IUFA Men's Football World Championships 2022

[LordGianni]

Køto in Sun! Welcome to Snolland!
After two long years of waiting, it is time for the IUFA Men’s Football World Championship once again. 32 teams are competing for the famous Maks Livienn Cup in the country, who has brought home that trophy back in 2020 after an exciting final game against Hazelbrust, which is itself an autonomous region within the Republic of Snolland.

The 32 participants of the IUFA MFWC 2022 were qualifying for a chance to be present at the tournament and are eager now to show what they can do. On 30 August 2022 following groups for the tournament have been drawn:

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	Group E	Group F	Group G	Group H
Snolland	Omega	Sedunn	Bruuma	Huawan	Bzerneleg	Gianatla	Esfalsa
Hazelbrust	Rebeltopia	Tanis	Myria	Klysevia	Puerto Pollo	Pax Dracon	Brodlancia
Placeholder 6	Goombay	NAGB	Ubesii	Ikoania	Kai Fa	North Prarie	Past
Anserisa	Evinea	Sallodesia	Lile Ulie Isl.	Emerald	Mauquibie	Reizen	Izaakia

Each group, except for Group A, has a set stadium, in which all games will be played:

Group A: 1st Match Day in Larasin, 2nd Match Day in Offara, 3rd Match Day in Essana
Group B: Essana
Group C: Offara
Group D: Tamona
Group E: Supasin
Group F: Sakasin
Group G: Sunora
Group H: Larasin

National broadcaster STV is streaming all games from the IUFA MFWC 2022 live. On each match day, there will be a focus on 1-3 individual games, which will also include tidbits of information on Snovian culture, the game locations or the teams that play against each other. Foreign media is encouraged too of course to report from the event.

With that the IUFA MFWC 2022 in Snolland can finally start!

[LordGianni]

Match Day 1

Game 1 - Opening Game - SNOLLAND VS. HAZELIA (Group A)

City: Larasin | Stadium: Duboann Kaccon | Kick Off: 9 Sep 2022, 20:30 h

It’s a big stadium, freshly refurbished for 80,000 visitors just for the World Cup. The Duboann Kaccon (Austral: Dark Blue Stadium) lies in the North of Larasin and is an eye-catcher out of either the train window or the windshield of your car, when travelling down the motorway 1.
The designer of the refurbished stadium is a known Gianlucian architect called Marius Mutzke, who was also part of the planning team of the Atlantic Strait Tunnel and designed several hotels and government buildings in all of Frastinia. Under his leadership the stadium all in dark blue and black with its tilted roof parts was built in just one year. From outside it reminded many people a little of a broad, rectangular vase.

The opening game in this year’s MFWC couldn’t be a better one. A re-match of the 2020 final between the hosts of Snolland and their subjects with an own football team from Hazelia. The weather was bearable with a good temperature of 24°C. “SUUUUNOOOOO! SUUNOOOO! SUUUUNOOOO!” the Snovian fans were shouting to hype themselves up, when their team came onto the field to warm up. Equally loud were the boos against the Hazelians, when they also started to get a sweat on. The atmosphere was tense.

After a couple minutes, the teams left the pitch again and the stadium’s speaker was making some security announcements. Then it happened. 20 minutes before the game kicked-off, Hazelians and Snovians with connections to Hazelia were glued to their phones alike. Rumours were starting to spread, that there was an attack on Hazelia coming from Brodlancia. It has been only hours since the USI has announced the start of troop movements in the area. Will this be another NAGB war? But on what basis?

The time to really put some thought into it, wasn’t there. First the IUFA anthem was played, then the 2nd version of the anthem. It is said, that the IUFA’s executive board could not decide yet, which of both to finally settle on. Each of the countries’, maybe “territories’” would be the better choice of words in this case, flags were spread out in a 35° angle, so each fan curve could see their flags the best. “And now say a huge ‘Køto’, a welcome, to the teams of Snollaaaaaaaaand and Hazeliaaaaaa!” the stadium speaker introduced both teams walking onto the pitch once again behind the team of referees, organised like a row of ducklings behind their mother.

Naturally, the home team’s anthem, the Snovian one, was played first. All players, from the goalkeeper Jann Sulibap to the striker Gorm Labofabap, were singing their heart out. The voices of the Hazelian players were equally strong in their pride while they sung along to their melody, but it was no comparison. The stadium was mostly against them, their concentration had to lay on the game, not on the anthem.

The Stoinian referee Gheorghe Radu was looking at his stop watch while the pitch got cleared and the teams into their position. The captains came to him to sort out, which teams plays on which half and who has the kick-off. Home had kick-off, Away can pick the side. Hazelia decided to play towards the opponent’s fans at first. On 20:30 h sharp, the game and thus the tournament, was opened,

The first 20 minutes have seen Snolland with a high xG* statistic already, but Labofabap and the others were not able to score more than two crossbar shot. Then it was Hazelia’s turn. The left-winger Maks Curia was in several one to one situations with the Snovian goalie, sometimes in the air, sometimes by running towards him, but each of his 7 shots that followed until half-time were missing its goal or were catched by a sovereign Sulibap.

“Listen guys, we need to fight back more! Let’s show them, that we should have won the tournament in 2020!”, Hazelian coach Matthias Schaum - former head coach of 1. FC Gianlucastadt in Gianatla - was motivating his team. His Snovian counterpart Marikk Rabap was praising his team in the locker room though. “An xG of 2.3 is phenomenal, but you have to keep pushing! Show what you’re made of and take this victory home!”

