IFK World Cup 2452

The IFP World Cup of 2452 was the 2nd IFP World Cup, the world championship for open league national football teams. It took place in Ginsukyo.

Participants
The World Cup was originally thought out to include a qualification round occurring in 2451.

Group 1
The first match was between Suton and Ginsukyo. The match saw a total of five goals, with all of them being scored in the first half alone. The Ginsukyo striker was sent off in the second half due to getting a yellow card and their manager wanting him to not be possibly suspended. The second half was a very slow match with Ginsukyo holding down defence, and Suton applying a constant pressure to try and break through. One such attempt was scored in the 78th minute but was deemed off-side and thus disallowed. The match saw a Ginsukyo victory, winning 3–2.

The second match was between Sinkajja and Suton. The match saw Suton try and redeem it's performance and score a good victory for East Qatesh but failing hard. They actually had 9 shots, which is two more than Sinkajja's 7 shots but failed to convert any of them into a goal. Both halves were fairly boring, with both teams racking up two yellow cards each. The match ended in a draw, 0–0.

The third match was between Ginsukyo and Sinkajja. The Sinkajja team mistakenly believed that they had already secured qualification due to the fact that they had a higher goal difference on the same number of points. However, had Sinkajja lost then they would fall below Suton's goal difference and then lose a tie break. This mistake in understanding was fixed in the half time talk after Ginsukyo scored two amazing goals. However, while Sinkajja managed to stop any further goals from Ginsukyo in the second half, they couldn't gain any momentum to score a single goal. The match ended in a Ginsukyo victory, 2–0. Many say that Sinkajja's failure to score a single goal came from apathy, poor management, and laziness.

Group 2
The first match was between Ceironia and the United Republic. It is one of the most famous World Cup matches purely because of the score line it produced. Ceironia's primary striker scored eight goals while their secondary striker also managed to secure his own hat trick. Even two defenders scored a goal each from corner kicks in the second half. There was some controversary as an Empheri referee was allegedly sympathetic to the Ceironian side and extended injury time beyond necessary in order to see the match end 20–3 instead of 18–3, ensuring a lovely round number. The United Republic still managed to score three goals despite being the worst team at the World Cup, two of which came from penalties. Ceironian defenders played aggressively and panicked whenever the 'inferior team' got near the goal. United Republic's second goal came from complacency and slight confusion from the Ceironian side after just starting the second half. While not guaranteeing victory, the harsh goal difference essentially made Ceironia break any tiebreak possible. The match ended as a Ceironian victory, 20–3.

The second match was between Erdelicht and Ceironia. Erdelicht knew going into the match of the previous result and was incredibly worried. However, both being in Acoria meant that they had some experience of playing with each other, even having overlapping players in each other's national leagues. Furthermore, Erdelicht had a great defence and so did Ceironia, leading to a low scoring goal. However, Ceironia had amazing luck when they managed to break down Erdelicht lines in just the 10th minute, securing the only goal of the game. The match ended as a Ceironian victory, 1–0.

The final match was between the United Republic and Erdelicht. Both teams needed this victory in order to secure a place in the knockout stages, however Erdelicht would win on goal difference if it came to a draw. Therefore, the United Republic played all of it's best players in the starting eleven. However, feeling desperate, the UR played incredibly aggressively which led to a penalty to Erdelicht within the first ten minutes, awarding them a goal. Another act of desperation came as one of United Republic's defenders got given a red card in the 25th minute trying to stop another Erdelicht attack. Although they missed the penalty, this could've given them a huge lead and now saw UR have to play the remaining 65 minutes with just ten players. An Erdelicht defender scored an incredible goal in the 34th minute off the back of a corner kick. To everybody's surprise, the United Republic got a second red card on the 41st minute, leaving the team with 9 players now on the pitch, and giving Erdelicht a second successful penalty. At this point, with a three goal lead and the opposition so morally down, less players numerically, etc, Erdelicht substituted off their two best players at half time to rest for the upcoming knockout bracket. Their reserve striker then scored an open goal on the 57th minute. The Erdelicht spent the rest of the game slowly passing and maintaining most control. The match ended as an Erdelicht victory, 4–0.

