World Cup 100 | RP thread

by **Qusmo** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 12:25 pm

The Mathletic
Informed analysis.

World Cup 100 hexadecifinal preview
Qusmo prepares for World Cup knockout football against its closest neighbor

The final match of this centennial World Cup to be hosted in Qusmo has already been played. Nevertheless, the celebrations across the country have not only continued unabated, but are more jubilant than ever. For the first time in eighteen cycles, Qusmo will be among the teams preparing for a World Cup knockout fixture. There, they’ll take on a very familiar foe, in a match sure to be packed with meaning.

Sporting considerations

Path to the knockouts

The Caldera Sun are through to the World Cup knockout rounds for the first time since World Cup 82. They were unbeaten in a World Cup group stage for the first time in the team’s history and finished tied for the group lead on points. After earning only a point in World Cup 98 — their first appearance in the tournament in fifteen cycles and the nation’s first home World Cup — and failing to qualify altogether for either World Cup 99 or its associated Cup of Harmony, Qusmo has finally advanced to its second-ever World Cup knockout fixture, and they have a chance to record the nation’s first-ever World Cup knockout win.

Getting to this stage did not come easily. Qusmo lost first place to Tanirinthia on the penultimate tiebreaker and lost second place to Chromatika on the final tiebreaker: a game of rock-paper-scissors. Still, the expanded World Cup format which allows the eight best third-placed teams to advance to a hexadecifinal round saved Qusmo, despite their cruel tiebreaker luck. They have been seeded to play the fifth-best group winner in the hexadecifinals: the Kytler Peninsulae.

Prior fixtures

Seeing Qusmo paired with the Kytler Pensinulae on a fixture list is no novel sight. This will be Qusmo’s sixth fixture against the Peninsulae, marking them out as the nation’s joint-third-most common opponent — ironically, just five days and one match after playing Chromatika for the sixth time. Qusmo has only played Mytanija (eight fixtures) and Qasden (seven fixtures) more often. Moreover, all of these teams’ matches have been played in the past five cycles, meaning the Kytler Peninsulae were already Qusmo’s most common post-Reforms opponent even before the knockout bracket was seeded.

Qusmo’s prior results against the Kytlerians have not been exceptional, to say the least. In the Cup of Harmony 88 group stage — their first fixture, and their only one in official competition — the two teams played out a two-all draw. Since then, Qusmo and the Kytler Peninsulae have played regular friendlies in the Xandrian Series and, in the cycle in which Qusmo skipped World Cup Qualifying as an automatically-qualified host nation, the World Cup Qusmifiers series of friendlies. Qusmo has lost all four fixtures, by identical one-nil scores. As a matter of fact, there is no other team in the Multiverse which has defeated Qusmo as often as the Kytler Peninsulae has.

Home advantage

Making it even worse for Qusmo: despite being a host nation, this match will be an away game, as it will be played in Alaer. This will be the teams’ sixth match, in their sixth city and sixth stadium, but Qusmo is currently on a four-match scoreless and losing streak against their knockout round opponents. The only match in which Qusmo managed to score a goal or earn a draw against the Peninsulae was not only their least-recent match, but the only match of the series hosted outside West Pavola.

And make no mistake: home advantage is very much alive in this World Cup. Over the course of twelve matches, the four hosts have combined for just a single loss, and all have made it to the knockout rounds. Qusmo knows all about having a home advantage at major tournaments. At this tournament, their lone win has come in their lone match within the friendly confines of Mastad Qusma, with its dizzying altitude. At World Cup 98, their lone result was their lone match in the capital. And this will be Qusmo’s sixth-ever knockout fixture at a World Cup or Copa Rushmori, but the Caldera Sun have only won once before: a Copa Rushmori XXXII octofinal at home against an unranked Askari Union. Visiting the Kytler Peninsulae to play the Kytler Peninsulae — a higher-ranked team which has often and consistently defeated Qusmo without much trouble no matter where the match is played — will be a much more difficult imposition.

History, culture, and symbolism

Qusmo

But the fact that it will be a hexadecifinal is far from the only reason this match will be so much more meaningful than an ordinary fixture. Qusmo may be an island, but the Kytler Peninsulae is its closest geographic neighbor. This match will be played in Alaer, the largest city on the Kytlerian southern peninsula, which operates regular passenger ferry service to Polan on Qusmo’s highly-populated Neqyeq Strait coast. The Clituleng Giisost Stadium looks out to the Xandrian Sea and, indeed, towards Qusmo beyond it.

