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. 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).

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. Barawa is located in Somalia, but the Barawa FA represents members of the Somali diaspora in England.

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.


Qualification

CONIFA WFC 2018 teams
Main article: 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup qualification

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. This was subsequently revised by CONIFA in June 2017.

  • 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.

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. 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. The winners of both of these tournaments were guaranteed qualification for the World Football Cup.

Qualified teams

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.

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. In May 2018, it was announced that the Felvidék team had withdrawn, to be replaced by Kárpátalja.

Squads

See also: 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup squads

Referees

ConIFA announced a total of 28 referees for the tournament, led by former Premier League official Mark Clattenburg. 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.

Matches

Group stage

Group A

Source:


Ellan Vannin 4–1 Cascadia
Whitley15'
Jones41'
Caine62'
McVey70'		ReportDoughty18'
Referee: Ivan Mrkalj
Barawa 4–0 Tamil Eelam
Sambou17'
Lucien30' (pen.), 80' (pen.)
Crichlow43'		Report
Attendance: 1
Barawa 1–2 Cascadia
Bettamer9'ReportDoughty35'
Morales45+1'
Referee: Utku Hamamcioglu
Ellan Vannin 2–0 Tamil Eelam
Whitley47'
Caine57'		Report
Referee: Mario Guastafierro
Barawa 2–0 Ellan Vannin
Bettamer40'
Ismail56'		Report
Referee: Ivan Mrkalj
Tamil Eelam 0–6 Cascadia
ReportNouble10' (pen.), 87'
Hayden-Smith32', 71'
Farkas69'
Ferguson89'
Referee: Givi Todua

Group B

Source:


Abkhazia 3–0 Tibet
Akhvlediani12'
Maskayev61'
Shoniya77'		Report
Referee: Raymond Mashamba
Northern Cyprus 1–1 Kárpátalja
Mehmet13'ReportI. Sándor53'
Abkhazia 0–2 Kárpátalja
ReportGajdos11'
I. Sándor90+8'
Referee: Dmitrii Zhukov
Northern Cyprus 3–1 Tibet
Turan2', 67'
Gök73'		ReportTopgyal38'
Referee: John McCallum
Abkhazia 2–2 Northern Cyprus
Maskayev21'
Argun90' (pen.)		ReportKaya27'
Oshan77'
Referee: Dmitrii Zhukov
Kárpátalja 5–1 Tibet
Gajdos2'
G. Sándor36' (pen.)
Takács42', 77'
Svedjuk75'		ReportYougyal69'
Referee: Raymond Mashamba

Group C

Source:


Székely Land 4–0 Tuvalu
Bajkó23', 63', 68'
Magyari75'		Report
Padania 6–1 Matabeleland
Innocenti10', 45'
Piantoni39', 42'
Rosset60'
Rota61'		ReportNdlela78'
Székely Land 5–0 Matabeleland
Fülöp31' (pen.)
Györgyi40'
Magyari42', 54'
Hodgyai90+1'		Report
Referee: Igor Gorshkov
Padania 8–0 Tuvalu
Corno8', 12', 38'
Ravasi17'
Valente32', 44', 89'
Rosset71'		Report
Referee: Raymond Mashamba
Padania 3–1 Székely Land
Rolandone19'
Innocenti27'
Pllumbaj45'		ReportSzőcs90'
Referee: Fehim Dayı
Tuvalu 1–3 Matabeleland
Timuani27'ReportS. Ndlovu25', 38'
Mlalazi90+1' (pen.)
Referee: Clément Auclair

Group D

Source:


United Koreans in Japan 0–0 Western Armenia
Report
Referee: Fehim Dayı
Panjab 8–0 Kabylia
Sandhu24', 53'
Purewal45', 62'
G. Singh51' (pen.), 90+3'
K. Singh75', 82'		Report
United Koreans in Japan 0–0 Kabylia
Report
Referee: Leon Dastych
Panjab 0–1 Western Armenia
ReportMilitosyan14'
Referee: Kristian Michel
Panjab 1–1 United Koreans in Japan
Purewal77' (pen.)ReportMun90+4'
Referee: David Murphy
Western Armenia 4–0 Kabylia
Mosoyan23'
Valenza-Berberian61', 87'
Militosyan89'		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 Land2Third place
 