Group 3
The first match was between the Holy Tempest Empire and Azyeri. Because of the lack of Tempest league, the star players of the Tempest team were primarily Ruskvians playing in various West Alaxian leagues. This meant that the Tempest team was very fractured, with little experience working together, and a lack of team cohesion. Azyeri on the other hand had experience playing against some major football teams in East Alaxia. Tempest's key weakness was in it's defence were a lack of planning and unity allowed very easily for Azyeri to slip through. This was first exposed in the 23rd minute, then again by five more goals before the thirty minute mark. On an offensive by the main striker aiming for a fourth goal, the main Tempest striker stole the ball and did an amazing goal. Soon after, the Azyeri goalkeeper performed an own goal in a very embarrassing fashion, leading to his substitution three minutes later. The first half then ended without any further goals. The second half was a whole different game. The football team manager for a top Sinkayyan club came in from the audience and gave a pep talk to the Tempest team and re-ordered the entire defence and made several substitutions. This allowed for a second goal by the main striker in the 50th minute, and a third goal in the 59th minute. The Tempest defender then scored a corner kick goal in the 67th minute which deeply troubled the Azyeri side. Azyeri, really amped up the pressure then in the final twenty minutes in order to not be embarrassed by the side and potentially lose in the world cup. This led to the injury of an Azyeri defender and an equaliser goal by Tempest in the 80th minute. And in desperation, like some teams before them, Azyeri accidentally gave Tempest a penalty five minutes into injury time! The match ended as a Holy Tempest Empire victory, 7–6, a huge shock.

The second match was between Jimaria and the Holy Tempest Empire. Jimaria was one of the best teams in the tournament and was going against possibly the most disorganised. However, Tempest had played a very recent game and could be exhausted, although Jimaria was not keen to underestimate Tempest like Azyeri did. They played incredibly slow and safe only exploiting the Tempest side when possible. This bagged them a goal in the 40th minute, and a second goal in the 83rd minute. Holy Tempest performed much worse than the second half of their previous game likely from exhaustion, a better opponent, and lack of opportunity. Jimaria won the match 2–0.

The third match was between Azyeri and Jimaria - two juggernauts of their areas. Because of their loss against Tempest, Azyeri would need nothing less than a solid victory to ensure they would go through on goal difference. There was no action in the first half, but the Azyeri striker scored a banger of a goal in the 76th minute which saw massive celebration in the stands. Jimaria won a goal back at the 85th minute, but a final goal by Azyeri in the 3rd minute of injury time solidified an Azyeri victory over Jimaria, and thus their place in the knockouts. Jimaria still qualified for the knockouts on goal difference. Azyeri won the match 2–1.

Group 4
The first match was between Empherias and Karkuss. The match was very quiet with little to no action in the first half beside a wonderful goal from the Empheri centre-forward. The rest of the first half saw a yellow card by the Karkuss striker in the third minute of injury time. The second half saw no goals scored, with 3 shots from Karkuss and 7 shots from Empherias. While Empherias won the match 1–0, journalists from the High Kingdoms began some attacks against the players as they managed to barely convert any shots into a victory against an experienced side.

The second match was between Nordleg and Empherias. The match got off to an incredible beginning as Nordleg was given a red card in the 1st minute after an egregious unprovoked tackle. Two other Nordleg players were given yellow cards within the first ten minutes but this behaviour soon subsided. Playing with just ten players from the off, alongside Nordleg's inexperience and inability, people thought Empherias would walk right over them and achieve a result similar to Ceironia v United Republic before it. However, Empherias could not score a single goal in the first half. The left winger Goldstone managed to score a goal from an open defence in the 50th minute to secure the victory and three points. Just like the previous match, people were outraged over the Empheri performance, especially at home, and attacked them for playing terribly despite guaranteeing qualification to the knockout round. Their performance here was terrible. Empherias had 23 shots on goal throughout compared to Nordleg's 1; and 11 corner kicks compared to 0 from Nordleg. Empherias had absolute total possession throughout the game but couldn't convert it into any goals.

