2018 CONIFA World Football Cup qualification explained

Tourney Name:2018 CONIFA World Football Cup qualification
Dates:6 January 2016 –
Num Teams:23
Confederations:1
Matches:50
Goals:189
Top Scorer: Panushanth Kulenthiran (6 goals)
Prevseason:2016
Nextseason:2024

The 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup qualification was the process to decide a number of the teams that will play in the 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup. This is the second tournament to feature a qualification process, following on from the 2016 qualification. The first qualification match played was on 13 March 2016 between the Tamil Eelam team and the team representing the Romani people, with the first goal scored by Tamil Eelam's Panushanth Kulenthiran.

Background

The Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA) was founded in June 2013, as an organisation to represent football associations that are not eligible or choose not to join FIFA.[1] One year later, it held its first official tournament, the 2014 ConIFA World Football Cup, in Sweden, to which the twelve participating teams were invited. The success of this tournament led to the decision to make it a biannual competition, with continental tournaments taking place in between, the first of which was the 2015 ConIFA European Football Cup.

ConIFA published a set of qualification criteria for the World Football Cup ahead of its 2017 Annual General Meeting, setting out the various methods in which teams could qualify for the WFC.[2] This was subsequently revised into an official version for publication in June 2017.[3]

CONIFA is split into six continental zones, with the total number of places in the World Football Cup based on the number of CONIFA members from each zone. As of, the distribution of places for the WFC, dependent on the size of the final tournament, is:

No of finals spotsEuropeAsiaAfricaOceaniaNorth AmericaSouth America
12532110[a]
1683311
[a]

There were no South American members of ConIFA at the time of the tournament
The first qualifying process was undertaken for the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup, which saw a series of friendly matches and tournaments, together with the 2015 ConIFA European Football Cup, designated as qualifiers for the 2016 WFC.[4] [5] [6] However, this decision was taken at a late stage prior to the start of the European Football Cup tournament, only a year prior to the planned start of the 2016 WFC in Abkhazia. As a consequence, for its 2018 WFC tournament, ConIFA began designating planned friendly matches as qualifiers from the beginning of 2016, allowing a greater time for those teams achieving qualification to plan for the tournament. The first of these was the ConIFA Challenger Cup, held in Remscheid on 12 and 13 March 2016.[7]

Qualified teams

TeamRegionMethod of
qualification
Date of
qualification
Finals
appearance
Previous
appearance
Previous best
performance
Notes
AsiaConIFA Challenger Cup winners13 March 20162nd201411th place (2014)
EuropeConIFA World Football Cup Winners6 June 20163rd2016Winners (2016)
FelvidékEurope Hungary Heritage Cup winners3 August 20161stN/AN/A
Western ArmeniaEuropeWild Card14 January 20172nd2016Quarter-Final (2016)
BarawaAfricaHost8 June 20171stN/AN/A
AsiaWild Card8 June 20171stN/AN/A
OceaniaRegional qualification8 June 20171stN/AN/A
CascadiaNorth AmericaRegional qualification8 June 20171stN/AN/A
EuropeConIFA European Football Cup Winners10 June 20173rd20164th Place (2016)
EuropeConIFA European Football Cup Runners Up10 June 20172nd20163rd Place (2016)
PanjabAsiaRegional qualification2 September 20172nd20162nd Place (2016)
United Koreans of JapanAsiaRegional qualification2 September 20172nd2016Quarter-Final (2016)
MatabelelandAfricaRegional qualification2 September 20171stN/AN/A
KabylieAfricaRegional qualification2 September 20171stN/AN/A
Ellan VanninEuropeRegional qualification2 September 20172nd20142nd Place (2014)
Székely LandEuropeRegional qualification2 September 20172nd2016Placement Round (2016)

Qualification

ConIFA Challenger Cup

The ConIFA Challenger Cup was a two team competition held over two days. The two participants, Tamil Eelam and Romani people, each played a 45-minute match against a local select side from the town of Remscheid, where the tournament was being held, on the first day, before playing off against each other on the second.[8]

Hungary Heritage Cup

The Hungary Heritage Cup was a four-team competition held at the beginning of August 2016 in Szarvas, celebrating the heritage of various members of the Hungarian diaspora. The four teams featured two current members of ConIFA, together with two other teams, with the winner qualifying for the World Football Cup.

