The FIFI Wild Cup was an alternative to the FIFA World Cup, held from May 29 to June 3, 2006 in Hamburg, Germany, prior to the official FIFA World Cup which started one week later. It was run by the Federation of International Football Independents (FIFI).
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Republic of St. Pauli (official) Germany (location) |
| Dates | 29 May–3 June |
| Teams | 6 |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Northern Cyprus (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Zanzibar |
| Third place |  Gibraltar |
| Fourth place | Republic of St. Pauli |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 10 |
| Goals scored | 33 (3.3 per match) |
FIFI was a body composed of countries not recognized at the time by FIFA and those whose logistics or political disputes prevented them from playing representative football.[1] The Millerntor-Stadion in Hamburg hosted all the tournament matches.[2] The tournament was sponsored by a German online gambling consortium called myBet, as well as Goool.de Sportswear GmbH, who paid a combined €750,000 to fund the tournament. The tournament had 2 mascots, Schäfer and Schmitz. Media patronage was provided by TV stations DSF and ProSieben. The tournament was organized by Essen Agencies, Carat Sponsorship GmbH, and Western Star GmbH.
According to organizer Jorg Pommeranz, FIFI had to overcome various obstacles, such as China and FIFA applying pressure to exclude Tibet, and difficulties for players representing Northern Cyprus obtaining visas to enter Germany.[3]
The tournament winners were the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Spectator attendance was reported as “relatively weak”, with an average of 400 fans per match, although this could have been affected by poor weather.[4] Consequently, a second edition of the tournament was deemed to be unlikely, although they considered a 2010 edition to be hosted by Greenland.[5]
To give the organizers credit, they tried to make it feel like a proper tournament. Flags flew above the stadium and anthems played. A skydiver was hired to fly in and deliver the match ball for the final.[4]
Minutes 1-77 of the cup final can be watched here.
Participants
edit
Greenland — an autonomous country within the Danish Realm and under the control of the Football Association of Greenland.
Northern Cyprus — an unrecognized state under the control of Cyprus Turkish Football Federation.
Zanzibar — autonomous part of Tanzania but member of CAF. Their manager for the tournament was Oliver Pocher.[5]
Gibraltar — A British Overseas Territory. Gibraltar gained membership of UEFA in May 2013.[6] The country gained membership of FIFA in May 2016.[7]
Tibet — an autonomous region of China.- Republic of St. Pauli — representing the St. Pauli area of Hamburg, the host city. (FC St. Pauli's junior team played as the Republic of St. Pauli.)
Monaco was invited but withdrew before the tournament began.[4]
Group stage
editGroup A
edit| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic of St. Pauli | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 |
| Gibraltar | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 |
 Tibet | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | −12 |
| Republic of St. Pauli | 1–1 | Gibraltar |
|---|---|---|
Hakan Demirci  ?' | Lee Casciaro ?' |
| Republic of St. Pauli | 7–0 | Tibet |
|---|---|---|
| Abdul Yilmaz ?', ?', ?', ?' Hakan Demirci ?', ?' Dennis Daube ?' |
Group B
edit| Team | Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Cyprus | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 |
| Zanzibar | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
 Greenland | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 |
| Northern Cyprus | 1–0 | Greenland |
|---|---|---|
| Ali Oraloğlu 55' |
| Northern Cyprus | 3–1 | Zanzibar |
|---|---|---|
| Agrey Morris 12' (o.g.) Derviş Kolcu 20' (pen.)Çagan Çerkez 60' | Salum Ussi Hamad 43' |
Knockout stage
edit| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| Northern Cyprus | 2 | |||||
| Gibraltar | 0 | |||||
| Northern Cyprus | 0 (4) | |||||
| Zanzibar | 0 (1) | |||||
| Republic of St. Pauli | 1 | |||||
| Zanzibar | 2 | |||||
| Third place | ||||||
| Gibraltar | 2 | |||||
| Republic of St. Pauli | 1 | |||||
Semi-finals
edit| Northern Cyprus | 2–0 | Gibraltar |
|---|---|---|
| Ali Oraloğlu 39' Dylan 90+2' (o.g.) |
| Republic of St. Pauli | 1–2 | Zanzibar |
|---|---|---|
| Sierra Mauni 13' | Coaui Maise 10', 90' |
Third-place match
edit| Republic of St. Pauli | 1–2 | Gibraltar |
|---|---|---|
Final
edit| Northern Cyprus | 0–0 | Zanzibar |
|---|---|---|
| Penalties | ||
Amcaoglu  Taşkıran Uçaner Ulusoy | 4–1 | Abdulla Mwinyi  Ali |
Goalscorers
editNote: Some goalscorers from Gibraltar and Republic of St. Pauli are not listed because there is not enough information on those games.
- 4 Goals
- Abdul Yilmaz (Republic of St. Pauli)
- 3 Goals
- Hakan Demirci (Republic of St. Pauli)
- 2 Goals
- Ali Oraloğlu
- Abdallah Juma Ally
- Alek Mohamed
- Coaui Maise
- 1 Goal
- Lee Cascario
- Anders Cortsen
- Kassannguaq Zeeb
- Çagan Çerkez
- Derviş Colcu
- Dennis Daube (Republic of St. Pauli)
- Sierra Mauni (Republic of St. Pauli)
- Salum Ussi Hamad
- Own goals
- Dylan
- Agrey Morris
Final Standings
edit| Team | Rank | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Cyprus | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 1.000 |
| Zanzibar | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 1 | .500 |
| Gibraltar | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 4 | .625 |
| Republic of St. Pauli | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 5 | .375 |
| Greenland | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | -3 | .000 |
| Tibet | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | -12 | .000 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Also-rans find World of own". New York Daily News. 4 June 2006. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
- ^ "Willkommen beim FIFI Wild Cup 2006". wild-cup.de. 15 June 2006. Archived from the original on 15 June 2006. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
- ^ "Filip Bondy: Also-rans find World of own". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 21 June 2006. Retrieved 21 June 2006.
- ^ a b c Lawry, Charlie (14 February 2018). "Defying FIFA: When 5 outcast nations competed in the 2006 Wild Cup". Planet Football. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
- ^ a b "Nordzypern feiert ausgelassen Triumph beim "Fifi Wild Cup"" (in German). welt.de. 6 June 2006. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
- ^ "Gibraltar given full Uefa membership at London Congress". www.bbc.co.uk. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- ^ "Fifa: Kosovo and Gibraltar become members of world governing body". www.bbc.co.uk. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2021.