2018 CONIFA World Football Cup

The 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup was the third edition of the CONIFA World Football Cup, an international football tournament for states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions unaffiliated with FIFA organised by CONIFA. The tournament was hosted by Barawa Football Association, with all games held in and around London.[1] The tournament was sponsored by Irish bookmaker Paddy Power. After being a late entry to the tournament, Kárpátalja won their first title on 9 June 2018, defeating Northern Cyprus 3–2 on penalties in the final (0–0 after 90 minutes).

2018 CONIFA World Football Cup
Tournament details
Host countryEngland
(Host association: Barawa)
Dates31 May – 9 June
Teams16
Venue(s)10 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Kárpátalja (1st title)
Runners-up Northern Cyprus
Third place Padania
Fourth place Székely Land
Tournament statistics
Matches played41
Goals scored158 (3.85 per match)
Top scorer(s)Panjab Kamaljit Singh (6 goals)
2016

Host selection

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In June 2017, at the CONIFA meeting held during the 2017 CONIFA European Football Cup, it was announced that the Barawa Football Association had been selected to act as the host for the 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup. However, under CONIFA's criteria, the "host" is the CONIFA member that heads the organising committee for the tournament, which does not necessarily mean that it needs to be played in the host's territory.[2] Barawa is located in Somalia, but the Barawa FA represents members of the Somali diaspora in England.[3]

Venues

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The first two CONIFA World Football Cup tournaments both featured no more than two venues each; the 2014 tournament featured all games played at the same stadium, while the 2016 edition had a stadium in each of two cities. The expansion from twelve to sixteen participants in 2018 saw a significant expansion in the number of venues used, with a total of ten selected in four separate towns and cities - of these, seven were located in Greater London itself, two were in the towns of Slough and Bracknell in Berkshire, and one in the borough of Thurrock in Essex.

Greater London
Sutton Bromley Enfield Haringey
Gander Green Lane Hayes Lane Queen Elizabeth II Stadium Coles Park
Capacity: 5,000 Capacity: 5,000 Capacity: 2,500 Capacity: 2,500
       
Greater London Greater London
Carshalton Rotherhithe
Colston Avenue St Paul's Sports Ground
Capacity: 5,000 Capacity: 1,000
   
Greater London Essex
Bedfont Aveley
Bedfont Recreation Ground Parkside
Capacity: 3,000 Capacity: 3,500
   
Berkshire
Bracknell Slough
Larges Lane Arbour Park
Capacity: 2,500 Capacity: 2,000
 


Qualification

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CONIFA WFC 2018 teams

The process of qualification for the World Football Cup was originally laid out in a set of criteria published by CONIFA at its 2017 annual general meeting, which goes into the various ways by which teams can qualify.[4] This was subsequently revised by CONIFA in June 2017.[5]

  • Host - Providing at least 10 places are available for other qualifiers, then all hosts will qualify automatically. If there are less than 10 other places available, then the number of automatic host places is calculated by the total number of places in the tournament minus 10.
  • World Football Cup Holder - The current holder of the World Football Cup qualifies automatically.
  • Wild Card - CONIFA's Executive Committee issues a Wild Card place to a team that has not yet qualified for the WFC no later than 9 months prior to the start of the tournament. The committee also has the right to issue a second Wild Card if approved by CONIFA's Annual General Meeting.
  • Qualification tournament - Any member of CONIFA has the right to request that a tournament it hosts be sanctioned as a qualifier, providing it is held between 1 January of the year of the previous WFC, and 31 December of the year before the next WFC, and consists of at least four CONIFA members. The request to have the tournament sanctioned as a qualifier must be submitted at least two months prior to the start, and must be approved by CONIFA's Executive Committee.
  • Continental tournament - If a CONIFA continental championship is held after the previous WFC, then a number of its participants qualify for the WFC; the total qualifiers is worked out by the number of participants in the tournament divided by 4.
  • Qualification points - Remaining places are distributed according to the final positions in the various CONIFA continental rankings according to their accumulated ranking points. If two or more teams have the same number of qualification points, qualification will be determined by the CONIFA World Rankings.
Qualification points
Opposition Factor (OF) Result Factor (RF)
CONIFA Member = 3 Win = 3
Other international
opposition = 2
Draw = 2
Any other opposition = 1 Defeat = 1
Points for a single match = OF × RF
  • Matches played in WFC do not count towards qualification points totals.
  • Only the first two matches between teams accrue points.
  • Additional matches are only considered if played as part of a tournament.
  • Only the ten matches where a team accrued the most points are considered.
  • If a member hosts a continental championship during the qualifying period,
    it receives additional points (number of participants × 3).