In the meantime the stadium was looking at their phones again. The Snovian government has met for an emergency meeting, which means, the rumours that were spreading around an hour ago must have had at least some substance to them. More details still were not reveiled though, when after a little more than 18 minutes the second half was kicked off from the Hazelian players.

The half was almost like a mirror to the first one. This time Hazelia started off stronger and Snolland came out on top at the end. Still they only polished their statistics and did not make any progress in terms of their position in the tournament table.

“A strong game from both sides and a worthy opening of the tournament”, STV commentators reviewed in the end, willfully ignoring the real news building up throughout the evening and night before the other teams were allowed to show the world, why they deserved a place in the tournament.

Final result: Snolland 0 - 0 Hazelbrust

*What are “xG”? “xG” stands for “Expected Goals”. It’s a system, that compares historical data from which a position it is most likely to shoot a goal from. If there is a 10% chance, you can score a goal shooting from a certain position, that shot gives a team 0.1 xG. The chances are added up and in the end the xG can be used to show, how many goals a team should’ve scored.
Since the xG statistic doesn’t take into account, that there could be players in the way of a shot and there is no corrective mechanism in xG systems, that calculates “shot spamming” out, such statistics should be taken with a grain of salt. Still it can be said, if a team has very high xG, but hasn’t come close to scoring the amount of goals, they should’ve scored, the team has a problem with its utilisation of opportunities.

[LordGianni]

Match Day 1

Game 7 - BRUUMA VS. MYRIA (Group D)

City: Tamona | Stadium: Kaccon Paroesse | Kick Off: 10 Sep 2022, 13:30 h

Myria has been noted as a country to look out for. Economical investments in the Frastinian region and being part of the Sunrise Triad played a huge role at that. Now a victory against the #1 ranking team in the IUFA/SPIT ranking can be added to the list of noteworthy events, but let’s start from the beginning.

The starting position has been clear from the start. Myria and Bruuma both have mostly stomped their competition in their respective qualification groups and were going in hungry for a title in the world cup. The game has started slowly as most others on this match day did. The Myrian No. 7 with a header in the 18th minute has been the most exciting scene as the Bruuman goalie had to reach out for the ball, but clearing it from the path to the goal was not a problem.

Then the 27th minute. The Bruuman No. 8 is confusing his opponent with tricky dribbling and eventually makes it to the goal without anyone between him, the ball and the net. He wants to shoot, when he is tackled from behind through a Myrian defender, Going down in the box with a clear chance to score a goal, the Myrian defender is sent off the field and Bruuma was granted a penalty. The nervousness, but especially the Myrian supporters, towards which the striker had to take his shot, were too much though. The game continued to stay a 0-0 until half time, the Myrians being able to maintain a good presence all over the field even with one man less.

After the break, which has seen a short performance of Snovian DJ Paulor, the Myrians were substituting two offensive players with two defensive ones, which made it even harder for the Bruumans to breeze through to the face of the Myrian goalkeeper. The only difficult situation was a free kick in the 67th minute, which was catched by the wall of four defenders trying to protect the goal.

79th minute: The young right-wing defender from Myria, who came onto the pitch after half-time dares to just run for his life with the ball. He dribbles the tired Bruumans out, pulls into the center, sees the No. 8 in front of him, passes and the No. 8 scores with a nice chip the Bruuman goalie could’ve never held.

Some time play for the Myrians and a punctual final whistle by Frost referee Takashi eventually led to Myria’s win in the first game of the 2022 MFWC. Hopes are high, that against the, on paper, weaker teams, Myria can continue to impress. Meanwhile Bruuma has to sort out, how to continue in this tournament, if a weakened opponent was able to stall them so heavily and take home 3 points. The set goal was to reach the knockout stage for the first time since 2018 again after all.

Final result: Bruuma 0 - 1 Myria
Other results:

Group	Home	Result	Away
Group A	Placeholder 6	0 - 1	Anserisa
Group B	Omega	1 - 1	Rebeltopia
Group B	Goombay	0 - 1	Evinea
Group C	Sedunn	2 - 2	Tanis
Group C	NAGB	0 - 0	Sallodesia
Group D	Ubesii	1 - 0	Lile Ulie Islands

[LordGianni]

Match Day 1

Game 9 - HUAWAN VS. KLYSEVIA (Group E)

City: Supasin | Stadium: Ollimkaccon | Kick Off: 11 Sep 2022, 15:00 h

The Olympic Stadium (Ollimkaccon) of Supasin had much more relevance to it than it already sounds like. The reason behind this is, that the so called “Ollim” does not go back to some sort of sporty olympiad like in many other nations, no, in the Atlantic cultures the Ollim is a forum made out of the whitest marble imaginable, in which the Atlantic Gods reside, debate, judge and enjoy their life. If you can call anything, the gods are doing as “life”, that is.
To celebrate and honour that “Ollim”, the Ollimkaccon is also a stadium completely in white, with quite a low roof in comparison to other stadiums, so it looks more like a classical forum. This is also why this stadium is the smallest stadium in terms of capacity. Only 49,000 people fit into it. At the entrances of the stadium, the goddess of strength and fortune, Unaila, is watching down at the visitors with her endearing eyes.

At this day, the Klysevians seem to have been the chosen ones to receive her lucky charm. Not only were the fans, although merely 10,000 in comparison to the rest of the stadium, which was either neutral or in support of Huawan, louder in their chants and singing of the anthem, the team coming from outside the overall region known as “The South Pacific” was also able to score a goal quickly. A header in the 4th minute put them in front already.

