IFK World Cup 2452

2450 IFP World Cup

Tournament details
Host country	Ahitereira
Dates	13–30 July
Teams	24
Venue(s)	TBD
Runners-up	{{File:.png [[]] | flaglink/core | variant = | size = | name = | altlink = national football team | altvar = football }}
Third place	{{File:.png [[]] | flaglink/core | variant = | size = | name = | altlink = national football team | altvar = football }}
Fourth place	{{File:.png [[]] | flaglink/core | variant = | size = | name = | altlink = national football team | altvar = football }}
Tournament statistics
Matches played	TBD
Goals scored	TBD ( per match)
Attendance	TBD ( per match)
Top scorer(s)	TBD

The IFP World Cup of 2450 was the inaugural IFP World Cup, the world championship for men's national football teams. It took place in Ahitereira.

Origin and set up

Throughout the 2440s, football was growing as a popular football outside of Alaxia as new leagues set up there under IFP. With the formation of the High Kingdoms in 2447, there began a movement for a grand tournament to find the best Alaxian team. This escalated into a worldwide tournament to find the world's best team. Originally a one-off event, the success of this world cup sparked a follow-up four years later (the 2454 World Cup) and then a series of tournaments taking place every four years.

Participants

The World Cup was originally thought out to include a qualification round occurring in 2449.

Group stage

Group 1

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 2450 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.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ahitereira	2	1	1	0	6	3	+3	4	Advance to the knockout stage
2	Lunidor	2	0	2	0	5	5	0	2
3	Peryzium	2	0	1	1	2	5	-3	1

4 June 2450; 11:00

Ahitereira	3–0	Peryzium
ST  45+2' (pen.),  67',  69'

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6 June 2450; 11:00

Lunidor	3–3	Ahitereira
ST  14' ST  58' MF  90+2'		ST  47', 49', 55'

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8 June 2450; 11:00

Peryzium	2–2	Lunidor
ST  21' MF  70'		ST  73', 89'

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.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Ceironia	2	2	0	0	21	3	+18	6	Advance to the knockout stage
2	Erdelicht	2	1	0	1	4	1	+3	3
3	United Republic	2	0	0	2	3	24	-21	0

4 June 2450; 14:00

Ceironia	20–3	United Republic
ST  4', 7', 20', 47', 74', 88', 90+1', 90+4' ST  11', 22', 44', 55' MF  13', 82' MF  24', 50' MF  39', 65' D  87' D  90'		ST  29' (pen.), 46' MF  85' (pen.)

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6 June 2450; 14:00

Erdelicht	0–1	Ceironia
		ST  10'

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8 June 2450; 14:00

United Republic	0–4	Erdelicht
		ST  8' (pen.), 42' (pen.) D  34' ST  57'

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.

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 solidifed an Azyeri victory over Jimaria, and thus their place in the knockouts. Jimaria still qualified for the knockouts on goal difference.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Jimaria	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1	3	Advance to the knockout stage
2	Azyeri	2	1	0	1	8	8	0	3
3	Holy Tempest Empire	2	1	0	1	7	8	-1	3

4 June 2450, 17:00

Holy Tempest Empire	7–6	Azyeri
ST  32',  50',  59' GK  35' (og.) D  67' ST  80' MF  90+5' (pen.)		ST  23',  25',  30' MF  26' ST  27' D  29'

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6 June 2450; 17:00

Jimaria	2–0	Holy Tempest Empire
ST  40' MF  83'

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8 June 2450; 17:00

Azyeri	2–1	Jimaria
ST  76',  90+3'		ST  85'

Knockout stage

Bracket

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

12 June 2450; 14:00

Ahitereira

TBD

Erdelicht

TBD

13 June 2450; 14:00

Jimaria

TBD

2nd plc. Group D

TBD

14 June 2450; 14:00

Winner Group E

TBD

2nd plc. Group F

TBD

15 June 2450; 14:00

Winner Group G

TBD

2nd plc. Group H

TBD

12 June 2450; 20:00

Ceironia

TBD

Lunidor

TBD

13 June 2450; 20:00

Winner Group D

TBD

Azyeri

TBD

14 June 2450; 20:00

Third place

Winner Group F

TBD

2nd plc. Group E

TBD

15 June 2450; 20:00

Winner Group H

TBD

2nd plc. Group G

TBD

Goal scorers

Pos	Team	Player	Pos	Goals
	Ceironia	A	ST	9
	Ahitereira	A	ST	6
	Azyeri	A	ST	5
	Ceironia	B	ST	4
	Lunidor	A	ST	3
	Holy Tempest Empire	A	ST	3
	Ceironia	C	MF	2
	Ceironia	D	MF	2
	Ceironia	E	MF	2
	United Republic	A	ST	2
	Erdelicht	A	ST	2
	Jimaria	A	ST	2
	Lunidor	B	ST	1
	Lunidor	C	MF	1
	Peryzium	A	ST	1
	Peryzium	B	MF	1
	Ceironia	F	D	1
	Ceironia	G	D	1
	United Republic	B	MF	1
	Erdelicht	B	D	1
	Erdelicht	C	ST	1
	Holy Tempest Empire	B	ST	1
	Holy Tempest Empire	C	MF	1
	Holy Tempest Empire	D	D	1
	Azyeri	B	MF	1
	Azyeri	C	ST	1
	Azyeri	D	D	1
	Jimaria	B	MF	1

a

FIFA retrospective ranking

In 1986, FIFA published a report that ranked all teams in each World Cup up to and including 1986, based on progress in the competition, overall results and quality of the opposition. The rankings for the 1930 tournament were as follows:

R	Team	G	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1		3	4	4	0	0	15	3	+12	8
2		1	5	4	0	1	18	9	+9	8
3		4	3	2	0	1	7	6	+1	4
4		2	3	2	0	1	7	7	0	4
Eliminated in the group stage
5		1	3	2	0	1	5	3	+2	4
6		2	2	1	0	1	5	2	+3	2
7		1	3	1	0	2	4	3	+1	2
8		3	2	1	0	1	3	5	−2	2
9		4	2	1	0	1	1	3	−2	2
10		3	2	0	0	2	1	4	−3	0
11		4	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4	0
12		2	2	0	0	2	0	8	−8	0
13		1	3	0	0	3	4	13	−9	0