By the criteria set out, the qualification process began in January 2016, when Western Armenia played its first official game against the reserve team of the French club Olympique de Marseille.[6] The first team to qualify automatically was Tamil Eelam, by winning the single match CONIFA Challenger Cup against the Romani people in March 2016. Following this, two further, multi-team competitions were awarded qualification status by CONIFA, the Hungary Heritage Cup, played between four CONIFA members representing the Hungarian diaspora, and the World Unity Cup, which was a tournament containing teams representing a number of displaced peoples.[7] The winners of both of these tournaments were guaranteed qualification for the World Football Cup.

Qualified teams

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Team Region Method of
qualification
Date of
qualification
Finals
appearance
Previous
appearance
Previous best
performance
Notes
  Tamil Eelam Asia ConIFA Challenger Cup winners 13 March 2016 2nd 2014 Placement round (2014)
  Abkhazia Europe ConIFA World Football Cup winners 6 June 2016 3rd 2016 Winners (2016)
  Felvidék Europe Hungary Heritage Cup winners 3 August 2016 1st N/A N/A Subsequently withdrew
  Western Armenia Asia Wild card 14 January 2017 2nd 2016 Quarter-final (2016)
  Barawa Africa Host 8 June 2017 1st N/A N/A
  Tibet Asia Wild card 8 June 2017 1st N/A N/A
  Kiribati Oceania Regional qualification 8 June 2017 1st N/A N/A Subsequently withdrew
  Cascadia North America Regional qualification 8 June 2017 1st N/A N/A
  Padania Europe ConIFA European Football Cup winners 10 June 2017 3rd 2016 4th place (2016)
  Northern Cyprus Europe ConIFA European Football Cup runners-up 10 June 2017 2nd 2016 3rd place (2016)
  Panjab Asia Regional qualification 2 September 2017 2nd 2016 2nd place (2016)
  United Koreans in Japan Asia Regional qualification 2 September 2017 2nd 2016 Quarter-final (2016)
  Matabeleland Africa Regional qualification 2 September 2017 1st N/A N/A
  Kabylia Africa Regional qualification 2 September 2017 1st N/A N/A
  Ellan Vannin Europe Regional qualification 2 September 2017 2nd 2014 2nd place (2014)
  Székely Land Europe Regional qualification 2 September 2017 2nd 2016 Placement round (2016)
  Tuvalu Oceania Replacement 7 March 2018 1st N/A N/A Replaced Kiribati
  Kárpátalja Europe Replacement 4 May 2018 1st N/A N/A Replaced Felvidék

Draw

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In December 2017, the sixteen participating teams were seeded into four pots of four for the group stage draw, based on the ConIFA rankings. The draw for the group stage was held on 6 January 2018 in Northern Cyprus.[8][9]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

Withdrawals

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In March 2018, ConIFA announced that, owing to financial difficulties, the Kiribati team had been forced to withdraw from the tournament, with their place taken by Tuvalu.[10] In May 2018, it was announced that the Felvidék team had withdrawn, to be replaced by Kárpátalja.[11]

Squads

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Referees

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ConIFA announced a total of 28 referees for the tournament, led by former Premier League official Mark Clattenburg.[12] During the tournament, referees used a third card in addition to the red and yellow; the green card, introduced as a concept by the tournament sponsor Paddy Power, was issued to players either for dissent or diving; a player given a green card was required to be substituted immediately.[12]

Matches

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Group stage

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Group A

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
  Barawa 3 2 0 1 7 2 +5 6 Advance to quarter-finals
  Cascadia 3 2 0 1 9 5 +4 6
  Ellan Vannin 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 6 Advance to placement round
  Tamil Eelam 3 0 0 3 0 12 −12 0
Source: [citation needed]