Now some people know that Supasin does not only host the Olympic Stadium, but also the “Tower of Beauty”. An equally white tower on top of which the goddess of spring and beauty, Sunila, is sitting. And she had an effect on Huawan, who must have looked up at her in the following minutes, because they showed to the people a spectacular combo of beautiful dribblings and close-call shots, that also the Klysevians could only look at their opponents in awe at times. hus it’s no surprise that in the 29th minute, the country of the Peony could equalise the score by using the opportunity to slide in an unfortunately punched-back ball.

During half-time the battle of the goddesses must’ve been decided in the end though, because after that Klysevia snatched the victory with ease. 51st minute: Another header at the short goalpost, the Huawanese goalkeeper just one centimeter short of protecting his net. 64th minute, before the top striker of Klysevia could even be substituted in, a nice distant shot from 30 metres has made the Peonic defenses look weaker than during their last MFWC participation in 2020, where they finished last with just one point in their group. And the final death blow eventually came in the 72nd minute, when Klysevia’s top striker finished off the game with a beautiful trick shot using both goalposts and the inability of two Huawanese defenders to notice, what’s going on.

When Denverian referee Edward W. Brown made his final whistle of the evening, the Peonic coach was looking more than upset. But as one is used to from the central Cordilians, he still generally kept his calm and decency in the following press conference. “We will do better in the next games”, was his final verdict before leaving the scene completely.

Final result: Huawan 1 - 4 Klysevia
Other results:

Group	Home	Result	Away
Group E	Ikoania	5 - 1	Emerald
Group F	Bzerneleg	0 - 1	Puerto Pollo
Group F	Kai Fa	3 - 1	Mauquibie
Group G	Gianatla	3 - 1	Pax Dracon
Group G	North Prarie	3 - 1	Reizen
Group H	Esfalsa	3 - 3	Brodlancia
Group H	Past	3 - 1	Izaakia

[LordGianni]

Match Day 2

Game 21 - SEDUNN VS. NAGB (Group C)

*City: Offara | Stadium: Kaccon Bazzosesse | Kick Off: 13 Sep 2022, 18:00 h

On the second match day most teams have started with more goals into their games than at match day 1. The match-up between Sedunn and NAGB in Offara will not be any different. The city mostly known for its battery manufacturer Unapass and its busy beaches today welcomed no less than 62,433 people to watch a game between one of the best teams on the globe and a country, which has been war torn and almost the grave of the opponent’s president until earlier this year.

NAGB having been able to fight off a draw against Sallodesia at the last match day was starting strong. 6th minute: Harry Campbell coming from the left side of the field dribbling his way to the ground line of the pitch. He flanks, aiming for Fulton, but he was defeated by a Sedunnic defender’s head being two centimetres higher than his. A similar situation occured twice more in the 8th and 9th minute, this time prepared by Fulton and Robinson onto the head of Russell both times, but the pressured Sedunners could not be made nervous by this.
After the first 15 minutes the Bailtemmers playing in blue took over the game. Corner kick from the right onto the foot of Bursallu, who volleyed the shot into the net. A phenomenal 1-0, which will be up for the “Best tournament goal” vote this year, we are sure.

The Nicholasians did not want to accept that defeat. “A lost battle is not a lost war”, a lesson that the head of state of the country also firmly believes in looking at the situation in the country nowadays. But during the MFWC he would be proven wrong, because the so-called “Dynamic Duo” was snatching the ball away from the furious Nicholasians more than once during their weak attempts to score a goal. Instead the 27th minute saw a sprint of center forward Eipp. Passing onto his partner Grunberg directly into his feet. He looks back, if someone follows him into the box and apart from Eipp there’s once again Bursallu…missing the goal by an inch. But: Grunberg was off-side. Free kick for NAGB.
The shot goes far into the Sedunnic half, but the Sedunnic goalie just kicked it back. Now Grunberg was not off-side and from a distance of 24 m he took his chance to score a distance goal. He succeeded!

When Izaakian referee Lechamps whistled for half-time, the hunger in the Sedunnic eyes for more and the innerly felt defeat in the Nicholasian eyes were already visible. The fans in the stadium were content with the game however and also with another appearance of the DJ Paulor, who has presented his new single “Future is present” to the crowd.

After the kick-off in the 2nd half, Sedunn has substituted two players, but the trio, who dominated their game, was left unscathed. Deservingly so, because in the 58th minute Bursallu was with his foot on the ball again. Double-pass with Grunberg, forwarding a pass to Eipp, who swapped the playing side and thus could flank once more on the head of Bursallu again!
Celebrating Sedunners, who have felt discouraged after their draw against Tanis at the last match day, standing right next to Nicholasians looking down in disbelief.
And their belief would be shaken even more.

71st minute another combination of the Dynamic Duo almost leading to a goal, but Nicholasian goalie Hammond tackles Eipp hard. Outside of the box though. Yellow card for him, free kick for Sedunn. And it’s Eipp taking the shot. He’s resting, eyes glued to the ball. He runs, kicks the ball, it is…not too high. 4-0!
And the locomotive still had some coal to burn, because just seconds after NAGB kicked off the game after that goal again, Hammond needed to fish out another ball from his net, when Bursallu tunneled him.

Standing ovations for the players trying to form the Sedunnic Star of Limmvasd with all their fingers together towards the crowd. That was a game, we’d like to see more often in this tournament.

