NationStates

The Felixian Football Association
in association with
The Yttribian Football Federation
present a bid for
World Cup 71

I. Introduction

The nations of Felix and Yttribia are proud to present a bid to the World Cup Committee for the honour to host World Cup 71.

II. The Hosts

Felix is a Federal Republic located in Esportiva between the continents Mardujsha and Terrabondante. Founded in 1875 after declaring independence from various nations, Felix has had a strong tradition of democracy which lasted well into the 21st century, but was temporarily killed off when the Nationalists overthrew the democratically elected government and formed a fascist state in its place. Luckily, pro-democracy rebels were able to topple the authoritarian regime and now rebuilt Felix's infrastructure and democratic tradition with the election of Kate Limbaugh as President, a former civil war general. Felixans are generally known for their kindness and acceptance/openness of any faiths or sexualities, but most Felixians are private about their religious beliefs and will be offended if a foreign tourist attempts to force them to reveal their own personal religious beliefs. Although it is widely believed most Felixians are Catholic or Agnostic. An ethnically diverse nation, Felix has 6 official languages (Swedish, German, French, Italian, Spanish and English) and many regional languages as a result many Felixians are capable of speaking multiple languages.

When Felix isn’t fighting a civil war or recovering from it, Felixians often can be found watching or playing football, which is easily the most popular sport in the country. Felix's national team is currently sixth in the multiverse after finishing 2nd place in the 70th World Cup. Felix has more accomplishments to name including a second round finish twice in the last WCs 68 and 69, a quarterfinal finish in CoH 59, and a 2nd place finish in the 52nd BoF. Felixian football is commonly characterized as possession based attacking football styled with speed and accurate long shots being the main strengths although that varies by region as the Swedish speaking region might play more defensive compared to maybe a Spanish speaking region. Under the leadership of Ishikawa Haruka, the Felixian national team has achieved things never thought possible and she is determined to win that World Cup in home soil.

The Yttribian Confederation, better known to the general multiversal populace as Yttribia is a liberal, directorial republic located in the south of Esportiva. Led by the 71 year old Prime Minister, Giorgio Marchegiano, and his Federal Council (with equal power) plus the forty-six million people who help govern by a limited form of direct democracy, Yttribia is one of the most affluent nations in the region, and the multiverse. With the highest average GDP per capita in the region, it certainly will not be any trouble for the people of Yttribia to afford this competition. Despite a fascist regime that controlled the nation for two years, Yttribia has been held as a bastion for freedom with freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion, albeit religion not playing an important factor in daily life. Yttribians are accepting of those with different beliefs, sexual orientations, and accept you for who you are. The nation is that of a polyglot, with six official languages (English, Spanish, French, Catalan, German, and Italian), with three-quarters of the population able to speak four of the six languages.

"You're guaranteed the following: life, death, and the fact that you will conflict with someone based on your clubs." Coined by the famed Yttribian poet, Oscar Dianlave, he shows how important the sport of football is in Yttribia. The most popular sport by a wide margin, the Yttribian National Team have skyrocketed in the KPB rankings, now achieving an all time high of thirty-six. Debuting in the fifty-fourth Baptism of Fire, Yttribian football was originally emphasized with a strong defense, with defenders along the likes of Xavi Vilhjalmsson, Bailey Linville, and Bradley Gaspar. Nowadays, the focus of Yttribian football has shifted up, to the midfield. Michel di Mercurio, Niek Krooijmans, and Crofton Abbatantuono have graced the midfield. Up front, names such as Bruno Arce and Raul Monti have led the attack on enemy goalposts, and continue to do so for years to come. Internationally, the biggest achievement was finishing as runners-up in the tenth Campionato Esportiva. Daniel Cardona, manager, is driven to deliver success on home soil. The Ravens look to do stun the world once more, just like they did back in The Licentian Isles oh so long ago.

III. World Cup Format

For qualifiers, the format would be of a single qualifying round, with x groups of x number of teams. Our optimal goal is to achieve 180 sign-ups (in addition to the two hosts) to have thirty groups of six. This would mirror the qualifying process in World Cup 66. The winners of the thirty groups (in addition to the two hosts) will qualify directly to the World Cup proper, thus eliminating the need for playoffs.

For the finals of the World Cup, thirty-two nations will be drawn into eight groups of four, divided between the two hosting nations. Groups A-D will take place in Felix, whereas groups E-H will take place in Yttribia. The top two teams in each group shall advance to the knockout round. From there, the process of crowning a new champion in world football inches closer and closer to the coronation site of the Felix's renowned Estadio Nacional in Santa Maria. Those who were close from glory, but failed, will get a good consolation prize in the famous Le Nid Violet in the Yttribian capital of Fontvieille.

