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FOIF World Cup

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FOIF World Cup
FOIF World Cup Logo.png
Organising bodyFOIF
Founded1939; 85 years ago (1939)
RegionInternational
Number of teams48
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 Zyang, West Toriany, 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 Triania Minor 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. The bid for the 2023 FOIF World Cup was won by Eisenland, who beat Buraydah's bid and will host for the first time.

Format

Hosts

Broadcasting

The first World Cup to be broadcast was the 1963, which was shown on the national broadcasting services of nations across Parthenia during the Age of Depression. Since 1991 it has been the most viewed, broadcast and followed sporting event in the world. Constantly breaking records, each World Cup since 2007 has brought in more viewers than the last with the 2007 tournament having 27.34 billion cumulative viewers. The 2015 World Cup final in Vermand was watched by 668.2 million individuals across the globe, making it the most watched live sporting events in history. Even the World Cup's non sporting events bring in huge viewership, the opening ceremony to the 2019 World Cup Huenyeo saw 300 million viewers and the draw for the same tournament a similar 260 million viewers.

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  Buraydah 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  Eisenland 48

Records and statistics

Arnau Criado has scored a tournament record 16 goals.
Calisto Silvestre has a record 26 appearances in the tournament.
Gavrilian star Agostinho won a record three World Cups, all in the 1990s.
Ilias Qotrōs scored the first World Cup goal (Slethar 3-0 Suidenland, 1939).

Top Goalscorers

Individual, players in bold still active.

Rank Player Goals Matches Goals per game
1 Almagria Arnau Criado 16 24 0.67
2 Slethar Nikolaos Rubakis 15 19 0.84
3 Gavrilia Gállego 14 13 1.08
4 Vermand Jeremie Fournier 13 6 2.17
Leciria Calisto Silvestre 13 26 0.50
6 Vetullia Furseo Falcione 12 14 0.86
Gavrilia Agostinho 12 14 0.86
8 Vanislavia Mitar Tasić 11 5 2.20
Angland Jessie Palmer 11 17 0.65
10 Hausminia Hur Eren 10 10 1.00
Eisenland (Elezia) Arjan Dirksen 10 12 0.83
Angland Keaton Vasquez 10 20 0.83
Kasai Ishido Kawanari 10 13 0.77
Eisenland (Elezia) Markus Kober 10 19 0.53
Telekia Raul García 10 20 0.50

Country

Rank National team Goals scored
1  Gavrilia 198
2  Almagria 177
3  Vetullia 152
4  Vermand 136
5  Eisenland 128
6  Angland 108
7  Slethar 104
8  Kasai 96
9  Hausminia 89
10  Vanislavia 87

References

See Also