Final result: Sedunn 5 - 0 NAGB
Other results:

Group	Home	Result	Away
Group A	Snolland	3 - 3	Placeholder 6
Group A	Hazelia	3 - 2	Anserisa
Group B	Omega	2 - 0	Goombay
Group B	Rebeltopia	0 - 0	Evinea
Group C	Tanis	3 - 0	Sallodesia
Group D	Bruuma	5 - 1	Ubesii
Group D	Myria	3 - 1	Lile Ulie Islands

[LordGianni]

Match Day 2

Game 31 - ESFALSA VS. PAST (Group H)

City: Larasin | Stadium: Duboann Kaccon | Kick Off: 14 Sep 2022, 18:00 h

One of the favourite pastimes Snovians have is to just visit the countryside, maybe pulling into a village with their car and turning on one of the many streets, which really need some repairing once in a while and have a Bago at its cul-de-sac. In such a place you can meet old and young playing classic card and dice games together, old men flirting with the female barkeeper a little too much and young girls trying out the latest hookah flavours. In the touristy parts of many cities like Larasin there are also karaoke section in those bars, but anyone who wants to experience the Snovian life for real has to go to a classicla Bago just like Lori did.

Lori is an 18 year old college student in Larasin, who tries her luck in majoring in brewery. After the tournament is over, she will travel to Myria as an au-pair learning the basics of winery too, which should give her enough credit points to be allowed to start with her bachelor thesis. The fact she’s leaving soon is also the reason, why she travelled into this village 70 km from Larasin. She wanted to see her uncle, the head bartender at her local Bago once more.
“Uncle!”, she exclaimed, ran towards him and hugged him tightly. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too”, her uncle answered. “Where were you the last few months, I could have really needed a helping hand here. Those girls over there…”, he pointed with his left hand towards the “Hookah Sisters”, “…are talking nonsense all the time. I can’t understand this generation anymore.”
He looked sad into his beer glasses before continuing to clean them. “Well, at some point you have to accept, you’re old”, Lori teased him.

“Listen, I have this friend”, she resumed the conversation after a minute of silence. “He can get us cards for a football game tonight.” The closer she got to the end of the sentence, the more whispering was her voice. “What do you think, uncle?”
“I think…that I don’t have time. I can’t close the bago, Lori”, he shook his head. “But don’t worry, we can still see the game. If you help me setting up our projector and huge screen that is!”

Lori wasn’t too fond of the idea of working, but she accepted anyway and while her uncle continue to keep an eye on his guests, she set everything up for a good football viewing event.
When it got close to 6 pm, Lori’s uncle announced “One free beer for everyone and a round of shots to everyone, who can sing along to the Pasten and Esfalsan anthem without mistake!”
The entire bar cheered, the entire bar tried their best singing along to those foreign national anthems. No one has made no mistake, but one person managed to only make five, so he has gotten a cola for free at least.

“Now, silence everybody. Who are we betting for? Lori, tell us!”
“I’m all for the Past to be honest…” The whole room murmured. “Really?”, some guy from her left said. “Those first timers can’t beat one of the original IUFA founders.”
“Well, a long history mustn’t be a successful one, dude”, Lori answered. “In the last 20 tournaments, so since the beginning of the FWCs, Esfalsa was only able to get into the knockout stage five times.”
“Yeah, but you forget, they only participated like 11, 12 times. So pretty much every second tournament they advance. And in at their last appearance in 2016 they…”
“Did and became 3rd. So this means, this time’s a no knockout round again, right?”

The guy from her left admitted a temporary argumentative defeat by slightly nodding to her and taking two sips of his beer. On the screen Past was actually doing decently against the “Gold Stripes”. Sheznas Aldrian was in possession of the ball frequently trying to build up the game, but the Esfalsan defender Pavic often saw, when critical situations arose and cleared the ball from him. Just so it could be catched by a Past player, passed to Sheznas again and everything repeated.
After a couple of minutes of seeing a pretty uncreative playstyle from both teams, some spectators have rather turned back to their normal conversations. Lori also was seeking for one with her uncle, but he was off to the kitchen.
Pouting, she put her right hand to her chin, the elbow resting on her thigh, continuing to watch the farce. But what’s that? Pavic did not interpret the situation correctly this time. Aldrian passed back to a Past defender, who then shot the ball in a high curve forward towards the striker Stunsar. He sorts his legs and the ball, makes himself ready to shoot, calculates where the goalkeeper would go, shoots…goalpost, but he’s not done. Before the Esfalsan goalkeeper has a chance to realise what has been going on, Stunsar has already run past and behind him to push the deflected ball over the line.
“Whooo, I told y’all!”, Lori sprung up. A few older, smoking people in the back applauded her. Not clear, if in a mocking way or not.

During half-time, the news were broadcasted and talked about Izaakian-secessionist forces in Hazelia moving South from the Brodlancian-Hazelian border, taking several kilometres with every day that passes. They have an advantageous position, being able to use the Hazelian rivers and the Snovians being slow in sending military reinforcements to their oversea territory. Frankly not many people cared though. “It was clear, there would be a time at some point, where they want their freedom…”, a wife from one of the smoking men in the back has told to the people sitting at or near her table.

The attention of the bago was back on the screen, when the second half began. While Past was playing a good game still, they did not create any chances. This left Lori discouraged enough, that she decided to join her uncle in the kitchen at the 64th minute. “Why don’t we watch the game together?”, she complained. “Don’t you have a little time for your niece?”
“I’m sorry, I’m just…”, he sighed. “I’m not in the mood today. You know, your aunt and I have had many arguments recently and…I don’t know what to do anymore. I bought her flowers, I apologised, I invited her on a trip to Astrocity in Scopia, but she is so…cold to me…”
Tears ran down from his eyes and Lori hugged him tightly once again. “You can tell me more, if it makes you feel better. The game is not as important.”
“You don’t have to hear all this, especially not now, when you’re favourite is winning…”
“No, I insist.”