Throughout the finals and qualifying stage, the following tiebreakers will be used: Points, H2H Points, H2H Goal Difference, overall goal difference, overall goals for, and if necessary: a tiebreaker match at a neutral venue (should the tie determine advancement in the tournament).

IV. Scorination and RP Bonuses

The scorinator will be the latest version of xkoranate, using the SQIS formula. As for the RP bonus, the hosts will opt not to reveal the scale, but we will tell you the RP bonus will be generous, and cumulative throughout the World Cup qualifiers and World Cup proper. In addition, a portion (approximately one matchday's worth) of the RP bonus will add over from the World Cup qualifiers to the World Cup proper.

The great thing about the World Cup is the fact that there are eversotalented writers that partake in it. And, we understand there will be a stark difference between RP style. No matter if you rhyme like Seuss, or write like Vonnegut, we are looking for original, creative writings in your RPs. In brief: your novel long story of Crime and Punishment II: Electric Boogaloo won't necessarily earn a full RP bonus, but such an RP as: "ayyy lmao, the national team did ballz good, m8 woooo #yesyesyes" will not earn that high of a bonus.

V. Past Experience

When it comes to past experience on here, both of the bidders have excellent experience in NS Sport, with both users having hosted a WCC tournament, and a regional tournament, in addition to some other stuff. To go in depth, here's what we've hosted.

Felix has hosted the 62^nd edition of the Cup of Harmony, along with Mizuyuki. In addition, he has co-hosted the tenth edition of the Campionato Esportiva, along with German-American States/Ruentenbach. He has hosted the sixth edition of the Under-15 World Cup by himself, in addition to five editions of the Copa Gaveo, and the first Esquarium Cup. Lastly, Felix also had duties scorinating the qualifiers for World Cup 70, along with Equestrian States, San José Guayabal, and Mizuyuki.

Yttribia has a respectable hosting record as well, having hosted the 61^st Cup of Harmony, alongside Valladares. He has co-hosted, with Nephara, the eleventh edition of the Campionato Esportiva. In addition, the user has hosted the eighth edition of the Under-15 World Cup as Mastille. The user has also scorinated the Excelsior Conference in NSCAA6, and Ultimate Cup IV back in 2014.

Totally not a tag, nope, not a tag.

Also my TG box (and I am assuming Ytt's too) is open if you don't feel like posting on this thread. Oh and you can contact us on IRC too.

What would you do if we had less or significantly more than 180 participants?

Our optimal goal is to achieve 180 sign-ups (in addition to the two hosts) to have thirty groups of six. This would mirror the qualifying process in World Cup 66. The winners of the thirty groups (in addition to the two hosts) will qualify directly to the World Cup proper, thus eliminating the need for playoffs.

First of all, let me say that I think these are two candidate-hosts who are known to have the right dedication for such an event as the WC.

One major question, why the format? As it is rather short (10 MDs) there is no time to build up an RP bonus that overcomes rank. By example, everyone from the second pot who's stuck with a PIS, Osarius or Audio (or another top nation) already knows that it's game over even with quality RPing. On top of it, the size of the group might discourage RPing for some as they can be the only one in their group who are doing an effort.

While it will depend on the number of sign ups of course, six per group does seem a bit small. The plus side is that it will allow the size of pots to be bigger, spreading out the KPBs but it will also make some quite uneven groups (in theory with 30 groups, the nearest rival to the #1 could be #60, it does seem a bit steep). It would also be nice to have some way for 2nd place teams to qualify to give us some hope

I loved the shorter group stage during 66, made it easier to avoid burnout. I'd also rather play home and away then at neutral sites. Pending a possible third bid, this one has my tentative support.

I'd point out to those who don't like the shorter qualifying that the bid states "x groups of x teams", and only states 30 groups of 6 as an optimal solution.

That being said, I would be curious to know how high (or low) you are willing to go in terms of numbers of teams in groups.

In the event that there are less than 30 groups, will there be a playoff for 2nd placed teams, or will the 2nd placed teams with the most points qualify automatically?

Felix and Yttribia, ideal users for this, considering that Yttribia has a good dedication to this and Felix is a good guy with this things (Well, I worked with him last cycle) and sincerely, I think that 30 x 6 format is ideal, avoids burnout for some users but if you're stuck with a high ranked nation like PIS and Osarius, as Buyan said, second seeds would be at disadvantage, eliminating playoffs isn't so good at all, but why not just one game playoff in neutral pitches on both host nation stadia?

Sincerely, I think that a good model, still somewhat open, could be 25 groups of 7. Has 12 MD's at total (2 byes) and has some chance for playoffs, I remember the WC 59 (Vilita - PIS), who used a similar concept of qualifying format, still was short but gave more chances to second or lower seeds to get into fight via playoff.

Well, this is just a suggestion, obviously the hosts' have the last word with the numbers too, but I just wanted to add my two cents, I am seriously tempted to vote for this, with no more to add I want to wish you good luck!

