2016 ConIFA World Football Cup

2016 ConIFA World Football Cup

Tournament details
Host country	Abkhazia
Dates	28 May – 6 June
Teams	12
Venue(s)	2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Abkhazia (1st title)
Runners-up	Panjab
Third place	Northern Cyprus
Fourth place	Padania
Tournament statistics
Matches played	28
Goals scored	115 (4.11 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Amar Purewal (7 goals)

The 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup was the second 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 the Football Federation of Abkhazia, with the Abkhazia team becoming the first host nation to win the tournament.

Host selection

Following the 2015 ConIFA European Football Cup, in which the teams from Abkhazia and South Ossetia were refused visas by the Hungarian government, ConIFA announced that they had delivered strong objections to what they saw as political interference.^[1] As a consequence, in July 2015, ConIFA announced that its Executive Committee had unanimously voted to award the 2016 World Football Cup to Abkhazia. It stated that, in addition to the quality of the bid, the decision would send out the message that ConIFA would stand by all of its members.^[1]

Hosts

 Abkhazia

Sukhumi	Gagra
Dinamo Stadium	Daur Akhvlediani Stadium
43°00′18″N 41°00′52″E / 43.004911°N 41.014472°E	43°17′10″N 40°15′38″E / 43.2860657°N 40.2606291°E
Capacity:4,300	Capacity:1,500
Sukhumi Gagra

Participating teams

Partial world map showing the national teams that entered the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup. Note that the Panjab and Chagos teams largely consisted of diaspora members living in England.

Qualification

The 2016 World Football Cup was the first ConIFA tournament to feature qualification, as the competitors in both the previous tournament and 2015 European Football Cup were invited. The qualification process was designed around a number of different tournaments; initially, ConIFA announced that the top three teams in the 2015 EFC would gain automatic qualification for the 2016 WFC.^[2] Subsequent to this decision, ConIFA announced that it would sanction a number of friendly tournaments featuring its members as part of the qualification, with the first of these being the Niamh Challenge Cup, a four team tournament hosted by Ellan Vannin.^[3] A further tournament, the Benedikt Fontana Cup was also planned to be hosted by Raetia.^[4] The winners of these tournaments would gain qualification to the WFC.

In addition to the hosts, and the teams that gained entry to the tournament through the qualification process, ConIFA extended an invitation to the team representing the Aymara people to become the first South American side to participate.^[5]

Qualified teams

Team	Continent	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Previous appearance	Previous best performance	Notes
Aymará	South America	Invitation	13 May 2015	1st	N/A	N/A	Subsequently withdrew from competition
Ellan Vannin	Europe	Niamh Challenge Cup winners	31 May 2015	2nd	2014	Runners-up (2014)	Subsequently withdrew from competition
Padania	Europe	European Football Cup Winner	21 June 2015	2nd	2014	5th Place (2014)	Expelled from competition subsequent to qualification; subsequently restored following withdrawal of Romani People
County of Nice	Europe	European Football Cup Runner Up	21 June 2015	2nd	2014	Winners (2014)	Subsequently withdrew from competition
Abkhazia	Europe	Host	7 July 2015	2nd	2014	8th Place (2014)
Raetia	Europe	Benedikt Fontana Cup Winners	6 September 2015	1st	N/A	N/A
Somaliland	Africa	Selected	9 January 2016	1st	N/A	N/A
Chagos Islands	Asia	Selected	9 January 2016	1st	N/A	N/A
Iraqi Kurdistan	Asia	Selected	9 January 2016	2nd	2014	6th Place (2014)
Panjab	Asia	Selected	9 January 2016	1st	N/A	N/A
United Koreans of Japan	Asia	Selected	9 January 2016	1st	N/A	N/A
Northern Cyprus	Europe	Selected	9 January 2016	1st	N/A	N/A
Romani people	Europe	Selected	9 January 2016	1st	N/A	N/A	Subsequently withdrew from competition
Sápmi	Europe	Selected	9 January 2016	2nd	2014	10th Place (2014)
Western Armenia	Europe	Selected	9 January 2016	1st	N/A	N/A
Székely Land	Europe	Selected	2 March 2016	1st	N/A	N/A	Replaced Padania

The twelve participating teams were divided into three pots of four for the group stage, which would see them drawn into four groups of three. The draw was made by ConIFA World President Per-Anders Blind in Luleå on 1 April 2016:^[6]

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
Abkhazia  Iraqi Kurdistan  Northern Cyprus Panjab	Romani people  Sápmi  Chagos Islands Székely Land	Somaliland Western Armenia United Koreans of Japan  Raetia

Withdrawals

In December 2015, following advice from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office over security concerns regarding travel to Abkhazia, the Manx Independent Football Alliance announced that the Ellan Vannin team would withdraw from the World Football Cup, and instead take part in the 2016 Europeada Championship in Italy.^[7] Subsequently, both the Aymará team, and County of Nice also withdrew.