She didn’t notice the crowd cheering for Sutton having scored two goals, one of which was taken back by the VAR due to Sutton’s off-side position. She didn’t notice how someone has poured his beer over the projector five minutes before the game ended. The commotion. The calls for help. She had to take care of another one, that of her heart-broken uncle, cheated on by his wife, left from his sons, leading an only semi-successful bago, who was supposed to know, that wherever she is, he can always count on her trying to be here for him.

Final result: Esfalsa 1 - 1 Past
Other results:

Group	Home	Result	Away
Group E	Huawan	1 - 1	Ikoania
Group E	Klysevia	2 - 0	Emerald
Group F	Bzerneleg	3 - 0	Kai Fa
Group F	Puerto Pollo	2 - 2	Mauquibie
Group G	Gianatla	4 - 1	North Prarie
Group G	Pax Dracon	5 - 0	Reizen
Group H	Brodlancia	1 - 1	Izaakia

[LordGianni]

Match Day 3

Group A

Anserisa	0 - 5	Snolland
Hazelia	0 - 1	Placeholder 6

Group A has been a rollercoaster for the fans. First Anserisa surprised everyone by topping the group while weak Snovian hosts couldn’t play out many chances. Then Hazelia was putting their boots on to kick Snovian’s bottom not just in real life, but also in football and now the hosts reign supreme and advance into the knockout stage, while Hazelia is left in the group stage after a 1-0 victory of Placeholder 6, which has scored one more goal in direct comparison to Hazelia and thus landed in front ot them in the group table. Hazelian coach Matthias Schaum blamed the referee: “The goal was clearly off-side and now we’ve been kicked out of the tournament because of this. I hope, the IUFA will take a look at the situation again, because we worked hard and now got this more than unfair result.”

Group B

Evinea	0 - 10	Omega
Rebeltopia	3 - 0	Goombay

On the last match day, Omega was showing a dominance that was not seen since 2016 anymore, where Esfalsa had an equally decisive victory against Bruuma at their last group stage game. Evinea was seen as completely overwhelmed by the Omegan attackers, who have shot easy goals back-to-back especially in the first half, which already saw them 6 - 0 in front.
Rebeltopia’s approach was similar, but the Goombyan goalkeeper has caught mutliple dangerous balls coming into his direction. That way the defense did not fall apart until the 57th minute.

Group C

Sallodesia	0 - 5	Sedunn
Tanis	0 - 0	NAGB

Looking back at the preceding tournaments, Sedunn is known for keeping suspense at the start of the group stage. A 2-2 against Tanis was not something, the Sedunners had impressed anyone with, but then they came back explosively. Two back-to-back 5-0 victories have secured the team of Aku Grevienn a place in the round of 16 and thus in the knockout stage for the 16th time in all 20 IUFA MFWC participations.
Tanis left the group stage also, but did not impress in the end either. A 0-0 against the first time participants from Nicholas and Great Britain only led to NAGB gaining a decent third place in the group table in front of Sallodesia, the 2020 tournament’s bronze medal winner, which some commenters say has presented an abysmal style of play this year. Their coach will most likely not sit securely in his seat anymore.

Group D

Lile Ulie Islands	0 - 2	Bruuma
Myria	3 - 1	Ubesii

Less exciting results, one could also say “ordinary”, results in Group D. The favourites from Bruuma had some difficulties in the beginning, but could turn their ship around and now got 2nd in their group. Between Myria and Ubesii, Myria was chosen by Unaila to top the group, while the Mediterranean socialists from Bareland had to go home with a 20-points-drop in the IUFA/SPIT ranking and some food for thought, whether new impulses are needed to have more successful MFWC participations in the future again.

[LordGianni]

Match Day 3

Group E

Emerald	0 - 6	Huawan
Klysevia	3 - 0	Ikoania

The biggest surprise in this tournament has been undoubtedly Klysevia. With their third win in the third game and the best goal difference of all teams with 9 points in the group table, they have managed to set their mark and nobody should underestimate their capabilities going into the knockout stage of the tournament. This comes with a cost though. Ikoania, a team that has also been playing decently was unlucky, that they have lost comparatively highly, while Huawan made away with their missteps of their last two games, rendering them on a third place, while the Peonic team has still chances to bring home the MFWC 2024 and of course the cup itself.

Group F

Mauquibie	0 - 4	Bzerneleg
Puerto Pollo	7 - 2	Kai Fa

Exciting games look different. Mauquibie’s defense has not been quite the best throughout the tournament. 9 goals against them in three games really make one think, whether their football academy shouldn’t focus on finding more talent in that field. The strikers also didn’t show off their potential, but how could they, if they need to help out in the back?
Kai Fa generally disappointed the audience too. They have never been quite the most aggressive and goal-scoring team, even in years where they can celebrate successes, but ending a tournament with a big loss like against Puerto Pollo and losing more than 20 points in the IUFA/SPIT ranking, that didn’t happen too often for the team either.
Puerto Pollo and Bzerneleg on the other hand have shown, that they can control a game - if they want to. Too bad this was often only the case in the third quarter of a game.