A match here will be steeped in meaning for Qusmi’y. No Qusma venue will host any knockout fixtures, but Alaer may be the single city in the Multiverse outside Qusmo’s borders best primed to welcome an influx of its fans. To not only win the nation’s first-ever World Cup knockout match, but to do it in this cycle, in this stadium, against this opponent, would be rapturous.

Kytler Peninsulae

However, this fixture holds the most weight of all for Kytlerians. This is their team’s first World Cup knockout fixture since World Cup 98. Qusmo and the Peninsulae both cohosted that tournament, along with Xandrian Sea power Yuezhou and fellow World Cup 100 cohost Tikariot. The Kytlerian team’s hexadecifinal fixture was played here, in Alaer, at the Clituleng Giisost Stadium, against the Commonwealth of Baker Park — a team which may very well await the winner of this match in the next round. The Peninsulae lost three-two, but fans were hopeful that their team was on the upswing and they could emerge stronger in the next tournament.

The team never got to play in another World Cup. Three-hundred twenty-eight people were killed aboard Kytlair Flight 134. Among them were the players, coaches, and support staff of the Kytlerian national team.

The squad that has assembled to represent the Kytler Peninsulae for World Cup 100 is a phoenix national team. They represent not only a country. They represent their teammates. They represent their friends. They represent their memories. They represent their legacy.

Overall

This latest installment in the Neqyeq Strait derby will be, unequivocally, the most important such match ever played. It will be the first Qusma–Kytlerian fixture in the World Cup. It will be the first Neqyeq Straight derby to be played in the knockout rounds of a major tournament. It will also be the first meeting between these two teams since the tragedy of Flight 134. Yes, there are tactics, strategy, and personnel to consider, but at the end of the day, this is so much more than a match. It’s history. It’s geography. It’s culture. It’s tragedy. It’s triumph.

However it ends, all fifty-six thousand nine hundred eighty-four fans in attendance, and countless millions more watching at home, fan festivals, and everywhere on both sides of the Strait will not merely be watching a football match. They will be witnessing history.

by **Edsmontik** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 2:00 pm

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A VERY, VERY, VERY CLOSE ENTRANCE INTO THE HEXADECIFINALS

Tuesday, 12/21/2032
Written by Seu Saz-Keltzar

What Edsmontik did not expect, was to have a near miss in terms of making it to the Hexadecifinals. They in fact, had predicted to have done much better. But after their draw against StrayaRoos and loss to Valentine Z, it looked to be over for the Eagles. They had one point in Group K and needed probably four points and a GD ratio that was a little closer to zero. That would mean that the Eagles had to win against Darmen or lose it all. If they couldn't even secure a win against currently winless Darmen, the Eagles needed to be torn down and rebuilt.

First to score in the Game was Edsmontik's Reus Aespana, who barely made it into the net from inside the penalty box. He was set up by Stuero, who advanced past some defenders before making the pass. But then, Darmen's players retaliated, scoring a goal early into the second half through Woodward. The Eagles, no matter what they did in the following 45, could not get anything even remotely close to the Darmeni net. That was, until stoppage time. Through a counterattack, Stuero tore through the Darmeni defenses while they were distracted, glancing behind him as they chased. One chip shot, and the keeper's arms were simply proven to be too slow.

There was a wave of relief on all Edsmon fans and the Edsmon players after that. They had just barely survived Darmen with a late goal. But when it turned out that there were nine teams with at least four points, the Eagles knew that they might be the team not making it. Very, very luckily for them, the Eagles turned out to be 8th in terms of the third-place table, beating Farfadillis, and barely.

A new wave of disappointment has washed over the team at this point. The Edsmons have been performing early, and especially with their upcoming matchup against Flavovespia, World Cup 98 Champions, there was a small chance to come up on top. But it was only a small chance, to be determined by whether or not the Eagles do what they have to do.

TWO DOZEN HOSTAGES RESCUED, HUNDREDS TO GO

Friday, 12/24/2032
Written by Jon der-Fjaen

JUST IN: Edsmontik secured twenty-four hostages from a terrorist base in Kanz, all of them clearly starved and in terrible condition. The civilians were rescued just this morning after a raid that killed a high ranking terrorist and his entire crew of around sixty other terrorists watching over the base. Edsmontik's drones managed to take out the majority of them and open smoke bombs as infantry entered into the buildings.