Ellan Vannin  4–1  Cascadia
Whitley   15'
Jones   41'
Caine   62'
McVey   70'
Report Doughty   18'
Referee: Ivan Mrkalj
Barawa  4–0  Tamil Eelam
Sambou   17'
Lucien   30' (pen.), 80' (pen.)
Crichlow   43'
Report
Attendance: 1

Barawa  1–2  Cascadia
Bettamer   9' Report Doughty   35'
Morales   45+1'
Referee: Utku Hamamcioglu
Ellan Vannin  2–0  Tamil Eelam
Whitley   47'
Caine   57'
Report
Referee: Mario Guastafierro

Barawa  2–0  Ellan Vannin
Bettamer   40'
Ismail   56'
Report
Referee: Ivan Mrkalj
Tamil Eelam  0–6  Cascadia
Report Nouble   10' (pen.), 87'
Hayden-Smith   32', 71'
Farkas   69'
Ferguson   89'

Group B

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
  Kárpátalja 3 2 1 0 8 2 +6 7 Advance to quarter-finals
  Northern Cyprus 3 1 2 0 6 4 +2 5
  Abkhazia 3 1 1 1 5 4 +1 4 Advance to placement round
  Tibet 3 0 0 3 2 11 −9 0
Source: [citation needed]


Abkhazia  3–0  Tibet
Akhvlediani   12'
Maskayev   61'
Shoniya   77'
Report
Referee: Raymond Mashamba
Northern Cyprus  1–1  Kárpátalja
Mehmet   13' Report I. Sándor   53'

Abkhazia  0–2  Kárpátalja
Report Gajdos   11'
I. Sándor   90+8'
Referee: Dmitrii Zhukov
Northern Cyprus  3–1  Tibet
Turan   2', 67'
Gök   73'
Report Topgyal   38'
Referee: John McCallum

Abkhazia  2–2  Northern Cyprus
Maskayev   21'
Argun   90' (pen.)
Report Kaya   27'
Oshan   77'
Referee: Dmitrii Zhukov
Kárpátalja  5–1  Tibet
Gajdos   2'
G. Sándor   36' (pen.)
Takács   42', 77'
Svedjuk   75'
Report Yougyal   69'
Referee: Raymond Mashamba

Group C

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
  Padania 3 3 0 0 17 2 +15 9 Advance to quarter-finals
  Székely Land 3 2 0 1 10 3 +7 6
  Matabeleland 3 1 0 2 4 12 −8 3 Advance to placement round
  Tuvalu 3 0 0 3 1 15 −14 0
Source: [citation needed]


Székely Land  4–0  Tuvalu
Bajkó   23', 63', 68'
Magyari   75'
Report
Padania  6–1  Matabeleland
Innocenti   10', 45'
Piantoni   39', 42'
Rosset   60'
Rota   61'
Report Ndlela   78'

Székely Land  5–0  Matabeleland
Fülöp   31' (pen.)
Györgyi   40'
Magyari   42', 54'
Hodgyai   90+1'
Report
Referee: Igor Gorshkov
Padania  8–0  Tuvalu
Corno   8', 12', 38'
Ravasi   17'
Valente   32', 44', 89'
Rosset   71'
Report
Referee: Raymond Mashamba

Padania  3–1  Székely Land
Rolandone   19'
Innocenti   27'
Pllumbaj   45'
Report Szőcs   90'
Referee: Fehim Dayı
Tuvalu  1–3  Matabeleland
Timuani   27' Report S. Ndlovu   25', 38'
Mlalazi   90+1' (pen.)
Referee: Clément Auclair

Group D

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
  Western Armenia 3 2 1 0 5 0 +5 7 Advance to quarter-finals
  Panjab 3 1 1 1 9 2 +7 4
  United Koreans in Japan 3 0 3 0 1 1 0 3 Advance to placement round
  Kabylia 3 0 1 2 0 12 −12 1
Source: [citation needed]


United Koreans in Japan  0–0  Western Armenia
Report
Referee: Fehim Dayı
Panjab  8–0  Kabylia
Sandhu   24', 53'
Purewal   45', 62'
G. Singh   51' (pen.), 90+3'
K. Singh   75', 82'
Report