Group G

Reizen	0 - 2	Gianatla
Pax Dracon	4 - 1	North Prarie

A good message on this third match day: Reizen did not leave the tournament with a huge negative bang. Gianatla has “only” won 2-0, a fairly mild score compared to how other top teams have performed against on paper equally weak teams. Reizen has shown especially in the last game, that they do have good defensive tactics available and that they can pose problems especially in standard situations. Unfortunately this alone can’t win you a tournament and so their exit from it was not necessarily unexpected from analysts.
What was a little unexpected was for Pax Dracon to go through against North Prarie. While the Prarieans switched to more offensive tactics wanting to recreate their success against Reizen and to improve their goal difference, the shot backfired and Pax Dracon was left too much room to work their magic in the Prariean half. The result speaks for itself.

Group H

Izaakia	0 - 2	Esfalsa
Brodlancia	2 - 3	Past

Opposite Day in Group H. The team that analysts told the public to keep an eye on from Brodlancia was kicked out of the tournament in a tight game against the team nobody had on their radar. Past convinces with swift switching play and always shows unexpected confidence in situations, where they are under pressure. The victory within the group comes well-deserved, whereas Brodlancia’s and also Izaakia’s exit from the tournament once again begs the question, if the USI is less of a shark and more of a salmon in football: Sometimes cute to look at with some “tasty” plays, but overall harmless.
Less harmless was Esfalsa in the third game. The score of 2-0 does not reflect at all, how this game went down. Grosvenor has emphasised on the pressing during training, which meant that the Esfalsan national team was present anywhere at any time on the pitch. Especially the efforts of the No. 2, Headrick, and the No. 12, Barrett, have to be pointed out. Their tackles were perfect and kept the game dynamic and fair and of course indirectly led to multiple chances for the Esfalsan team to score a goal. An xG of 4.31, 1.74 xG solely created by Sutton and another 0.68 by Newman, should leave the Gianatlans, against which Esfalsa has to play in the Round of 16, on their toes.

[LordGianni]

Round of 16

Game 52 - GIANATLA VS. ESFALSA

City: Sakasin | Stadium: Momukaccon | Kick Off: 19 Sep 2022, 16:00 h

What two different teams they were in the group stage. While Gianatlan head coach Treyn was able to take home three wins, the Esfalsan coach Grosvenor only managed one. That statistic assumes though, that the Esfalsan games were not as exciting to watch, but one could not be further from the truth. Gianatla has the knowledge and players to dominate a game and leave it heavily one-sided, which is not necessarily nice to watch for a spectator, whereas the Gold Stripes like to play with their prey.
As such the eyes were on players like Pavic or Sutton once again awaiting a fiasco for Gianatla: a back-to-back exit from the tournament in the Round of 16. In 2020 Holy Free was their stumbling block.

The team from Crabry started promising. Quick sprints and side changes as well as the successful use of offside traps gave them huge advantages against Gianatlans going into today’s task way too defensive. An angry Szalok was only able to shoot at the opponent’s goal twice from a distance, missing the aim by several metres.
In the 37th minute, after the use of yet another offside trap, the Esfalsans tried to turn the game for real. Free kick from the center line, right half of the field. Ball kicked by Love into the box, Newman tries to prolong, but the ball hit the crossbar. Goalkeeper Springer can catch it from there.
41st minute another attempt, this time not using a standard situation. Instead Headrick is making a run, sees Connor, but he cannot control the ball before it was stolen by Gianlucian defender Busch, who already announced this will be his last MFWC.
One was already in the mood for half time, when the referee blew his whistle and pointed towards a penalty for Gianatla. The Esfalsan team and fans obviously agitated called for a VAR decision and that is what they got. Indeed Pavic was tearing at the jersey of his opponent Kristiansen and he gladly took the fall. Yellow for Pavic, penalty for Gianatla. Szalok or Kristiansen? This time, Kristiansen won the Pen-Paper-Scissors game. The ball is set, the run-up is smooth: 1-0. The half-time score is set.

After the break, Esfalsa rotates. Instead of having three people in the back and Maric in between, they go for a more offensive approach as an attacking midfielder is substituted in. Grosvenor can be seen walking up and down in his coaching zone, gesturing into the general direction of players, that he wants to do better, but seemingly they don’t. Hall and Sutton, both not showing off their potential, are substituted with younger alternatives, one of them playing his first game for the national team and he’s on fire.
In the following 12 minutes the No. 18 had all eyes stuck to him, how artistically he could take a ball from any Gianatlan player and in which good positions he was to shoot a goal. The only hurdle he couldn’t take was Springer, who has shown phenomenal parades all throughout.

The performance had its end though in the 76th minute, when a tired Szalok tried his luck once more before also being substituted out. He saw Berg and Kristiansen coming along with him, decides to pass to Berg, who decides to pass back. Szalok tries Kristiansen, they’re too close to the goal, if he doesn’t shoot now…GOAL! 2-0 and a relieved Szalok high-fives with both hands his team partners before leaving the pitch for Fujimoto.
The Gianlucian-Frost player is still not a staple in Treyn’s starting eleven, but he developed enough in the Gianlucian league at SV Atlantis 1898 to know, when he is needed as the joker. All of Gianatla’s gameplay strategy now relied on him, which the Esfalsans obviously noticed, thus checking on him. This would become the mistake, that would cost him their last chances to maybe catch up in the last couple minutes, because Fujimoto saw the one small gap to pass the ball to the running Berg, who could slide the ball in left of the flabbergasted Moffett.

3-0 the final score just like in 2020, but this year Gianatla is the team advancing to the Quarter Finals.