With that, Kanz now joins the list of freed cities from terrorist control, which are below.

Laen, Trosi - Freed 12/9/2032
Treusaia, South Trosi - Freed 12/11/2032
Korsevich, Trosi - Freed 12/11/2032
Jagnien, Trosi - Freed 12/12/2032
Porsava, Trosi - Freed 12/13/2032
Jaukenstrov, South Trosi - Freed 12/15/2032
Onnse, South Trosi - Freed 12/15/2032
Kerdte, Trosi - Freed 12/16/2032
Vaansborgeike, South Trosi - Freed 12/16/2032
Pvaarden, Trosi - Freed 12/18/2032
Vyjktrovigge, Trosi - Freed 12/19/2032
Skonzvissen, South Trosi - Freed 12/20/2032
Kanz, Trosi - Freed 12/21/2032

With many cities now freed from the control of the far-left terrorist group, Edsmontik hopes to continue pushing and free up other major cities, such as Trosiciti, which has the largest number of terrorists, forts, hostages, and weapons. As of now, the Edsmons have failed to get into the center of Trosiciti, but they are almost there. According to the head of the Deptenaect oe Kqombat (Department of Combat) Jon Saz-Schenson, it's "only a matter of time before the forces break through. But it's also only a matter of time before the terrorists just kill all of the Edsmon civilians they have hostage."

It gets especially harder as the terrorists in Trosiciti have access to stolen tanks and helicopters, which were hijacked from the nearby Saufhiene Base, whose city is also still under terrorist control. soldiers in the base at the time of the raid were overpowered in numbers, ultimately losing the battle even though they held out for very long. With access to these tanks and aircraft, there have been more fatalities on the Edsmon sides in terms of soldiers and light tank crews, who have been taking the most injuries and hits from helicopter rockets and tank ammunition.

The end of the war approaches. Edsmontik is closing on the final cities. Hundreds have died now. Many terrorists have already been executed, with terrorists who ranked higher having their executions broadcasted on a private channel exclusive only to those who chose to sign up. Celebrations were already in place. Edsmons around the nation and world are indeed very glad to see the end of the terror in the South.

Hopefully, it will be the last time Viktor Fragraeit has to command the military to advance in Edsmontik.

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by **Chromatika** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 2:11 pm

World Cup 100 Proper - Matchday 3: Chromatika 1-1 Qusmo
Goals Xuen-Zhukov 37'
Starting XI: Sourtois; Coulibaly - Jackson-Jones - Saburo; Hauptmeijer - Mesic-Mizayaki - Françine-Miklavivec - Fillar, E.; Fillar, B.; Xuen-Zhukov (C) - Howard-Dawes.
Substitutes: Gundsdorf -> Mesic-Mizayaki (62'), Prenn -> Fillar, B. (62'), Lee -> Fillar, B. (75'), Bittencourt -> Howard-Dawes (75'), Lehmann -> Coulibaly (80')
Summary: See below
World Cup 100 Proper - Round of 32 vs. (40) Kwrpania @ National Stadium, Tydebwg, Kwrpania (Cap. 52,000)
Starting XI: Sourtois; Coulibaly - Jackson-Jones - Saburo; Hauptmeijer - Mesic-Mizayaki - Françine-Miklavivec - Fillar, E.; Fillar, B.; Xuen-Zhukov (C) - Howard-Dawes.
Substitutes: GK Jill Swanson, GK Jessika Aniston, DCR Jaxon Lehmann, DC Claudia Lethbridge-Antonio, DCL Cyiie Nodis, DC Samantha Han Cunningham, WBR Grayson Fillar, WBL Nemes Mátyás, WBL Róża Panaś, CDM Jayla Lethbridge-Antonio, CDM Eden Gundsdorf, AM Maddie Prenn, AP Lee Hyun-Seol, AF Kaytlyn Jean-Baptiste, CF Harriet Baïe-Verte, AF Adélaïde Bittencourt

Draw Sends Chromatika to Round of Thirty-Two

Chromatika could only salvage a draw against Qusmo by virtue of Lavrentiy Xuen-Zhukov's volley as the team ended up tied at five points with Tanirinthia and Qusmo. Tanirinthia, by virtue of defeating Crpostran by three goals, ended up with the Group Title - with Chromatika beating Qusmo in rock, paper, scissors to be placed second in the group.