United Koreans in Japan  0–0  Kabylia
Report
Referee: Leon Dastych
Panjab  0–1  Western Armenia
Report Militosyan   14'
Referee: Kristian Michel

Panjab  1–1  United Koreans in Japan
Purewal   77' (pen.) Report Mun   90+4'
Referee: David Murphy
Western Armenia  4–0  Kabylia
Mosoyan   23'
Valenza-Berberian   61', 87'
Militosyan   89'
Report
Referee: Massimo Amitrano

Knockout stage

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Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
5 June – Sutton
 
 
  Barawa0
 
7 June – Carshalton
 
  Northern Cyprus8
 
  Northern Cyprus3
 
5 June – Bracknell
 
  Padania2
 
  Padania2
 
9 June – Enfield
 
  Panjab0
 
  Northern Cyprus0 (2)
 
5 June – Sutton
 
  Kárpátalja0 (3)
 
  Kárpátalja3
 
7 June – Carshalton
 
  Cascadia1
 
  Kárpátalja4
 
5 June – Bromley
 
  Székely Land 2 Third place
 
  Western Armenia 0
 
9 June – Enfield
 
  Székely Land4
 
  Padania0 (5)
 
 
  Székely Land 0 (4)
 

Quarter-finals

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Barawa  0–8  Northern Cyprus
Report Gök   15', 80'
Önet   51'
Turan   54', 69'
Ali   58' (o.g.)
Mehmet   84'
Osman   88'
Referee: Ivan Mrki

Padania  2–0  Panjab
Innocenti   59' (pen.)
Pavan   90'
Report
Referee: Vitalii Mazin

Kárpátalja  3–1  Cascadia
Gyürki   49'
Takács   59'
Gadjos   87' (pen.)
Report Haddadi   80'
Referee: Fehim Dayı

Western Armenia  0–4  Székely Land
Report Tankó   36'
Csizmadia   61'
L. Fülöp   65'
Bajkó   86'
Referee: Givi Todua

Semi-finals

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Northern Cyprus  3–2  Padania
Mehmet   36', 84'
Turan   80'
Report Ravasi   30'
Pavan   47'
Referee: Dmitrii Zhukov

Kárpátalja  4–2  Székely Land
Toma   36', 57'
Gyürki   75' (pen.)
Peres   90+1'
Report Csizmadia   77'
Bajkó   79'

Third-Place play-off

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Padania  0–0  Székely Land
Report
Penalties
5–4
Referee: Utku Hamamcioglu

Final

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Northern Cyprus  0–0  Kárpátalja
Report
Penalties
Mehmet  
Kurt  
Oshan  
Ersalan  
Turan  
2–3   Gyürki
  Toma
  Baksa
  I. Sándor
  Svedjuk
 
 
 
 
 
 
Northern Cyprus
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kárpátalja


 ConIFA World Football Cup 2018 winners 
 
Kárpátalja

First title

Placement Rounds

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Placement Round 1

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Ellan Vannin  [note 1]0–3
Awarded
  Tibet
Report
Referee: Mario Guastafierro

Matabeleland  0–0  Kabylia
Report
Penalties
P. Ndlovu  
Mlalazi  
G. Ndlovu  
George  
Nkomo  
Sthamburi  
3–4   Belalsa
 
  Hadid
 
 
  Mezaib
Referee: Kristian Michel

Abkhazia  6–0  Tamil Eelam
Akhvlediani   40', 71'
Logua   63'
Shoniya   74', 88'
Tarba   83'
Report
Referee: Karl Parker

United Koreans in Japan  5–0  Tuvalu
Taniyama   18'
Lee   20', 58'
Shin   23'
Mun   83'
Report
Referee: Leon Dastych

Placement Round 2

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Ellan Vannin  [note 2]0–3
Awarded
  Matabeleland
Report

Tamil Eelam  4–3  Tuvalu
Ragavan   7', 86', 90+1'
Perananthan   90+4'
Report Petoa   3', 73'
Vailine   55'
Referee: Leon Dastych

Tibet  1–8  Kabylia
Topgyal   43' (pen.) Report Baudia   25', 74', 77', 87'
Hadid   45'
Mezaib   49', 51'
Bouabbas   81'
Referee: Clément Auclair