Other results:

Location	Home	Result	Away
Tamona	Snolland	1 - 2	Rebeltopia
Sunora	Sedunn	0 - 3	Bruuma
Supasin	Klysevia	0 - 1	Bzerneleg
Tamona	Omega	4 - 5 (o.p., 1 - 1)	Placeholder 6
Sunora	Myria	2 - 0	Tanis
Supasin	Puerto Pollo	2 - 1	Huawan
Sakasin	Past	0 - 1	Pax Dracon

Quarter Final Matchups

[LordGianni]

Quarter Finals

Game 60 - PUERTO POLLO VS. PAX DRACON

City: Offara | Stadium: Kaccon Bazzosesse | Kick Off: 21 Sep 2022, 18:00 h

Offara is known to be the capital of fun in Snolland. Not only does it have the biggest beaches (yes, plural) of the country, it also has the highest density of bagos, a handful of well-known casinos like the “Flush Royale” and the city is also known for the cuisine inspired by its Bruuman neighbour Puerto Pollo. Thus the fans from there must have somehow felt like home, when they were roaming through the city prior to the game against the South Cordilians from Pax Dracon.
Those on the other hand could still not believe probably, how they came this far in the tournament already, considering this is only their second participation in the MFWC and that the sport is not too popular over in their country still. Maybe their recent successes will change something about that.

We have asked some Snovian folk and tourists what they think of both teams and what chances they see in either of those receiving the title of football champion in a few days:

“Well, Puerto Pollo does good, doesn’t it? The results, except for the game against Kai Fa, were not much to brag about, but other than that…”
27 year old male football fan from Offara

“I have not heard too much about both teams yet. I think, one had a high win against someone in their group? But to be frank, I’m not as informed about the championship as I should be…”
36 year old female citizen from Offara

“We are going to support Puerto Pollo with all our heart. HEY, come here everyone! Let’s sing Puerto Pollan anthem!”
28 year old male Puerto Pollan supporter

“I’m new to the football game still, but I play it at home with some people from the village. We have much fun and when I got the opportunity to watch a game here in Snolland, I had to accept. Of course I’m happy, the game I’ll watch will feature Pax Dracon. I hope we can advance even further.”
21 year old female Pax Draconian

Results

Location	Home	Result	Away
Essana	Rebeltopia	1 - 4	Bruuma
Sunora	Bzerneleg	2 - 3	Gianatla
Sakasin	Placeholder 6	0 - 2	Myria
Offara	Puerto Pollo	1 - 2	Pax Dracon

Semi Final Matchups

[LordGianni]

Semi Finals

Game 62 - MYRIA VS. PAX DRACON

City: Sakasin | Stadium: Momukaccon | Kick Off: 23 Sep 2022, 18:00 h

The first semi-final has just been decided. Gianatla is out after a disappointing performance against Bruuma, but who will face that team neighbouring Snolland right in the South in the final?
Either Myria or Pax Dracon have the chance to take home a win and thus the chance to belong at least to the top 2 of the tournament, while the losing team has to spend a minimum of 90 minutes against in parts furious and motivated Gianatlans needing to make up their loss.

The Myrians are the last Bailtemmic team left in the tournament after Sedunn and Omega already bid their farewell after the Round of 16, thus their head coach already formulated in the pre-match press conference, there is not just an intrinsic motivation to give it all: “We have a few million people from all over our continent, also from Bareland watching us. Our families at home. Obviously we will try to make them proud and get that trophy out of the hands of the Frastinians over here.”
The Pax Draconians on the other hand have shown in a tight match against Puerto Pollo, that they were also worthy to advance further and popularise football in their culture more. A victory of the tournament would obviously have the most effect though.

The voices of Bailtem were louder from the start. Not only during the anthem, but also in the first few minutes of the game. A choreography with two huge banners showing off the national animals of the Sunrise Triad, the MFWC cup being between the horns of a kybok, have also given the eyes the impression, that the stadium was prepared to make it difficult for the South Cordilians to make a successful game. To their disappointment, all the support did not help and the Pax Draconians actually started off well into the game, taking control of the first 25 minutes.
8 corner shots, two free kicks and an xG score of 1.72 tell everything, that went well for them and not so well for the guests from Myria. Lucky for them, they only needed one single chance to go up in front. The Myrian No. 9 deflected another corner shot out of the box and no Pax Draconian was there to pick up the ball, thus Myria’s main attacker could run for a ball and just needed to be quicker at the opponent’s goal than the opponent’s defenders. He couldn’t do it, but teammates were coming to help. A double pass to get around the defenses and a lucky shot pushing the ball over the line next to the Pax Draconian goalkeeper meant 1-0 for Myria after 26 minutes!

Until half-time this was the only lucky scene viewable in the stadium, but it was enough to cheer the fans up and turn up the volume of the choruses asking for more goals of the team in green.

The second-half came with a couple substitutes on both sides already, as some players have shown signs of tiredness relatively early in the game. That was actually another one of Myria’s lucky punches, because with fresh, energetic and young players, two of which having experience in the big leagues of Sedunn and Stoinia, a brand new dynamic came into play, that the Pax Draconians couldn’t match up with. Many opportunities have arisen and it was only due to the relative inexperience of the new players, that those couldn’t get into the net. Not until the 65th minute at least, when a wonderful free kick went directly into the upper right-hand corner of the goal, unreachable for the goalkeeper.

Final Results:
Myria 2 - 0 Pax Dracon
Bruuma 3 - 0 Gianatla

We congratulate Bruuma and Myria to have advanced to the final of the MFWC 2022! Let’s hope for a good game this Sunday!

