees, which has forced some smaller nations to drop out, namely Denmark and Sweden, both of whom would have been attending for the first time.

Format

Qualification

None of the competitions so far have involved a qualification round. To be eligible, the team must be representing a region's national governing body.

Results

The following table shows a list of all World Cups to date. The team that caught the snitch is denoted with an asterisk.

Year Host city Final 3rd place match Teams
Champions Score Runners-up 3rd place Score 4th place
2012
Details
Oxford
United States		160*–0
France
Australia		60*–50
Canada		 5
2014
Details
Burnaby[lower-alpha 1]
United States		210*–0
Australia
Canada		70*–40
United Kingdom		 7
2016
Details
Frankfurt
Australia		150*–130
United States
United Kingdom		190*–60
Canada		 21
2018
Details
Florence
United States		120*–70
Belgium
Turkey[13]		110*–60
United Kingdom		 29
2021
Details
Richmond

Medals summary
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States3104
2 Australia1113
3 Belgium0101
 France0101
5 Canada0011
 Turkey0011
 United Kingdom0011
Totals (7 nations)44412

Appearance
Team
2012
(5)
2014
(7)
2016
(21)
2018
(29)		 Total
 Australia3rd2nd1st5th4
 Austria••14th11th2
 Belgium•7th7th2nd3
 Brazil••16th27th2
 Canada4th3rd4th9th4
 Catalonia••12th17th2
 Czech Republic•••15th1
 Finland•••28th1
 France2nd6th5th6th4
 Germany••11th7th2
 Hong Kong•••25th1
 Iceland•••29th1
 Ireland••20th21st2
 Italy••13th8th2
 Malaysia•••18th1
 Mexico•5th8th13th3
 Netherlands••18th19th2
 New Zealand•••20th1
 Norway••9th11th2
 Poland••19th13th2
 Slovakia••17th26th2
 Slovenia••15th21st2
 South Korea••21st23rd2
 Spain••10th10th2
 Switzerland•••23rd1
 Turkey••6th3rd2
 United Kingdom5th4th3rd4th4
 United States1st1st2nd1st4
 Vietnam•••15th1
Legend
  • 1st – Champions
  • 2nd – Runners-up
  • 3rd – Third place
  • 4th – Fourth place
  •  •  – Did not enter / Did not qualify
  •     – Hosts
  • Q – Qualified for forthcoming tournament
  • WD – Withdrew from the tournament

See also

References
  1. Ling, Thomas (2 July 2018). "US beat Belgium to win the World Cup – of quidditch". Radio Times. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  2. Black, Alan (6 July 2012). "London 2012: Olympic Quidditch Expo Tournament Preview". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  3. "IQA Global Games Announced". IQA. Archived from the original on 2014-01-18.
  4. Solinsky, Kolby (25 February 2014). "Grab Your Brooms! Quidditch Global Games coming to Burnaby, B.C. in July". Burnaby Newsletter. Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  5. "Gryffins Injury Update". Belgian Gryffins. 19 July 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  6. "TEAM USA WINS GOLD AT QUIDDITCH GLOBAL GAMES 2014 IN BURNABY". Vancity Buzz. 20 July 2014. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  7. "World Cup Teams". International Quidditch Association. 6 February 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  8. "World Cup Teams-2". International Quidditch Association. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  9. "WC 2016". International Quidditch Association. 18 November 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  10. "Aussie Dropbears crowned world quidditch champions". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  11. "2018 IQA World Cup to be hosted by Florence between June 27 – July 2 2018". International Quidditch Association. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  12. "IQA Quidditch World Cup 2018 To Be Hosted in Florence, Italy". International Quidditch Association. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  13. "QD - Team Turkey 2018 | Utility Apparel | Sportswear Company". Utility Apparel. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
Notes
  1. The 2014 Global Games were held in Canada but officially hosted by US Quidditch.
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