The third match was between Karkuss and Nordleg. Both teams would need to win to qualify for the knockout round. If they drew, they would tie on points, goal difference and goals scored and would thus be tie broken by fair play - which would see Karkuss going through, having less yellow cards. However, Karkuss would not need to worry. They scored a confident goal in the 3rd minute and followed it up by their main striker achieving a hat trick by half time. The second half would see Karkuss' defender get a red card but the match ended 3–0, with Karkuss going through despite a lackluster second half in terms of scoring. The Karkuss manager expressed how he slowed down and brought key players off to prevent injury and to get prepared for the knockouts.

Group 5
Ahitereira went into the group as the host and one of the best (if not the best) national teams in the world. Peryzium was a High Kingdom team and had experience with going against Ahitereira, most recently in a friendly in January 2452 where they lost 0–2, and thought it could do well to come second. Knowing full well that Peryzium could not beat Ahitereira, the very first match at the world cup was seen primarily as a performance of some of the finest football resulting in a penalty to Ahitereira in the closing minutes of the first half, and then two back to back goals in the 67th and 69th minute. Peryzium decided to use some of the lesser known members of it's squad to give them some experience and save the better players to be much more prepared for the Lunidor game. The match ended as a win for Ahitereira, 3–0.

Lunidor had little to no experience against either teams in the group and while it scared the Lunidor squad as they had no preparation, it gave them an advantage as being rather mysterious of it's playstyle to the Ahitereiran team. Lunidor had it's own semi-professional league at home full of imports, mainly Ceironian managers, and a completely different style of football to the home nations of the High Kingdoms. The match began early with a Lunidor lead to the surprise of the Ahitereiran audience. However, the Ahitereiran striker managed to get a hat trick just after a pep talk at half time to bag goals at the 47th, 49th, and 55th minute consecutively. Believing security, the manager was cocky and sent off two players to rest before the knockout stages in the following week. The main striker remained although suffering an injury to be subbed in the 56th minute. This put into doubt whether he would be available to continue his top scoring run onto the knockouts. Following the injury, the shock allowed Lunidor to bag a second goal in the 58th minute. They were constantly on the offensive throughout the second half tiring out the Ahitereiran side and this eventually saw Lunidor score again two minutes into injury time. The match ended as a draw, 3–3.

The final match was between Peryzium and Lunidor. With Peryzium on zero points and Lunidor on one, this match would decide the other qualifier alongside Ahitereira at four points. A win by either side would guarantee them the qualification, while a draw would give advantage to Lunidor. Seeing Peryzium's poor showing to Ahitereira prior, Lunidor believed it'd be an easy ride and so left out a key defender and key striker in their starting eleven to rest for the soon approaching knockout stages. Being cocky, this led to Peryzium scoring a sneaky goal in the 21st minute. They failed to equalise throughout the rest of the first half. In the second half, things started slow. Lunidor tried instead to look for set pieces and to control the ball calmly to avoid further concessions. Peryzium's goal at the 70th minute to lead by 2 goals came out of a wonderous corner kick by their midfielder. Subbing on their main striker in the 71st minute, Lunidor began now in the final twenty minutes to throw everything they had at trying to clamour at least a draw. This striker did wonders, bagging a goal at the 73rd minute to make it 2–1 to Peryzium. With just a minute left on the clock, Peryzi players slowed down trying to waste time on the clock and ensure they'd win with the current standings. However, Lunidor's main striker exploited the safe passing and intercepted a defender's touch and scored at the 89th minute to produce a draw, and thus a Lunidor qualification. The match ended as a draw, 2–2.