Their reward will be a game against cohosts Kwrpania in Kwrpania - their second game in a row against a cohost. Kwrpania also secured five points in their group, but are ranked twenty-three places lower than the Chromatiks. They made it to the Round of Sixteen last World Cup, could they make it as far?

Jacoliene Hauptmeijer will continue to start for Chromatika as Grayson Fillar deals with the bruised shin. She did admirably against Qusmo.

Thirty-two teams left in the hundredth edition of the World Cup. Is it time to make a magical run?

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9

Epsilon Omicron Delta

Part 10

NIRDASIL

Just before the events of Part 9...

When you were the Chosen of your nation's patron Deity, effectively immortal, and the de facto Spiritual Leader of your country, sleep was one of the few places where you could find solace. Not that anyone who was part dark elf truly slept. Just like their elven counterparts, Nirdasil fell into a trance - though the fact that she was only one-fifth dark elf meant that she had to be in a trance for six hours to get a full rest.

In her private sanctum, surrounded by the best bodyguards the nation had to offer patrolling the parameter, she fell into her usual trance - only to be interrupted by something that happened more often that not.

The obvious sign was the ever-present, comforting glow of the being that now touched her consciousness. Zaiden, the Patron God of Yesopalitha and the one that gave the Unbidden their freedom, was usually busy representing them in the Mystrian Pantheon. It was he that had given them their true freedom, as well as the agency to leave the plane of Mystria for other, better places when it became obvious that the existence of the Unbidden was causing more problems than they were solving. He was still part of the goings-on, mostly to provide advice while keeping an eye on things so that nobody would come after the Yesopalihans, but Nirdasil knew she had his ear whenever things were going on.

It was Zaiden who had lent her the power needed to come out of her stupor. It was Zaiden who had allowed Yesopalitha to spend untold amounts of their magical power to help the Chromatiks - though arguably, it was the Yesopailthans' fault that Chromatika was in the predicament that it was in after the Abyssal Invasion. The amount of energy it took to wake Nirdasil up had caused the Abyssal Invasion, and the rebuilding of Chromatika using Yesopalithan magic had now caused the predicament that they were in now. Yesopalitha was beholden to help Chromatika get out of the pocket dimension/plane that they were in.

As she made a move to prostrate herself in front of her deity, the presence stopped her in her tracks.

"There is no need for such formality between us," Zaiden said softly, "We've been through so much together, you and I. So much lie ahead of the people that we shepherd, and it's only with the two of us being on the same page that we will be able to reach higher heights."

Nirdasil took the time to explain the current situation in Chromatika - how the portal that they had created was being slowly transformed to bring six hundred thousand souls home, how they still weren't sure how to get the country out of whatever plane/dimension they were in, how they weren't sure of the force that had caused everything.

"You are to trust the beings that sent the people back," Zaiden explained, "I can't tell you the whole story - that is theirs to tell - but I trust them implicitly. No malevolent force would return people back without strings attached."

"I will be heading your way soon," he continued, "I have given the Mystrian Pantheon notice that I will be gone for a while to take care of the issue at hand. It will take more than just one cosmic level force to right the wrongs that have befallen your Chromatik allies, and I will be at hand to contribute in whatever way I can."

Nirdasil's brows furrowed at that. It wasn't every day that gods got involved in things - it usually meant that the opposition called for it, or that it was a time-sensitive issue. Apparently, in this case, it was a bit of both.

"Head to Freedom's Altar when you wake, and let them know of my arrival. We will get to the bottom of the issue at hand, and make sure to restore Yespoalitha's honor," Zaiden finished.

The rest of the trance was uneventful.

As soon as she awoke, Nirdasil headed off to Freedom's Altar, having received the notification that things were starting to take place.