[LordGianni]

FINAL

Game 64 - BRUUMA VS. MYRIA

City: Larasin | Stadium: Duboann Kaccon | Kick Off: 25 Sep 2022, 18:00 h

Oryxes all over Myria, that’s what the supporters sent as good luck charm to Larasin, even if the players were only able to see them digitally on social media or on TV. “We see, that we have the full support of the entire nation and hopefully also from the rest of Bailtem today”, the head coach of the Myrians said in the pre-match press conference. Today the team is playing in white with dark green player names against fully in red dressed Bruumans. It is not the first time, the two teams matched up in this tournament. Coming from the same group, Myria has won the opening match against the Bruumans with a 1-0 scored late in the 2nd half. Now the Bruumans sweared revenge of course.

Bruumans fans were not present in vast numbers, as travel restrictions out of Bruuma apply for their citizens. A strict choreography by state-sent “supporters” and real fans under strict surveillance of “bodyguards” were the only things seen in Sector F of the Dark Blue Stadium. The other areas were filled with Myrian fans and neutral guests just wanting to enjoy a good game while eating little “potato cakes”, a popular snack in Snovian and Atlantic football culture. Still the anthem of the Bruumans was the one most audible thanks to the usage of own instruments and having trained singers within the choreographers.

A choreography were also the first 10 minutes of the game from the Bruumans. Myria was not able to make the sprints and not get outtricked by fast feet knowing exactly how to position themselves to make the ball take a slightly unexpected route on the ground. It comes with no wonder, that therefore the first goal of the evening went to the Brummans quickly in the 8th minute after another one of those trick passes.

The Myrians now sorted themselves out anew, which the team in red took as a sign to pause for a while. Uneventful 25 minutes later, the Oryxes woke up suddenly though and reinstilled a dynamic into the game, which was lacking for far too long. Motivated by loud cheers of female and children fans mostly, the No. 8 was set to once again score against Bruuma, but he was struck to the ground 28 m in front of the goal by a Bruuman defender. Yellow for him and a free kick executed by Myria’s No. 11. In the Bruuman box wild shoving and pushing, the ball comes high into the box and the No. 7 has to extend the route of the ball…GOAL! The equaliser! 1-1, also the half-time score, both teams are content with in the end.

Stoinian referee Radu called the players back after a break of 30 minutes, unusually long. It was rumoured, the VAR had spotted a scene in the 45th minute, where a Myrian attacker was pushing a Bruuman counterpart during an attack onto the ground, which could have been a red card and a penalty, but upon further investigation, the Myrian attacker simply slipped on the grass and also didn’t prevent a goal from being scored directly. It was also reported, the Bruuman coach would have held an anger speech, firing the players up to show more effort and desire to finally not be the “forever 2nd” team. If that speech was really held, it certainly helped, because the Bruuman team was even more motivated in the second half than at the start of the first one.

53rd minute, corner kick from the left for Bruuma. The ball goes too far onto the other side of the pitch, but what is this? A wonderful volley shot - going onto the goalpost, but there’s a Myrian defender standing unfortunately in the way of the deflected ball, which in turn is deflected into the goal. An own goal leads to Bruuma being in front again, disbelief in the eyes of the Myrian No. 6, who will be substituted just 7 minutes later together with the wonderboy, who couldn’t walk anymore after running 16 km in just 60 minutes.
The options for the Myrian coach with his best player gone off the pitch were now limited to somehow turn things around, but another change of formation, a paper note was passed to the captain, who then passed it on to all other players, actually had almost the potential to do just that.
What was done was, that the two most outermost midfield players were moved into a more attacking position, while the defensive midfielder had to fill a “real defender” role. Thus they played with a strong wall in the back, taking away every ball the Bruumans might have been able to hold for more than a second, and a four-player wave in front, which created passing options at any position. After five close goal chances, the Bruumans found the antidote to such a tactic though: Playing the ball high into the opponent’s half, at best over the head of most defenders behind which one or two Bruuman players would wait, paying attention not to get into an offside position.
With that antidote it took the Bruumans just five more minutes to get into a one-on-one situation with the Myrian goalkeeper, which he lost. 3 - 1, the Oryxes have been defeated finally.

The cheers at the end of the game were not as loud as the anthem or the cheers prior to the game, most people left the stadium shortly after the 3 - 1 was scored in the 77th minute, but the growls of the Bruuman team were, because they finally did it. Four time’s the charm, they finally were able to receive a gold medal and bring home the world cup to their own country in 2024.

With that the IUFA MFWC 2022 in Snolland has ended. We thank you all for watching, reading, participating - whatever you’ve done the most with us. We see us next year for the women’s cup in the Imperial Frost Federation again. Good night!

Final Results:
Bruuma 3 - 1 Myria
Gianatla 3 - 2 (AET, 2-2) Pax Dracon

(OOC: @Bruuma Congratulations on winning the IUFA MFWC 2022 and for winning the “opportunity” to host the next global men’s football competition in 2024
I tell you right now already, that I’ll of course be by your [and next year also @Frost’s] side to figure out how to do anything and also as the community’s personal statistician ^^ So don’t be afraid, when it comes to that event, even though it’s kinda “forced upon you” admittedly. Together we can make it and I’m looking forward to the little ideas you two might have on how to put your personal spin on these tournaments!
I’ll update the publically accessible historical statistics in the next few days and then I’m out of this until next year

See y’all until then and also OOC once again a thank you to everyone, who brought some life into this competition even by just writing a one-liner in PNN or Flash News e.g.
It was fun working with you )