 Western Armenia0
 
9 June – Enfield
 
 Székely Land4
 
 Padania0 (5)
 
 
 Székely Land0 (4)
 

Quarter-finals

Barawa 0–8 Northern Cyprus
ReportGök15', 80'
Önet51'
Turan54', 69'
Ali58' (o.g.)
Mehmet84'
Osman88'
Referee: Ivan Mrki
Padania 2–0 Panjab
Innocenti59' (pen.)
Pavan90'		Report
Referee: Vitalii Mazin
Kárpátalja 3–1 Cascadia
Gyürki49'
Takács59'
Gadjos87' (pen.)		ReportHaddadi80'
Referee: Fehim Dayı
Western Armenia 0–4 Székely Land
ReportTankó36'
Csizmadia61'
L. Fülöp65'
Bajkó86'
Referee: Givi Todua

Semi-finals

Northern Cyprus 3–2 Padania
Mehmet36', 84'
Turan80'		ReportRavasi30'
Pavan47'
Referee: Dmitrii Zhukov
Kárpátalja 4–2 Székely Land
Toma36', 57'
Gyürki75' (pen.)
Peres90+1'		ReportCsizmadia77'
Bajkó79'

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 soccer ball with red X
Kurt soccer ball with red X
Oshan soccer ball with check mark
Ersalan soccer ball with check mark
Turan soccer ball with red X		2–3soccer ball with check markGyürki
soccer ball with check markToma
soccer ball with red XBaksa
soccer ball with red XI. Sándor
soccer ball with check markSvedjuk
Northern Cyprus
Kárpátalja


Placement Rounds

Placement Round 1

Ellan Vannin 0–3
Awarded		 Tibet
Report
Referee: Mario Guastafierro
Matabeleland 0–0 Kabylia
Report
Penalties
P. Ndlovu soccer ball with check mark
Mlalazi soccer ball with red X
G. Ndlovu soccer ball with check mark
George soccer ball with red X
Nkomo soccer ball with check mark
Sthamburi soccer ball with red X		3–4soccer ball with check markBelalsa
soccer ball with red X
soccer ball with red XHadid
soccer ball with check mark
soccer ball with check mark
soccer ball with check markMezaib
Referee: Kristian Michel
Abkhazia 6–0 Tamil Eelam
Akhvlediani40', 71'
Logua63'
Shoniya74', 88'
Tarba83'		Report
Referee: Karl Parker
United Koreans in Japan 5–0 Tuvalu
Taniyama18'
Lee20', 58'
Shin23'
Mun83'		Report
Referee: Leon Dastych

Placement Round 2

Ellan Vannin 0–3
Awarded		 Matabeleland
Report
Tamil Eelam 4–3 Tuvalu
Ragavan7', 86', 90+1'
Perananthan90+4'		ReportPetoa3', 73'
Vailine55'
Referee: Leon Dastych
Tibet 1–8 Kabylia
Topgyal43' (pen.)ReportBaudia25', 74', 77', 87'
Hadid45'
Mezaib49', 51'
Bouabbas81'
Referee: Clément Auclair
Abkhazia 2–0 United Koreans in Japan
Akhvlediani38'
Kogoniya78'		Report
Referee: Zekai Tore
Barawa 0–5 Panjab
ReportK. Singh8', 65', 72', 90+2'
Minhas46'
Referee: David Murphy
Cascadia 4–0 Western Armenia
Ferguson24', 62'
Oldham54'
Farkas79'		Report
Referee: Ivan Mrkalj