Just like I asked the other bidders...

Why should this bid earn the hosting rights? What makes it more qualified, to put it in such way, over the opposing bid?

The Sarian wrote:What would you do if we had less or significantly more than 180 participants?

If the number of participants were 30 less than expected we would simply reduce the amount of groups from 30 to 25. If the WC signups had 30 more we would simply add another team to each of the groups. In the even that we get a number we don't like, say 171, we would simply wait a few more days for straggler nations to sign up. And if that doesn't happen we'll make the correct adjustments to accommodate that number.

Greater Watford wrote:In the event that there are less than 30 groups, will there be a playoff for 2nd placed teams, or will the 2nd placed teams with the most points qualify automatically?

Sort of inspired by WC 68 qualifying, the top 15 1st place finishers, ordered by our tiebreakers, will automatically qualify whereas the other 15 1st placers will be placed in a playoff with 2nd placed teams. The playoff will start off with a 2nd placed playoff round where all 30 second placed teams will face each other to qualify for the next stage (the order being best 2nd, by points/tiebreakers v worst 2nd). That next stage is the winners of the second place round vs the bottom 15 first placers.

Just worth noting, there is nothing technically preventing groups being uneven in size (In response to a comment about waiting for a number of signups that works)


IE: 10 groups of 7 and 20 groups of 6, for example, could be done, if there are 10 "extra" teams


The teams in the groups of 6 would just have more bye days (non scorination)

Yttribia wrote:For qualifiers, the format would be of a single qualifying round, with x groups of x number of teams. Our optimal goal is to achieve 180 sign-ups (in addition to the two hosts) to have thirty groups of six. This would mirror the qualifying process in World Cup 66. The winners of the thirty groups (in addition to the two hosts) will qualify directly to the World Cup proper, thus eliminating the need for playoffs.

Felix wrote:Sort of inspired by WC 68 qualifying, the top 15 1st place finishers, ordered by our tiebreakers, will automatically qualify whereas the other 15 1st placers will be placed in a playoff with 2nd placed teams. The playoff will start off with a 2nd placed playoff round where all 30 second placed teams will face each other to qualify for the next stage (the order being best 2nd, by points/tiebreakers v worst 2nd). That next stage is the winners of the second place round vs the bottom 15 first placers.

Which of the above formats will you be using?

Yesssss, I love the 30x6 (EDIT: in the original format, anyway - decidedly less keen on the 'group winners might be drawn into a playoff' idea.)

One suggestion to perhaps offset the valid point that there's less chance to accumulate RP bonus - maybe don't randomise the order of nations in the group. Just keep them to the seed - and then make the 1st vs. 2nd seed match the last one played.

Might be worth seeing how many 2nd seeds qualified in WC66, for that matter. I'm pretty sure a decent handful made it through... I might look it up tomorrow, and post the findings here.

Nephara wrote:Might be worth seeing how many 2nd seeds qualified in WC66, for that matter. I'm pretty sure a decent handful made it through... I might look it up tomorrow, and post the findings here.

I've been going through it. Of the 30 groups, 23 first seeds won their group.

The exceptions were the following ones:

Sicoutimont overcomes Starblaydia > 2nd seed
Mizuyuki overcomes Jeruselem > 4th seed!
Saintland overcomes Saugeais > 2nd seed
Antoletia overcomes the Sylvanaes Queendom > 2nd seed
Zwangzug overcomes Andossa Se Mitrin Vega > 3rd seed
Mapletish overcomes Apox > 2nd seed
Taeshan overcomes Legalese > 2nd seed

I've been unable to trace the position of the seven first seeds that didn't make it. Because that's an important aspect for me. If those were all below position twenty, there's 2/3th chance you're out after the draw already, if they're randomly scattered...

Free Republics wrote:

Yttribia wrote:For qualifiers, the format would be of a single qualifying round, with x groups of x number of teams. Our optimal goal is to achieve 180 sign-ups (in addition to the two hosts) to have thirty groups of six. This would mirror the qualifying process in World Cup 66. The winners of the thirty groups (in addition to the two hosts) will qualify directly to the World Cup proper, thus eliminating the need for playoffs.

Felix wrote:Sort of inspired by WC 68 qualifying, the top 15 1st place finishers, ordered by our tiebreakers, will automatically qualify whereas the other 15 1st placers will be placed in a playoff with 2nd placed teams. The playoff will start off with a 2nd placed playoff round where all 30 second placed teams will face each other to qualify for the next stage (the order being best 2nd, by points/tiebreakers v worst 2nd). That next stage is the winners of the second place round vs the bottom 15 first placers.

Which of the above formats will you be using?

After discussing with my co-host, we shall be using the original format posted in the OP, in which the winners of each group will qualify directly to the World Cup.