Abkhazia  2–0  United Koreans in Japan
Akhvlediani   38'
Kogoniya   78'
Report
Referee: Zekai Tore

Barawa  0–5  Panjab
Report K. Singh   8', 65', 72', 90+2'
Minhas   46'
Referee: David Murphy

Cascadia  4–0  Western Armenia
Ferguson   24', 62'
Oldham   54'
Farkas   79'
Report
Referee: Ivan Mrkalj

Placement Round 3

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Ellan Vannin  [note 2]0–3
Awarded
  Tuvalu
Report

Matabeleland  1–0  Tamil Eelam
Ndlela   81' Report
Referee: Vitalii Mazin

Tibet  1–1  United Koreans in Japan
Yougyal   20' Report Gelek   84' (o.g.)
Penalties
1–4

Kabylia  0–2  Abkhazia
Report Logua   29'
Zhanaa   56'
Referee: Kristian Michel

Barawa  0–7  Western Armenia
Report N. Hovsepyan  
D. Hovsepyan  
Yedigaryan  
Guzel  
Varjabetyan  
Militosyan  
Mosoyan  
Referee: Leon Dastych

Panjab  3–3  Cascadia
Virk   18'
Minhas   24', 34'
Report Morales   45'
Ferguson   54', 60'
Penalties
Purewal  
Zia  
Virk  
Dhillon  
K. Singh  
Jung  
4–3   Riley
  Gregory
  J. Wilson
  Oldham
  Haddadi
  Levock
Referee: Mariano Sasso

Statistics

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Goalscorers

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6 goals
  •   Kamaljit Singh
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Own goals

Final positions

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD
1   Kárpátalja 6 4 2 0 15 5 +10
2   Northern Cyprus 6 3 3 0 17 6 +11
3   Padania 6 4 1 1 21 5 +16
4   Székely Land 6 3 1 2 16 7 +9
5   Panjab 6 2 2 2 17 7 +10
6   Cascadia 6 3 1 2 17 11 +6
7   Western Armenia 6 3 1 2 12 8 +4
8   Barawa 6 2 0 4 7 22 −15
9   Abkhazia 6 4 1 1 15 4 +11
10   Kabylia 6 1 1 4 8 15 −7
11   United Koreans in Japan 6 1 4 1 7 4 +3
12   Tibet 5 0 1 4 4 20 −16
13   Matabeleland 5 2 1 2 5 12 −7
14   Tamil Eelam 6 1 0 5 4 22 −18
15   Tuvalu 5 0 0 5 4 24 −20
16   Ellan Vannin[a] 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3
Source: [citation needed]
Notes:
  1. ^ Ellan Vannin withdrew from the competition after the group stage.

Player awards

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Three individual awards were handed out by ConIFA at the conclusion of the tournament:[13]

  • Paddy Power Player of the Tournament:   Béla Fejér
  • ConIFA Golden Boot:   Kamaljit Singh
  • Global FCE Young Player of the Tournament:   Sami Boudia

As winner of Young Player of the Tournament, Sami Boudia was offered a one-month residency at one of the Global Football Centre Of Excellence's academies.

Marketing

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Tournament programme

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A programme for the entire tournament was produced, with the bulk of the content produced by football writer Mat Guy and blogger Pat McGuinness, and produced by Programme Master.[14] The tournament is also documented in detail in the book CONIFA: Football For The Forgotten by journalist James Hendicott, which centres around events in London and the history of the teams involved.[15]

Official anthem

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The official anthem of the tournament is "Bring The House Down" by English duo Right Said Fred, which was released on 29 May 2018.[16]

Controversies

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Ellan Vannin withdrawal

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Following the completion of the group stage, Ellan Vannin entered a protest regarding the fact that Barawa had been able to bring in a replacement player to their squad after the tournament had started, in apparent contravention of the tournament's rules. The addition of the player, Mohamed Bettamer, a former Libyan youth international, was permitted by ConIFA, who stated that this was a rule change, but who did not inform the other 15 teams in the competition, who had submitted their own squad lists according to the published pre-tournament rule book.[17] Ellan Vannin launched an appeal against the Barawa team's fielding of an apparently ineligible player, which at an initial meeting of the tournament committee was upheld, before subsequently being overturned.[18] As a result, Ellan Vannin withdrew from the remainder of the tournament, and Tibet, their opponents in the First Placement Round, were awarded a 3–0 victory.[19] Their place in the remaining fixtures were taken by Chagos Islands. [20] A meeting of ConIFA's Executive Committee made the decision to provisionally expel the Manx Independent Football Alliance from the organization on 7 June, subject to ratification at the Annual General Meeting in January 2019.[21] They were reinstated in January.