In March 2016, ConIFA announced that Padania had been expelled from the tournament due to procedural irregularities, to be replaced by Székely Land.^[8]

In May 2016, three weeks prior to the start of the tournament, ConIFA announced that the Romani team had been forced to withdraw from the tournament due to difficulties in obtaining travel documents for their squad. Padania, who had been expelled, were invited to take the place of the Romani team.^[9]

Matches

Group stage

Key to colours in group tables
	Team advanced to the quarter-finals
	Team in the 9th-12th place play-offs

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Abkhazia	2	2	0	0	10	0	+10	6
Western Armenia	2	1	0	1	12	1	+11	3
Chagos Islands	2	0	0	2	0	21	−21	0

Abkhazia  v  Chagos Islands

29 May 2016 20:00 GET

Abkhazia	9–0	Chagos Islands
Dmitri Kortava  18' (pen.) Vladimir Argun  19' Dmitri Akhba  34' Albert Prus  39', 43' Ruslan Shoniya  47', 57' Astamur Tarba  50' Victor Pimpia  88'	Report

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

Chagos Islands  v Western Armenia

30 May 2016 20:00 GET

Chagos Islands	0–12	Western Armenia
	Report	David Ghandilyan  3', 20', 30', 34', 45', 53' Tamaz Avolian  55' Armen Kapikiyan  58', 81' Ruslan Trapizoyan  64' Vahagn Militosyan  69' Hiraç Yagan  73'

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

Western Armenia v  Abkhazia

31 May 2016 20:00 GET

Western Armenia	0–1	Abkhazia
		Dmitri Kortava  9'

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Iraqi Kurdistan	2	2	0	0	6	0	+6	6
United Koreans of Japan	2	1	0	1	1	3	−2	3
Székely Land	2	0	0	2	0	4	−4	0

Iraqi Kurdistan  v Székely Land

29 May 2016 15:00 GET

Iraqi Kurdistan	3–0	Székely Land
Farhang Wriya  34' Farhan Shakor  55' Hunar Ahmed  73'	Report

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

United Koreans of Japan v Székely Land

30 May 2016 15:00 GET

United Koreans of Japan	1–0	Székely Land
Lee Son-Chon  60'

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

United Koreans of Japan v  Iraqi Kurdistan

31 May 2016 15:00 GET

United Koreans of Japan	0–3	Iraqi Kurdistan
	Report	Diyar Rahman  27' Miran Khesro  45' (pen) Hunar Ahmad  73'

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Northern Cyprus	2	2	0	0	9	1	+8	6
Padania	2	1	0	1	7	2	+5	3
Raetia	2	0	0	2	0	13	−13	0

Padania  v  Northern Cyprus

29 May 2016 11:00 GET

Padania	1–2	Northern Cyprus
Matteo Prandelli  48'	Report	Ünal Kaya  62' Halil Turan  67'

Daur Akhvlediani Stadium, Gagra

Raetia  v  Padania

30 May 2016 11:00 GET

Raetia	0–6	Padania
		Matteo Prandelli  23', 35', 54', 61' Nicolo Mercorillo  21' Andrea Rota  80'

Daur Akhvlediani Stadium, Gagra

Northern Cyprus  v  Raetia

31 May 2016 11:00 GET

Northern Cyprus	7–0	Raetia
Esin Sonay  5', 13', 48' Tansel Ekingen  60' Hüseyin Sadiklar  73' Halil Turan  81', 87'

Daur Akhvlediani Stadium, Gagra

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Panjab	2	2	0	0	6	0	+6	6
Sápmi	2	1	0	1	5	1	+4	3
Somaliland	2	0	0	2	0	10	−10	0

