2018 ConIFA World Football Cup qualification
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 13 March 2016 – |
| Teams | 2 (from 1 confederation) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 1 |
| Goals scored | 5 (5 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
 Panushanth Kulenthiran(2 goals) |
The 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup qualification is a 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.
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.[2][3][4] 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.[5]
Qualified Teams
| Team | Method of qualification |
Date of qualification |
Finals appearance |
Previous appearance |
Previous best performance |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tamil Eelam |
ConIFA Challenger Cup winners | 13 March 2016 | 2nd | 2014 | 11th Place (2014) |
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.[6]
| 13 March 2016 | Tamil Eelam |
4-1 | Romani People  |
Stadion Reinshagen, Remscheid, Germany |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:45 CET | Kulenthiran  17', 90'Sivanesamurthy 23'Navaneethakrishnan 78' |
Report | 82' Eyob |
Top goalscorers
- 2 goals
- 1 goal
- Gvinthan Navaneethakrishnan
- Sujan Sivanesamurthy
- Grmawi Eyob
References
- ↑ "About Us". ConIFA. Confederation of independent Football Associations. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ "European Football Cup 2015". ConIFA. Confederation of independent Football Associations. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ "Ellan Vannin to host tournament at end of month". Yorkshire Evening Post. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ "Benedikt Fontana Cup". ConIFA. Confederation of Independent Football Associations. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ "ConIFA Challenger Cup 2016". Facebook. 3 March 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ "Remscheid Challenger Cup Day 1:". Facebook. ConIFA. 12 March 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
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