2018 CONIFA World Football Cup (Redirected from 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup)

2018 CONIFA World Football Cup
Tournament details
Host countryBarawa Barawa (official)
 London,
 Berkshire (location) and  Essex (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)Panjab Kamaljit Singh (6 goals)
2016

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.

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. 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.
Qualification points
Opposition Factor (OF) Result Factor (RF)
CONIFA Member = 3 Win = 3
Other international
opposition = 2
Draw = 2
Any other opposition = 1 Defeat = 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. 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

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.

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 In May 2018, it was announced that the Felvidék team had withdrawn, to be replaced by Kárpátalja.

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

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
 Barawa 3 2 0 1 7 2 +5 6 Advance to quarter-finals
 Cascadia 3 2 0 1 9 5 +4 6
 Ellan Vannin 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 6 Advance to placement round
 Tamil Eelam 3 0 0 3 0 12 −12 0
Source:[citation needed]


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
Attendance: 1

Barawa 1–2 Cascadia
Bettamer 9' Report Doughty 35'
Morales 45+1'
Referee: Utku Hamamcioglu
Ellan Vannin 2–0 Tamil Eelam
Whitley 47'
Caine 57'
Report
Referee: Mario Guastafierro

Barawa 2–0 Ellan Vannin
Bettamer 40'
Ismail 56'
Report
Referee: Ivan Mrkalj
Tamil Eelam 0–6 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 Qualification
 Kárpátalja 3 2 1 0 8 2 +6 7 Advance to quarter-finals
 Northern Cyprus 3 1 2 0 6 4 +2 5
 Abkhazia 3 1 1 1 5 4 +1 4 Advance to placement round
 Tibet 3 0 0 3 2 11 −9 0
Source:[citation needed]


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 3–1 Tibet
Turan 2', 67'
Gök 73'
Report Topgyal 38'
Referee: John McCallum

Abkhazia 2–2 Northern Cyprus
Maskayev 21'
Argun 90' (pen.)
Report Kaya 27'
Oshan 77'
Referee: Dmitrii Zhukov
Kárpátalja 5–1 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 Qualification
 Padania 3 3 0 0 17 2 +15 9 Advance to quarter-finals
 Székely Land 3 2 0 1 10 3 +7 6
 Matabeleland 3 1 0 2 4 12 −8 3 Advance to placement round
 Tuvalu 3 0 0 3 1 15 −14 0
Source:[citation needed]


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 5–0 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 3–1 Székely Land
Rolandone 19'
Innocenti 27'
Pllumbaj 45'
Report Szőcs 90'
Referee: Fehim Dayı
Tuvalu 1–3 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 Qualification
 Western Armenia 3 2 1 0 5 0 +5 7 Advance to quarter-finals
 Panjab 3 1 1 1 9 2 +7 4
 United Koreans in Japan 3 0 3 0 1 1 0 3 Advance to placement round
 Kabylia 3 0 1 2 0 12 −12 1
Source:[citation needed]


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 1–1 United Koreans in Japan
Purewal 77' (pen.) Report Mun 90+4'
Referee: David Murphy
Western Armenia 4–0 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 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
2–3 soccer ball with check mark Gyürki
soccer ball with check mark Toma
soccer ball with red X Baksa
soccer ball with red X I. Sándor
soccer ball with check mark Svedjuk
Northern Cyprus
Kárpátalja


 ConIFA World Football Cup 2018 winners 

Kárpátalja

First title

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
3–4 soccer ball with check mark Belalsa
soccer ball with red X
soccer ball with red X Hadid
soccer ball with check mark
soccer ball with check mark
soccer ball with check mark 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 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

Ellan Vannin 0–3
Awarded
 Tuvalu
Report

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 N. Hovsepyan
D. Hovsepyan
Yedigaryan
Guzel
Varjabetyan
Militosyan
Mosoyan
Referee: Leon Dastych

Panjab 3–3 Cascadia
Virk 18'
Minhas 24', 34'
Report Morales 45'
Ferguson 54', 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
4–3 soccer ball with red X Riley
soccer ball with red X Gregory
soccer ball with check mark J. Wilson
soccer ball with check mark Oldham
soccer ball with check mark Haddadi
soccer ball with red X Levock
Referee: Mariano Sasso

Statistics

Goalscorers

6 goals
  • Panjab Kamaljit Singh
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
  • Abkhazia Vladimir Argun
  • Abkhazia Aleksandr Kogoniya
  • Abkhazia Georgi Zhanaa
  • Abkhazia Astamur Tarba
  • Barawa Gianni Crichlow
  • Barawa Shaquille Ismail
  • Barawa Solomon Sambou
  • Cascadia (independence movement) Hamza Haddadi
  • Cascadia (independence movement) Max Oldham
  • Isle of Man Frank Jones
  • Isle of Man Jack McVey
  • Kabylie Nadjim Bouabbas
  • Kabylie Ilyas Hadid
  • Kárpátalja Csaba Peres
  • Kárpátalja György Sándor
  • Kárpátalja Alex Svedjuk
  • Matabeleland Sipho Mlalazi
  • Northern Cyprus Ünal Kaya
  • Northern Cyprus Serhan Önet
  • Northern Cyprus Kenan Oshan
  • Northern Cyprus Tansel Osman
  • Padania Ersid Pllumbaj
  • Padania Gianluca Rolandone
  • Padania Andrea Rota
  • Panjab Rajpal Singh Virk
  • Székely Land István Fülöp
  • Székely Land Lóránd Fülöp
  • Székely Land Arthur Györgyi
  • Székely Land László Hodgyai
  • Székely Land László Szőcs
  • Székely Land Zsolt Tankó
  • Tamil Eelam Janothan Perananthan
  • Tuvalu Sosene Vailine
  • Tuvalu Etimoni Timuani
  • United Koreans in Japan Shin Yong-ju
  • United Koreans in Japan Ken Taniyama
  • Western Armenia Fabrice Guzel
  • Western Armenia David Hovsepyan
  • Western Armenia Norik Hovsepyan
  • Western Armenia Zaven Varjabetyan
  • Western Armenia Artur Yedigaryan
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 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3
Source:[citation needed]
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:

  • Paddy Power Player of the Tournament: Kárpátalja Béla Fejér
  • ConIFA Golden Boot: Panjab Kamaljit Singh
  • Global FCE Young Player of the Tournament: Kabylie 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. 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
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
  • Turkey Hassan Nalbant
2 goals
1 goal
  • Chagos Archipelago Ivanov Leonce
  • Matabeleland Musa Sthamburi
  • Turkey Ali Uyar Avci
  • Tuvalu Sosene Vailine
Own goals
  • Chagos Archipelago 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.


This page was last updated at 2023-12-01 10:56 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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