Ahitereira and Lunidor qualified to the knockouts, placing first and second respectively. Peryzium came crashing out of the World Cup without any victories and a failure - their manager was promptly sacked.

Group 6
This group was one of the most anticipated groups because all three nations were very close together. Kiavalar and Grensalbourg were both in East Alaxia, and due to it's Empheri influence, very connected to the High Kingdoms. Ladros and Kiavalar also shared their longest borders with each other.

The first match was Kiavalar against Grensalbourg. Grensalbourg pulled many of it's players from Palaks and Empheris playing in the Leagua d'Ewynn and thus it had actually a fairly formable team against Kiavalar. However, Kiavalar had been very dominant in recent matches, having not conceded in the last 7 matches they played. Kiavalar played responsively and calmly and focused hard on defence, only looking for some chances to score. This led to a single goal in the 47th minute just after extra time from a free kick. Grensalbourg became desperate towards the latter half for a result putting increasing pressure on Kiavalar. This led to another Kiavalar goal seemingly at the 80th minute which was disallowed due to offside. Then in a miracle, in the 1st minute of injury time a corner gifted Grensalbourg an equalising goal. The second match was Ladros against Kiavalar. Kiavalar was very unhappy with their draw against Grensalbourg and needed a result here believing Ladros could win in their match against Grensalbourg. However, there was a slight perspective of a rivalry match with both countries on the border. Kiavalar played very safe in the first half having 0 shots to Ladros' 3. In the second half, Kiavalar's striker scored two goals but was retaliated by two goals from Ladros. Ultimately, the aspect of the rivalry and expectation of a result loomed large and the match ended in a draw. This left Kiavalar on a knife balance with no more games: their destiny was left in the hands of Ladros.

The final match was Grensalbourg against Ladros. Prior to the match, Grensalbourg was in last place but with a win they could top the group. They came in fully hoping to cause an upset. Due to having no games on the day, the Empheri manager was also in the dressing room for the Grensalbourg team and there has been some controversy to his level of interference. Nonetheless, Grensalbourg went in with a tactic similar to that of Kiavalar with a defensive core. Ladros, if the result stayed a draw, would progress on the tiebreaker and thus also maintained a defensive core. This led to a pretty boring game but when the defence was threatened, they defended hard. Two yellow cards were given to each team, but one foul cost Ladros a concession when Grensalbourg won and scored a penalty. Ladros crashed out of the group stage while Grensalbourg top the group.

Group 7
The first match was Fazar against Koresa. 2-3 (2-1 first half)

The second match was Lothern against Fazar. 1-2

The final match was Koresa against Lothern. 2-2

Group 8
The first match was the Hveden Federation against Solan. 2-0

The second match was Thraxia against the Hveden Federation. 1-4

The final match was Solan against Thraxia. 3-0

Round of 16
Ginsukyo, the hosts, went up against Erdelicht in the first knockout game of the tournament. Besides the result, Erdelicht's centre forward received a red card in the 85th minute which may have contributed to their loss in the penalty shootout.

Jimaria were the defending world championships and had performed not up to scratch in the group stage, losing to Azyeri. Karkuss came second in their group to Empherias, and only lost a narrow 0–1. Karkuss finished the game with 10 yellow cards, 2 of which were received by their wing back who received a red card in the 3rd minute of second half injury time.

Final
Some Fazarian fans say that a goal by Fazar in the 68th minute that was disallowed due to the offside rule was unfair, and that the game should've ended in a draw and then penalties to which Fazar could've win. Fazar thus appealed but the result did not change in their favour.

Top five

 * - Striker A - 13 goals
 * Ceironia - Striker A - 12 goals
 * - CenFor B - 9 goals
 * - John Masdon - 8 goals
 * - Striker A - 6 goals