Sápmi  v  Somaliland

29 May 2016 15:00 GET

Sápmi	5–0	Somaliland
Lars Iver Strand  15' Jarkko Lahdenmäki  50' Jon Steinar Eriksen  60' Stein Arne Mannsverk  70' Hans Åge Yndestad  80'	Report

Daur Akhvlediani Stadium, Gagra

Sápmi  v Panjab

30 May 2016 15:00 GET

Sápmi	0–1	Panjab
	Report	Gurjit Singh  2'

Daur Akhvlediani Stadium, Gagra

Somaliland  v Panjab

31 May 2016 15:00 GET

Somaliland	0–5	Panjab
		Amar Purewal  30', 67', 80' Arjun Purewal  38' Gurjit Singh  74'

Daur Akhvlediani Stadium, Gagra

Knockout stage

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	1 June – Sukhumi
	United Koreans of Japan	1 (2)
					4 June – Sukhumi
	Northern Cyprus	1 (4)
					Northern Cyprus	0
	1 June – Sukhumi
					Abkhazia	2
	Abkhazia	2
									5 June – Sukhumi
	Sápmi	0
									Abkhazia	1 (6)
	2 June – Sukhumi
									Panjab	1 (5)
	Iraqi Kurdistan	2 (6)
					4 June – Sukhumi
	Padania	2 (7)
					Padania	0			Third place
	2 June – Sukhumi
					Panjab	1			5 June – Sukhumi
	Western Armenia	2
									Padania	0
	Panjab	3
									Northern Cyprus	2

Quarter-Finals

United Koreans of Japan v  Northern Cyprus

1 June 2016 15:00 GET

United Koreans of Japan	1–1	Northern Cyprus
On Song-Tae  54'		Ünal Kaya  31'
	Penalties
Kim Kwang-Woo On Song-Tae Kim Su-Yong An Suug-Tae	2–4	Esin Sonay Halil Turan Ünal Kaya Ibrahim Çıdamlı

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

Abkhazia  v  Sápmi

1 June 2016 20:00 GET

Abkhazia	2–0	Sápmi
Dmitri Kortava  35', 73' (pen.)

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

Iraqi Kurdistan  v  Padania

2 June 2016 15:00 GET

Iraqi Kurdistan	2–2	Padania
Matteo Prandelli  22' (o.g.) Jassim Mohammed Haji  25'		Luca Ferri  13' Marco Garavelli  71'
	Penalties
Kosrat Baiz Kamaran Ali (?) Khalid Mushir Diyar Rahman Farhan Shakor Hunar Ahmad (?) Miran Khesro	6–7	Matteo Prandelli Marco Garavelli Alex Mazzocca Luca Mosti (?) Luca Ferri Stefano Tignonsini (?) Gianluca Rolandone (?) Antonio Pizzolla

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

Western Armenia v Panjab

2 June 2016 20:00 GET

Western Armenia	2–3	Panjab
Tamaz Avolian  67' Raffi Kaya  79'		Amar Purewal  2', 36', 44'

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

Semi-Finals

Northern Cyprus  v  Abkhazia

4 June 2016 20:00 GET

Northern Cyprus	0–2	Abkhazia
		Levan Logua  9' Ruslan Shoniya  69'

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

Padania  v Panjab

4 June 2016 15:00 GET

Padania	0–1	Panjab
		Omar Rio Riaz  76'

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

Third-Place Play-Off

Padania  v  Northern Cyprus

5 June 2016 15:00 GET

Padania	0–2	Northern Cyprus
		Halil Turan  50' Tansel Ekingen  79'

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

Final

Abkhazia  v Panjab

5 June 2016 20:00 GET

Abkhazia	1–1	Panjab
Ruslan Shoniya  88'	Report	Amar Purewal  57'
	Penalties
Anri Khagba Anri Khagush Dmitriy Akhba Tarash Khagba Ruslan Shoniya Alan Khugaev Shabat Logua Vladimir Argun	6–5	Amar Purewal Radjpal Virk Terlochan Singh Karum Shanker Jhai Dhillon Aran Basi Amarvir Sandhu Aaron Minhas

