AIFA Anterran Cup

The AIFA Anterran Cup, more commonly referred to simply as the Anterran Cup is an international football tournament, involving the men's national football teams from members of the Anterran International Football Association (AIFA). The championship is awarded annually since 1930. The current champion is Akiteiwa, winning its second title in 2021 hosted in Jungastia.

The current format involves teams playing qualification matches during the year. After this the 32 qualifying teams enter into the tournament, including the automatically qualifying host nation(s), compete in the tournament phase for the championship at various venues within the host nation(s).

The Anterran Cup is widely considered the most prestigious football award in the world, and is regularly the most followed and viewed major sporting event in the world exceeding even the Kharmideian Games, with billions of people viewing the final match every year.

Trophy
The Anterran cup trophy is a solid 18-carat gold ____ designed by ____ in ____ and features:

The winning team of the Anterran Cup is presented with the trophy, and upon completion of the post game celebrations are given a gold plated replica of the trophy, while still technically having ownership over the trophy until the next champion is crowned the following year.

Each member of the winning team, including coaches and managers, are presented with medals which have an engraving of the trophy and date of the cup on one side with their national team crest, the individuals name, and in the case of the championship team the final match result score and date of the championship on the reverse side. The champion winning team are presented with gold medals, while the runners up receive silver, and the third place team receiving bronze. The runners up and third place teams' medals do not feature the final match score on the reverse side of their medals instead only having the team crest, individual name, and date of the cup which the medals were awarded during.

Additionally the host nation is presented with special plaques, one for each venue used, featuring a gold plated image of the host nation with that years Cup logo engraved on it along with the date of the tournament and the name of each venue.

Format
The current format of the Anterran Cup is broken up into two stages. The group stage, followed by a knockout elimination stage.

In the group stage teams compete in eight groups, of four teams each. The top eight teams, and the host nation are seeded into groups based on their AIFA ranks. The remaining teams are divided up into groups based on a formula consisting of AIFA rankings, geographical location, and past Anterran cup performance.

In the group stage of the tournament each group plays a where each team plays three matches, one match each, against the other three teams in the group. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout round of the tournament. After each match a team is awarded a set number of points as follows: Three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. In the event of a tie between two teams for one of the top two spots in a group after the last match has been played the ranking among teams is determined by tie breaker rules.

These rules include:


 * Greatest combined goal difference in all group matches
 * Greatest combined number of goals scored in all group matches

Should the event of a tie remain the following ranking criteria is used:


 * Greatest number of points in head-to-head matches among those teams
 * Greatest goal difference in head-to-head matches among those teams
 * Greatest number of goals scored in head-to-head matches among those teams

Lastly, should all the above criteria be applied and two teams still remain tied, their ranking shall be done by having the captains of each team draw lots.



The next stage of the tournament, commonly referred to as the knockout stage is a where teams play each other in single matches with extra time and penalty shootouts being used to avoid ties. The knockout stage of the tournament, begins with the winner of each group being paired against the runner up of another group. The first round of the knockout stage is followed by the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the third-place match (contested by the losing semi-finalists), and the final to determine the champion.

In 2019 the AIFA governing body approved the expansion of the tournament from 32 to ____ to include more teams.

Selection Process
Countries submit bids to the AIFA a minimum of 5 years before the year in which they request to host. A policy to govern the consistency with which a geographical region hosts the event was implemented in 1987 in order to provide equal opportunity for a diverse group of national audiences. This policy restricts nations in the same continent from hosting a cup more than three years in a row. Other considerations are made over the bidding country's infrastructural capacity, governmental backing, financial viability, and public support. Voting is carried out via a multiple round exhaustive ballot system whereby the bidding party with the fewest votes is eliminated each round until a single candidate is chosen.

The AIFA Executive Council administers the voting procedure and carries out the selection process. Each member of the executive council is afforded one equal vote per round. In the event of a tie, the President and head of the council will issue a tie-breaking declaration.

Broadcasting and Promotion
The Anterran cup was first broadcast internationally in 1952, and is now the most widely viewed and followed sporting event in the world. Reports for the 2018 cup presentation showed that nearly a tenth of the entire Anterran global population watched the final match. Additionally the Anterran cup draws, where teams are sorted into groups is viewed by hundreds of millions every year.

Results

 * a.e.t.: after
 * pen: after

Awards

 * The Golden Ball awarded to the best player in the tournament, with a silver and bronze ball being awarded to the players finishing second and third place in the voting.
 * The Golden Cleat awarded to the top goal scorer in the tournament, as with the Golden Ball, a silver and bronze cleat are awarded to the players with the second and third most goals scored during the tournament.
 * The Golden Net awarded to the best goal keeper during the tournament
 * The Sportsmanship Award awarded to the team with the best record of fair play as determined by the AIFA rules committee, and demonstrating the highest degree of respect for the sport of football
 * The Most Entertaining Team awarded to the team that has entertained the public the most during the Anterran Cup, determined by a poll of the general public.
 * The Anterran Cup All-Stars consisting of the best players of the tournament, selection determined by the AIFA competition committee
 * The Golden Baton awarded to the best coach/manager of the tournament, selection determined by the AIFA competition committee

Records and Statistics

 * Largest victory: Kironia over Samotkhe 8-1 (1933)
 * Most goals scored in a game: Tie UPRZ win vs Veikan kingdom (1970) and Agrana y Griegro win vs Legantus (2018) both games saw a total of 12 goals scored in the final

Trivial Stats

 * Only two teams have hosted, and won the cup at the same time, URSA, (1963) Zahava, (1988)
 * Only one team has won the title in consecutive years Zahava (1988, 1989)
 * Since the breakup of the UPRZ only Zaporizhia has won a title (2006)

Controversies
In 2000 during a heated game between the newly formed nations of Zaporizhia and Rovsnoska violent clashes broke out between fans and players alike. Tensions were already high as both countries had recently come out of a civil war, of which created a state of ethnic tension between both nations. 10 minutes into the game and the Rovsnoski player Robert Granić made a shot which appeared to go over the line, but was ruled out. 20 minutes into the game Zaporizhian player Vasilyev Yurievich reportedly hit Robert Granić in the genitals after much taunting from the Rovsnoski team and was red carded, however while walking away Granic returned a punch. This led to a brawl between both teams and many fans in the stadium. Local police would be called to disperse the riots. Both teams were disqualified. Rovsnoski and Zaporizhian have been a reoccurring issue within the AIFA.