Replacement matches

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London Turkish Select  4–0  Tibet
Nalbant      
Ali Avci  
Report
Referee: Mario Guastafierro

Chagos Islands  0–1  Matabeleland
Report Sthamburi   60'
Referee: Massimo Amitrano

Chagos Islands  1–6  Tuvalu
Leonce   28' (pen.) Report Tinilau   8', 63'
Uaelasi   20', 81'
Oride   26' (o.g.)
Vailine   71'
Referee: Raymond Motumba

Goalscorers

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3 goals
  •   Hassan Nalbant
2 goals
1 goal
  •   Ivanov Leonce
  •   Musa Sthamburi
  •   Ali Uyar Avci
  •   Sosene Vailine
Own goals

Broadcasting rights

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CONIFA provided live streaming through football streaming service Mycujoo and edited highlights provided by FC Video. Select games were also live streamed on the Paddy Power Facebook page.

In Northern Cyprus the games were broadcast by EURO GENÇ TV.

Notes

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  1. ^ Ellan Vannin withdrew from the tournament on 5 June. Tibet instead played a "London Turkish Select" team when this fixture was due to be played.
  2. ^ a b Chagos Islands agreed to fulfil Ellan Vannin's remaining fixtures.

References

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  1. ^ "16 nations - one goal!". Facebook. ConIFA. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  2. ^ "World Football Cup Qualification System". ConIFA. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  3. ^ "About". Barawa Football Association. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  4. ^ "CONIFA World Football Cup Qualification Guidelines" (PDF). conifa.org. ConIFA. October 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  5. ^ "World Football Cup Qualification System". ConIFA. Confederation of Independent Football Associations. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  6. ^ "Football Federation of Western Armenia Plays First Game". Asbarez. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  7. ^ "ConIFA Activity Report 2016" (PDF). ConIFA. 2017-01-18. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 10, 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Official Seeding - World Cup London 2018 group stage". Twitter. ConIFA. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Going to be very interesting. Draw in Northern Cyprus on January 6th, 2018". Twitter. Manx IFA. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  10. ^ "Tuvalu to replace Kiribati at the 2018 Paddy Power World Football Cup". ConIFA. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  11. ^ "Karpatalya to replace Felvidék at 2018 Paddy Power World Football Cup". ConIFA. 4 May 2018. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  12. ^ a b Wilson, Jack (14 May 2018). "Premier League revelation: Mark Clattenburg reveals the player who 'annoys EVERYONE'". Daily Express. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  13. ^ "Fejer, Boudia and Singh Scoop #WFC2018 Awards". CONIFA. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  14. ^ "ConIFA 2018 World Football Cup Official Programme". Programme Master. Archived from the original on 6 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  15. ^ Hendicott, James. CONIFA: Football For The Forgotten: The Untold Story Of Football's Alternative World Cup.
  16. ^ Wright, Chris (29 May 2018). "'Bring The House Down' – Right Said Fred Record Official Anthem For 2018 ConIFA World Cup". Who Ate All The Pies. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  17. ^ "Should Ellan Vannin appeal their elimination?". Prost Amerika. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  18. ^ "Manx FA react furiously to rejection of Bettamer appeal". Prost Amerika. 5 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  19. ^ "CONIFA Statement Regarding Ellan Vannin". CONIFA.org. CONIFA. Archived from the original on 7 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  20. ^ "CONIFA is pleased to advise that Chagos Islands will fulfill Ellan Vannin's fixtures". Twitter Conifa. 5 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  21. ^ "CONIFA Statement Regarding Ellan Vannin". ConIFA. 7 June 2018. Archived from the original on 10 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.