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

ConIFA World Football Cup 2016 Winners
Abkhazia First title

Placement Rounds

Placement round 1		Placement round 2			Placings
2 June – Gagra		3 June – Gagra			Sápmi	5th place
Chagos Islands	2	Chagos Islands	3 (2)		Western Armenia	6th Place
Somaliland	3	Raetia	3 (3)		United Koreans of Japan	7th Place
2 June – Gagra		3 June - Gagra			Iraqi Kurdistan	8th Place
Székely Land	7	Somaliland	3		Székely Land	9th place
Raetia	0	Székely Land	10		Somaliland	10th place
3 June - Sukhumi		4 June - Gagra			Raetia	11th place
United Koreans of Japan	1	United Koreans of Japan	1 (4)		Chagos Islands	12th place
Sápmi	2	Iraqi Kurdistan	1 (2)
3 June - Sukhumi		4 June - Gagra
Iraqi Kurdistan	0 (5)	Sápmi	3
Western Armenia	0 (6)	Western Armenia	0

Placement Round 1

Chagos Islands  v  Somaliland

2 June 2016 11:00 GET

Chagos Islands	2–3	Somaliland

Daur Akhvlediani Stadium, Gagra

Székely Land v  Raetia

2 June 2016 15:00 GET

Székely Land	7–0	Raetia

Daur Akhvlediani Stadium, Gagra

United Koreans of Japan v  Sápmi

3 June 2016 15:00 GET

United Koreans of Japan	1–2	Sápmi
Kim Su-Yong  2'		9' (pen)  61'

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

Iraqi Kurdistan  v Western Armenia

3 June 2016 20:00 GET

Iraqi Kurdistan	0–0	Western Armenia
	Penalties
Miran Khesro Farhan Shakor Hunar Ahmad Farhang Wriya Diyar Rahman Aras Mustafa Znar Faidhi	5–6	Hiraç Yagan Raffi Kaya Tamaz Avolian Loris Berberian Jules Tepelian Herant Yagan Denis Oz

Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi

Placement Round 2

Chagos Islands  v  Raetia

3 June 2016 11:00 GET

Chagos Islands	3–3	Raetia
	Penalties
	3–4

Daur Akhvlediani Stadium, Gagra

Somaliland  v Székely Land

3 June 2016 15:00 GET

Somaliland	3–10	Székely Land

Daur Akhvlediani Stadium, Gagra

United Koreans of Japan v  Iraqi Kurdistan

4 June 2016 11:00 GET

United Koreans of Japan	1–1	Iraqi Kurdistan
An Suug-Tae  90+5'		80'
	Penalties
Kim Su-Yong An Suug-Tae Kim Kwang-Woo Huo Yang Shin Yong-Ki	4–2

Daur Akhvlediani Stadium, Gagra

Sápmi  v Western Armenia

4 June 2016 15:00 GET

Sápmi	3–0	Western Armenia

Daur Akhvlediani Stadium, Gagra

Final Positions

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
1	Abkhazia	5	4	1	0	15	1	+14
2	Panjab	5	4	1	0	11	3	+8
3	Northern Cyprus	5	3	1	1	12	4	+8
4	Padania	5	1	1	3	9	6	+3
Eliminated in the Quarterfinals
5	Sápmi	5	3	0	2	10	4	+6
6	Western Armenia	5	1	1	3	14	7	+7
7	United Koreans of Japan	5	1	2	2	4	7	-3
8	Iraqi Kurdistan	5	2	3	0	9	3	+6
Eliminated in the First Stage
9	Székely Land	4	2	0	2	17	7	+10
10	Somaliland	4	1	0	3	6	22	−16
11	Raetia	4	0	1	3	3	23	−20
12	Chagos Islands	4	0	1	3	5	27	−22

References

1. "Looking back and moving forward!". ConIFA. 7 July 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
2. "European Football Cup 2015". ConIFA. Confederation of independent Football Associations. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
3. "Ellan Vannin to host tournament at end of month". Yorkshire Evening Post. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
4. "Benedikt Fontana Cup". ConIFA. Confederation of Independent Football Associations. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
5. Jockel, Jens (16 May 2015). "Signing of Team Aymara – Chile-Trip of our South America Director". ConIFA. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
6. The official draw CONIFA World Football Cup 2016 (Video). ConIFA. 1 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
7. "Ellan Vannin set for new European adventure". IOM Today. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
8. "Replacement in ConIFA WFC 2016". Facebook. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
9. "BREAKING!Sad news approached us from the Romani People Football Team". Facebook. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.

External links