FOIF World Cup

FOIF World Cup

Organising body	FOIF
Founded	1939 (1939)
Region	International
Number of teams	48
Current champions	Leciria (1st title) (2019)
Most successful team(s)	Gavrilia (6 titles)

The FOIF World Cup, simply referred to as the World Cup, is the world's largest association football event competition, hosted by the Federation of International Football. The tournament has been held every 4 years since the first season (1939), except from in 1955 and 1959 (as a result of the Third World War). The reigning champions are Leciria, who won for the first time in 2019.

History

World Cups prior to World War III

FOIF President Gérôme Castex, seen as the founder of the World Cup tournament.

Following heavy successes from Olympic Football tournaments, the FOIF headed by president Gérôme Castex began plans in 1937 to stage a football world championship. On 27 June 1928 a congress for the FOIF was held in Klokov which officiated the plans and naming of the first host nation. It was decided that Vetullia would host the first World Cup in the following year due to it being the previous victor of the Parthenian Championships the year before World War II.

Stadio Olimpico, the stadium that hosted the first World Cup Final in 1939.

The selection of a Parthenian team meant a long trip accross the Merillian for many Atusian and Muanbian teams. This, along with an economic crisis that followed the Second World War meant a Parthenian dominated tournament, with the only teams from Atusia making the tournament being Yerezh, Sarastan, and Kasai. In total 16 teams played in the tournament; 10 from Parthenia, 3 from Atusia, 2 from Triania and 1 from Tarandra.

The first match of the tournament was played on 10 July 1939, with eventual runners-up Slethar beating Suidenland 3-0. In this game, the first goal in World Cup history was scored by Sletharine player Ilias Qotrōs. The final was played by Vetullia and Slethar, where Vetullia won 4–2 in their home country at the Stadio Olimpico, winning the first world cup. The game was attended by and estimated 100,000 people.

Global politics and instability had a huge effect on the teams that would participate in the early World Cup tournaments, with all of the first four being held in Parthenia (Vetullia, Almagria, Angland, Vermand) and in most of these tournaments many Atusian teams refused to travel into Parthenia, especially in the 1951 World Cup when tensions between many major powers were on the edge, when Gavrilia was the only team outside of Parthenia to participate.

The 1956 World Cup was set to be hosted in Gavrilia, breaking the trend of Parthenian hosting, however was eventually cancelled due to the outbreak of World War III.

World Cups following World War III

Stadium Impian, host to the 1961 World Cup Final.

Following the Third World War, a reform was made in the FOIF which meant the World Cup could be bid on for hosting. This wasn't implemented until 1967 however. The first World Cup following the war was held in Heunyeo, chosen due to their neutrality in the war. This made the 1963 tournament the first to be held in Atusia. This meant that this tournament was almost exclusively attended by Atusian nations, with many in Parthenia and Tarandra still recovering from the effects of the largest war in history. The only exception to this was Brynmor, a newly sovereign nation at the time, who wanted to establish themselves on the world stage. The World Cup was won by Zyang, in a surprise 3-2 victory over Kasai, an established footballing nation against one who hadn't made any professional appearances prior.

Gavrilian star Gállego, a prominent player in the post-war era.

The tournaments between 1967 and 1987 returned to general normality, featuring a 16 team knockout format and the tournament becoming more prestigious and international with each. The 1979 Slethar World Cup Final was the highest attended World Cup Final in history with 109,398 confirmed attendees and likely more. Most of the participating nations of these World Cups were from Parthenia, Atusia and Triania with small minorities of teams from Tarandra, Muanbia and Barnesia however these teams were usually defeated with ease by the "Big Three". Famous players from this era of World Cups include Gavrilian icon Gállego, Vanislavian legend Bruno Bošković and Almagrian superstar Cubero.

Expansions and recent history

At the end of the 1987 Yerezhan World Cup it was announced by the FOIF that the tournament was expanding to include 24 teams after years of speculation. It was needed as the tournament continued to grow in population. The three World Cups of the 1990s were held in this format, all being won by Gavrilia in their golden era. In 1999 it was announced it was being expanded again to 32, mostly due to complaints of Gavrilian dominance and calls for change or reform.

The reigning champions, Leciria

Following this reform, teams from outside Parthenia were generally successful, with many teams shining since the change. As well as this, the first year of change meant an end of Gavrilian dominance, as they were defeated in the final by Angland, who won their third World Cup in a 3-0 win over Kaliban. Since then, Gavrilia have won one more title in 2015, making a sixth world title for the side. The most recent victors were Leciria, who won the tournament for the first time in 2019.

Results

Edition	Year	Host	Final			Third-place play-off			Number of teams
			Champion	Score	Runner-up	Third	Score	Fourth
1	1939	Vetullia	Vetullia	4–2 Stadio Olimpico, Campoleone	Slethar	Eisenland	4–0	Vanislavia	16
2	1943	Almagria	Almagria	2–1 aet Estadio de Almagria, Castillonuevo	Eisenland	Angland	1–0	Telekia	16
3	1947	Angland	Gavrilia	5–1 Highfield Road, Retoria	Kasai	Hausminia	4–2	Brynmor	15
3	1951	Vermand	Vanislavia	4-3	Angland	Slethar	2-0	Gavrilia	15
–	1955	(Not held because of World War III)
-	1959
4	1963	Heunyeo	Zyang	3-2	Kasai	Sarastan	5-1	Brynmor	13
5	1967	Telekia	Gavrilia	7-2	Vermand	Vetullia	3-1	Ibarmentudia	16
6	1971	Yerezhan State	Slethar	4-0	Vermand	Kotovia	1–0	Almagria	16
7	1975	Angland	Almagria	2-1 aet	Leciria	Vetullia	5-2	Kasai	16
8	1979	Slethar	Angland	4-1	Gavrilia	Vermand	1–0	Odua	16
9	1983	Eisenland	Eisenland	2-1	Sapheria	Vanislavia	1–0	Gavrilia	16
10	1987	Yerezhan State	Angland	3–1 (a.e.t.)	Eisenland	Vetullia	2–1	Kaliban	16
11	1991	Almagria	Gavrilia	3–1	Angland	Almagria	3–2	Vermand	24
12	1995	Bulzania	Gavrilia	3–2	Livania	Eisenland	4–2 (a.e.t.)	Brynmor	24
13	1999	United Federation of Triania	Gavrilia	1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p)	Vermand	Slethar	4–0	Vanislavia	24
14	2003	Kaliban	Angland	3–0	Gavrilia	Telekia	2–1	Ibarmentudia	32
15	2007	Kasai	Almagria	2–0	Eisenland	Hausminia	3–2	Brynmor	32
16	2011	Livania	Vetullia	1–1	Vermand	Eisenland	3–1	Leciria	32
17	2015	Vermand	Gavrilia	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Leciria	Telekia	3–2	Vermand	32
18	2019	Heunyeo	Leciria	2-2 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p)	Vetullia	Eisenland	3–0	Gavrilia	48
19	2023	Sarastan Hausminia							48