World Cup
The NationStates World Cup is NationStates' longest-running recurring sporting event, dating back to the first half of 2003. Nations from around the NS world at all sorts of different technology levels play football (also known as 'soccer' or 'Association football') for the ultimate glory of becoming World Champions. For a direct FAQ on the World Cup, see the World Cup FAQs article.
Contents
Procedure
Qualifying
Each World Cup since the third has begun with a qualifying stage including anywhere from approximately fifty to one hundred nations, with eighty being the customary number. These nations are typically divided into eight to fifteen qualifying groups of six to ten nations, depending on the exact number entered. Each nation in a qualifying group plays each other nation in that group once at home and once away (the exception to this rule was World Cup 5, where nations in the qualifiers played each other only once). After all matches have been played, thirty qualifiers are determined based on placement in their groups. The first criterion for placement is the number of points earned (three for a win, one for a draw, and zero for a loss). If this results in a tie, the first tiebreaker is goal difference (the number of goals conceded subtracted from the number of goals scored). The next tiebreaker is the number of goals scored. In almost all situations, this is enough to resolve any tie. (If it is not, the results of matches between the tied teams would act as a tiebreaker, and a playoff match would occur if the teams are still tied. This has never been required in the qualifying, although it has been required haphazardly in the group phase, first occurring in World Cup 12 when Timway beat Liverpool England 2-1.) In some cases, playoffs are scheduled as part of the qualifying phase.
World Cup
The thirty qualifiers in addition to the two host nations advance to play in the World Cup proper. The first round (or the group stage, as it is also known) is made up of eight groups of four nations. Routinely, four of these groups play in one host nation, while the other four groups compete in the second. Each nation in a group plays each other nation in that group once. The top two nations in each group advance to the second round, using the same rules as with qualifying. Beginning with the second round (also known as the round of sixteen), a single-elimination format is used. The exception to this is in the semifinals, as the two losing nations in the semifinals still move on to face off in the third-place playoff.
Scorinating
Results are determined by using a scorinator of some sort. Excel spreadsheets are the most common method, but the Java program Leagion has been used more often since World Cup 14. The early versions were created in the time of WC14 by World Cup 13 co-host Rejistania. However, World Cup 13 was not scorinated with Leagion but by another Java-coded scorinator called wc13.java. The primary influence on the results is the rank of each nation, though roleplay bonus can also have a moderate effect (the exact influence of each depends on the formula used and hence varies between World Cups). Another popular scorinator gaining notoriety and use is Bedistan's NSFootySim, currently in its 2.0.1 incarnation, and uses XML as its input language.
History
Upon its institution by Ariddia, there was no qualifying stage and no ranking system, in the World Cup, and match results were determined merely by rolls of the dice. Minor alterations were made to the dice-rolling formula for the second World Cup in Alasdair I Frosticus. Total n Utter Insanity initiated the move away from dice in World Cup 3, and match results were now generated by Excel spreadsheets with, moreover, a qualifying stage appended to the system. This supplementation enabled more nations to participate at any given time, though to this day only thirty-two attain entrance to the World Cup proper. After qualifiers were introduced, the host(s) of the Cup, in addition to the few highest-ranked nations, automatically participated without need of qualification. Ensuing World Cup 7, this too was modified, and thus only the inherent qualification of the host nation(s) prevailed.
In World Cup 9, the RP-bonus was introduced.
Related Tournaments: Baptism of Fire Cup, Cup of Harmony, Under-21 World Cup, Eagle's Cup
Hosting
World Cup Committee
The World Cup Committee (WCC) governs the creation of the World Cup tournament and oversees its binding laws. The committee serves four key roles: elect World Cup host nations; elect Cup of Harmony host nations; nominate and elect WCC presidents; and propose and vote on amendments to the WCC Constitution. Admission to the WCC requires a nation to have signed up for, and submitted a full roster to, two consecutive World Cups; this does not guarantee permanent admission, and nations must continue to follow this process for each Cup.
The World Cup Committee President is elected after every third Cup by WCC members and serves for a three-Cup cycle. The president calls for nominations and votes for the hosts of the World Cup and Cup of Harmony. The nation that is chosen to serve in this position generally is a long-standing member of the international community and has significant experience as a host and participant. The current president is Polar Islandstates, which has been elected for two consecutive terms.
Executive World Cup Committee
The Executive World Cup Committee (EWCC) is made up of representatives from all existing nations that have hosted a World Cup. These nations are well-acquainted with the ins and outs of a World Cup cycle, and thus provide most of the discussion and ideas for World Cup reform. The committee's only official role is to elect hosts for the Baptism of Fire. The tournament is critical to instructing and retaining new participants, which requires capable, trusted hosts; this suits EWCC members' extra expertise and experience over WCC members.
Past winners
Summary by Edition
List of Multiple Finalists
Team | Titles | Cups | Runner-ups | Cups |
---|---|---|---|---|
Starblaydia | 5 | 25, 28, 41, 44, 47 | 2 | 30, 63 |
Valanora | 5 | 40, 42, 43, 52, 61 | 2 | 47, 51 |
Aguazul | 4 | 54, 57, 58, 59 | 0 | |
Bedistan | 4 | 21, 26, 27, 30 | 3 | 8, 16, 28 |
Ariddia | 3 | 32, 34, 36 | 1 | 35 |
The Holy Empire | 3 | 47, 60, 62 | 4 | 45, 49, 56, 57 |
Rejistania | 3 | 12, 17, 23 | 2 | 14, 25 |
Audioslavia | 2 | 63, 64 | 5 | 12, 19, 20, 29, 67 |
Az-cz | 2 | 37, 38 | 1 | 33 |
Bettia | 2 | 33, 35 | 0 | |
Brazillico | 2 | 5, 6 | 0 | |
Candelaria And Marquez | 2 | 45, 49 | 1 | 48 |
Cassadaigua | 2 | 50, 51 | 0 | |
Europa Brittania | 2 | 9, 11 | 1 | 1 |
Eauz | 2 | 13, 16 | 0 | |
Liverpool England | 2 | 8, 24 | 2 | 26, 27 |
Sorthern Northland | 2 | 55, 56 | 1 | 52 |
Vilita | 2 | 20, 68 | 0 | |
Capitalizt SLANI | 1 | 39 | 1 | 41 |
Crosshill | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Errinundera | 1 | 7 | 1 | 36 |
Giant Zucchini | 1 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
Lemmitania | 1 | 10 | 1 | 5 |
Polar Islandstates | 1 | 67 | 2 | 65, 66 |
Sarzonia | 1 | 22 | 1 | 24 |
Squornshelous | 1 | 31 | 2 | 15, 38 |
The Babbage Islands | 0 | 2 | 55, 59 | |
Bears Armed | 0 | 2 | 54, 62 | |
Demot | 0 | 2 | 37, 43 | |
Milchama | 0 | 2 | 34, 39 | |
Spaam | 0 | 2 | 7, 13 |
World Cup |
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Affiliated tournaments: Baptism of Fire | Cup of Harmony |
Editions: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 |
Related articles: KPB ranking system | Role play ranks (RPR) | Style modifiers | World Cup Committee | FAQs | Player Hall of Fame | Nation Hall of Fame | Football |