Placement Round 3

Ellan Vannin 0–3
Awarded		 Tuvalu
Report
Matabeleland 1–0 Tamil Eelam
Ndlela81'Report
Referee: Vitalii Mazin
Tibet 1–1 United Koreans in Japan
Yougyal20'ReportGelek84' (o.g.)
Penalties
1–4
Referee: Ivan Mrkalj
Kabylia 0–2 Abkhazia
ReportLogua29'
Zhanaa56'
Referee: Kristian Michel
Barawa 0–7 Western Armenia
ReportN. Hovsepyan
D. Hovsepyan
Yedigaryan
Guzel
Varjabetyan
Militosyan
Mosoyan
Referee: Leon Dastych
Panjab 3–3 Cascadia
Virk18'
Minhas24', 34'		ReportMorales45'
Ferguson54', 60'
Penalties
Purewal soccer ball with red X
Zia soccer ball with red X
Virk soccer ball with check mark
Dhillon soccer ball with check mark
K. Singh soccer ball with check mark
Jung soccer ball with check mark		4–3soccer ball with red XRiley
soccer ball with red XGregory
soccer ball with check markJ. Wilson
soccer ball with check markOldham
soccer ball with check markHaddadi
soccer ball with red XLevock
Referee: Mariano Sasso

Statistics

Goalscorers

6 goals
  • PanjabKamaljit Singh
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
  • AbkhaziaVladimir Argun
  • AbkhaziaAleksandr Kogoniya
  • AbkhaziaGeorgi Zhanaa
  • AbkhaziaAstamur Tarba
  • BarawaGianni Crichlow
  • BarawaShaquille Ismail
  • BarawaSolomon Sambou
  • Cascadia (independence movement)Hamza Haddadi
  • Cascadia (independence movement)Max Oldham
  • Isle of ManFrank Jones
  • Isle of ManJack McVey
  • KabylieNadjim Bouabbas
  • KabylieIlyas Hadid
  • KárpátaljaCsaba Peres
  • KárpátaljaGyörgy Sándor
  • KárpátaljaAlex Svedjuk
  • MatabelelandSipho Mlalazi
  • Northern CyprusÜnal Kaya
  • Northern CyprusSerhan Önet
  • Northern CyprusKenan Oshan
  • Northern CyprusTansel Osman
  • PadaniaErsid Pllumbaj
  • PadaniaGianluca Rolandone
  • PadaniaAndrea Rota
  • PanjabRajpal Singh Virk
  • Székely LandIstván Fülöp
  • Székely LandLóránd Fülöp
  • Székely LandArthur Györgyi
  • Székely LandLászló Hodgyai
  • Székely LandLászló Szőcs
  • Székely LandZsolt Tankó
  • Tamil EelamJanothan Perananthan
  • TuvaluSosene Vailine
  • TuvaluEtimoni Timuani
  • United Koreans in JapanShin Yong-ju
  • United Koreans in JapanKen Taniyama
  • Western ArmeniaFabrice Guzel
  • Western ArmeniaDavid Hovsepyan
  • Western ArmeniaNorik Hovsepyan
  • Western ArmeniaZaven Varjabetyan
  • Western ArmeniaArtur Yedigaryan
Own goals

Final positions

Source:
Notes:

Player awards

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

  • Paddy Power Player of the Tournament: KárpátaljaBéla Fejér
  • ConIFA Golden Boot: PanjabKamaljit Singh
  • Global FCE Young Player of the Tournament: KabylieSami 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. The tournament is also documented in detail in the book CONIFA: Football For The Forgotten by journalist James Hendicott, which centres around events in London and the history of the teams involved.

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.

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. 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. 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. Their place in the remaining fixtures were taken by Chagos Islands. 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. They were reinstated in January.

Replacement matches

London Turkish Select Turkey4–0 Tibet
Nalbant
Ali Avci		Report
Referee: Mario Guastafierro
Chagos Islands 0–1 Matabeleland
ReportSthamburi60'
Referee: Massimo Amitrano
Chagos Islands 1–6 Tuvalu
Leonce28' (pen.)ReportTinilau8', 63'
Uaelasi20', 81'
Oride26' (o.g.)
Vailine71'
Referee: Raymond Motumba

Goalscorers

3 goals
  • TurkeyHassan Nalbant
2 goals
1 goal
  • Chagos ArchipelagoIvanov Leonce
  • MatabelelandMusa Sthamburi
  • TurkeyAli Uyar Avci
  • TuvaluSosene Vailine
Own goals
  • Chagos ArchipelagoNicolas 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

References

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2018_CONIFA_World_Football_Cup&oldid=1284664670"
Uses material from the Wikipedia article 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup, released under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.