The 2023 IFF Coupe du monde is the 20th IFF Coupe du monde, the quadrennial international men's football championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of the IFF. The tournament will take place from July 1 to August 14, 2023, and will be jointly hosted by 4 cities in Ardesia, the second time the country has hosted. It is the first tournament to feature 48 teams. Soravia are the defending champions.
In the IFF meetings in Gatôn, Satucin on November 2015 it was voted to expand the 2023 tournament from 32 teams into 48. The slot allocation for the tournment were confirmed in Alikianos, Piraea on November 2019, along with the rules for the international play-offs.
Of the 48 nations qualified to play at the 2023 IFF Coupe du monde, 27 countries competed at the previous tournament in 2019. Notable teams that failed to qualify included: 2019 runner-up Nuvania, which was knocked out during the play-offs against Nainan, its first time since 2007. 2003 winner Valduvia, which failed to make the play-offs. Sainte-Chloé which was knocked out during the play-offs against Tsabara.
The qualified teams, listed by region, with numbers in parentheses indicating final positions in the IFF Men's World Ranking before the tournament were:
There are 12 groups. The top two teams from each group automatically qualify for the knockout stage, as do the eight best third-place teams.
Key to colours in group tables
Group winners, runners-up and the top eight third-place teams advance to the Round of 32
Group A
The first match of the tournament was held between Ardesia and Tiwura in Group A. Ardesia had a disallowed goal in the opening minutes, but eventually won 3–0 with two goals from Assimo Mata. Caldia and Nainan drew at zero, following a stopped Nainese penalty.
Werania defeated Chistovodia 2-1 after a second-half comeback by the Weranian squad. Garambura defeated Montecara 3-1, with two goals from Cyrien Gappah.
Satucin and Hennehouwe drew at 1-1, following a late goal by Aron Lefevre. Satucine captain Hayden Juteau failed to score in a penalty. Ruttland defeated Siamat 2-1 following a late goal by Judeikis, following the Siamat tie.
Etruria routed Aucuria 5-2 with a goal within the first minute by Francesco Altieri and two goals from Giorgio Casarin, Aucurian Petras Naveika scored both goals for his nation. Champania defeated Kuthina 2-0, with both goals coming from Abril Pàła including a late penalty.
Soravia and Satavia tied at 3, with two goals from Modya Naumov, tying it in extra time with a goal from Yevgeny Yusupov, after two unanswered Satavian goals. Borland defeated Rwizikuru 3-2, following an early lead by Rwizikuru on the back of Sikarudzi Croome who scored two goals in the first half.
West Miersa defeated Padaratha 1-0, following a 2nd half goal by Bartosz Janiec. Scovern and Eldmark tied at 4, following a 3 goal performance by Halfdan Hellquist, and a two goal performance by Arvid Ingebritson, Eldmark tied the game late, after taking an early lead. Returning from a 4-2 deficit in the 2nd half.
Gaullica defeated Maucha 2-0, following a hard fought game, with Gaullica scoring late in the 2nd half, despite Mauchan relentless attacks, including a stopped penalty by the Mauchan goalkeeper. Tsabara defeated Alsland 1-0 following a goal by Mattanel ben Chanuka.
Rizealand defeated Asase Lewa 2-1, following a two goal performance by Jose Tamayo, giving Rizealand the lead in the second half. Auzance defeated Ghamistan 1-0 following a goal by Tåve Mayance in the second half.
Cassier defeated Senria 3-2, following an early 3 goal lead including two from Jin-Ho Park, Senria scored two in the last minutes of the game but it was not enough. Several Cassier players were sanctioned for time-wasting. Imagua defeated Lavana 2-0, following two goals near the half-time, Lavana had also been denied a penalty by the VAR in the 1st half.
The AFR defeated Vinalia 1-0, following an early AFR goal in the first half, the AFR had a stopped penalty in the 1st half, and a VAR denied goal in the 2nd half. Amathia defeated Île d'Émeraude 2-0 following two early goals in the 1st half.
Estmere and Azmara tied at 1, despite strong Estmerish dominance during the game, particularly the 2nd half. Shangea defeated Sohar 3-1 following two early goals in the 1st half, from which Sohar was unable to recover.
Paretia defeated Sabaw 5-2, following a 3 goal performance by Guiomar Góes. Bonaventura defeated Ansan 4-3 following a contested game with a late Bonaventuran goal to obtain the victory in minute 90+4.
The top 2 teams from each group, and the 8 best 3rd place teams classify to the Round of 32. All teams are ranked from 1-32. With the 1st ranked team playing the 32nd best ranked team, the 2nd ranked team against the 31st ranked team, and so forth.
A player or team official is automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:
Receiving a red card (red card suspensions may be extended for serious offences)
Receiving two yellow cards in two matches; yellow cards expire after the completion of the quarter-finals (yellow card suspensions are not carried forward to any other future international matches)
The following suspensions were served during the tournament:
On July 10, Soravian substitute forward Arseny Bazhenkov performed a tackle on Rwizikuran midfielder Isheanasu Chikwava that saw the latter seriously injured.[1] Bazhenkov was given a straight red card after only two minutes on the pitch. Due to Bazhenkov's relative international obscurity, there was speculation onto the intentions behind his substitution and the challenge, including by Rwizikuru manager Oswald Hallam.[2] This was particularly due to the fact Chikwava was proving a major defensive obstacle for Soravia in the match. Soravia later won the match through a goal from Yevgeny Yusupov.[1] It later emerged that, as a result of the challenge, Chikwava had broken both of his legs and was ruled out of playing football for the forseeable future.[3] In an interview, Soravian manager Ilariy Kalin denied the accusations, stating that the rumours were "silly" and that Bazhenkov was "full of regret" for the challenge, and that "these things happen in sport".[4]
Pitch invasions
In the July 6th game between the Group J Asterian Federative Republic vs Vinalia, an AFR fan dressed as a vulture, invaded the pitch at minute 79, running around the field for about a minute, before being tackled to the ground by security.
Werania no-goal versus Garambura
In the Group B Werania vs Garambura match, on 14 July, Weranian striker Mohsen Akbarian scored a controversial equalizing goal (his team's second), the ball ending up in Floride Mubako's net after it seemed to have gone out of play. After a lengthy delay of review during extra time, the goal was disallowed, after it was revealed that the ball was out of bounds, before being retrieved by Weranian striker Manfred Neumann. The goal was disallowed and Werania was eliminated from the Coupe du Monde, as they lost the game 2-1. Losing on goals scored to Chistovodia who had 6 to the Weranian 4. A draw would of qualified Werania and eliminated Garambura. Garambura with the win classified as the second seed in the group.