World Unity Cup 2016

The World Unity Cup was planned as a four-team tournament held at the end of August 2016 in Sutton. The competition was organised jointly by three ConIFA members representing displaced peoples, with the winner qualifying for the World Football Cup.[9]

Subsequent to the announcement, both Darfur and Ellan Vannin withdrew, and the tournament was reorganized as a three-team event, with the Barawa team replacing them.[10]

ConIFA European Football Cup 2017

The 2017 European Football Cup was announced in January 2017 with a total of eight teams due to take part. The winner of the competition was guaranteed a place at the World Football Cup.

Knockout stages

Qualification points standing

The following is a list of games not part of sanctioned ConIFA tournaments for which teams have accrued qualifying points:

As of :[11]

Key:Qualification for WFC
ConIFA World Rankings
1.
2. Panjab
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. Ellan Vannin
11.
12.
13.
14.
15. United Koreans of Japan
16. Luhansk PR
17. Székely Land
Western Armenia
19.
20.
21. Felvidék
22.
23. Franconia
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.

1. Teams that have already qualified no longer accrue qualification points

Wild Card

In May 2017, CONIFA announced on its website that five of its members had completed the necessary process to be considered for the WFC Wild Card place by the deadline of 2 May 2017. The wild card spot was decided at the CONIFA Executive Committee meeting, held during the European Football Cup in Northern Cyprus. The five teams under consideration were:[12]

TeamZone
Africa
Oceania
Asia
At the Executive Committee meeting, held in Northern Cyprus on 8 June 2017, Tibet were awarded the Wild Card place.

Top goalscorers

6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About Us. . 15 June 2014. CONIFA. Confederation of independent Football Associations. 4 April 2016.
  2. Web site: CONIFA World Football Cup Qualification Guidelines. . October 2016. conifa.org. CONIFA. 6 March 2017.
  3. Web site: World Football Cup Qualification System. . CONIFA. Confederation of Independent Football Associations. 29 June 2017. 24 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171224050621/http://www.conifa.org/en/members/world-football-cup-qualification-system/. dead.
  4. Web site: European Football Cup 2015. . 27 April 2015 . ConIFA . Confederation of independent Football Associations . 4 April 2016 .
  5. Web site: Ellan Vannin to host tournament at end of month. . 13 May 2015. Yorkshire Evening Post. 4 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20150715023033/http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/football-ellan-vannin-to-host-tournament-at-end-of-month-1-7257803. 2015-07-15. dead.
  6. Web site: Benedikt Fontana Cup. . 14 May 2015. ConIFA. Confederation of Independent Football Associations . 4 April 2016 .
  7. Web site: ConIFA Challenger Cup 2016 . . 3 March 2016 . Facebook . 4 April 2016 .
  8. Web site: Remscheid Challenger Cup Day 1 . . 12 March 2016 . Facebook . ConIFA . 4 April 2016 .
  9. Web site: World Unity Cup . . 19 July 2016 .
  10. Web site: World Unity Cup media pack . . World Unity Cup . iACT . 24 August 2016 .
  11. Web site: CONIFA 2018 World Football Cup Qualification . 2017-06-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170629062813/http://www.conifa.org/en/2017/06/25/world-football-cup-2018-qualifiers-announced/ . 2017-06-29 . dead .
  12. Web site: Five Teams Vying for 2018 World Football Cup "Wild Card" Spot . Wheelock . Noah . 9 May 2017 . ConIFA . Confederation of Independent Football Associations . 31 May 2017 . 25 May 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170525080725/http://www.conifa.org/en/2017/05/09/five-teams-vying-for-2018-world-football-cup-wild-card-spot/ . dead .