Zaiden was going to join the fray, and with a god joining the forces of The Great Equilibrium, The Prophet's days were numbered.

by **StrayaRoos** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 2:11 pm

19 games unbeaten. One more, and we’re not just in the Round of 16, but we’ve gone on a streak that we cannot be beaten unless the circumstances of this World Cup transpire again, or we become gods for a cycle. Anyway, this is how the streak’s 19th game unfolded:

While yes, a 1-1 draw does seem awfully convenient for both sides, it was not as a result of a shady deal between the two federations, rather, The Emus and Valentine Z played out a tough game, that was relatively even throughout. In fact, despite the Emus taking the lead as early as twenty five minutes in thanks to Cruz Kaiplo volleying home a long throw from Yasmeen Karmea, the way the two sides played suggested it was like a golden goal period in a semifinal or something. Anyway, despite the group leaders best efforts, they couldn’t break through before the ref blew their whistle for halftime.

The second half saw a Valentinian equaliser almost straight off the bat, scored by Holly Annemiek Gerrieke Van De Hoogte in the 53rd minute off a keeper error by Ryan Reuqa, who hit a goal kick too low and straight ahead, which landed at Van De Hoogte’s feet, and she proceeded to score the equaliser. The remainder of the second half saw the two sides both try to get a winner and secure a potentially easier Round of 32 berth to win from, but neither had much luck. In fact, the ball barely entered either penalty area. For the remaining 30 minutes, it was, as seems to be common these days for the Emus, a stalemate. But, they’d done enough to avoid elimination comfortably, and now have bigger tasks ahead of them.

And in the Round of 32, we’ll take on The Zenic, another side that finished second in their group. But, if we actually want to make it a second Round of 16 appearance, instead of our usual routine of going out in the Round of 32, we must find out if our lack of goalscoring compared to qualifying is just a natural consequence of having higher ranked opponents, or a structural problem that comes with relying on a front line where the youngest option is 27.

by **Tanirinthia** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 3:51 pm

OF FATES AND FORTUNES
Chapter Forty-Two - Origins (continued)

”We had our destination Faywharf Island, getting there was a whole different ball game. We were all fresh-faced whippersnappers, none of whom had travelled even as far as another country let alone across an entire ocean. In addition we were all woefully ignorant in the ways of the world, what lay outside the walls of our sheltered and privileged upbringings. Looking back it was laughable how we had begun the LMF so sure of the way Tanirinth should be run, when none of us had truly experienced anything, none of us had known true hunger, exhaustion from a day of labour, true helplessness at the whims of others. But we were young and naive, and sometimes naivety is what you need to get a spark going, not knowing the foolishness of your endeavour ends up meaning your start where none would have even started and persevere where others would abandon. Had our younger selves had the knowledge we had now, would we truly have had the courage to start our journey?”

”But in our blissful ignorance we did start our journey. In the little we did know of the world, we knew that we would need a story for our travels, something that would not rouse suspicions as we would need to be travelling through countries ranging from distrustful to outwardly hostile to our home. If we didn’t have the right story we could easily be suspected as spies and at best arrested and sent home to the worst option, a final end to everyone's journey. We couldn’t simply tell the truth either, we would be thought of as the fools we were. You’ve heard the phrase; Fools and their money are easily parted? Well it doesn’t just come from those who are duped, it would make ourselves targets for those of ill intent. We knew we couldn’t pretend to be something we were not, pretending to be a commoner on a pilgrimage would fall apart at the first hurdle, so going with what we were scholars seemed to be the best approach. We considered being religious scholars or monks for further protection, but what might protect in one land could be a target in another. As we were planning all this a stroke of luck hit us, one of us was walking around campus when they overheard the botany professor talking about Irandar. This was the very port city we would need to get to where we might charter passage to Faywhard Island. Apparently they had been corresponding with a colleague in the university there and were trying to figure out how best to send a specimen across to them. We of course jumped on this fortune, and offered to take on board this duty. With our story in place, our route researched, we hit the road the very next day.”

”We spent the next several months travelling to Irandar, you may think that this time in the real world, my naivety would be lost as I hardened up on my world view, perhaps would think we encountered the ugly side of humanity. You would be right in some aspects, yes we saw the ugly side of things, but what we saw over and over again is that people as a general rule are kind and good. There are those that don’t have much, but even the little they have they are willing to share to help another. When we saw the ugly side it was nearly always someone with some kind of power wielding it cruelly on another. Yes my naivety was lost and I was hardened, but not in the way you would imagine. It simply hardened my resolve to change Tanirinth for the better.”

”When we arrived in Irandar, in some ways it felt very much like when I first arrived in St Cirth, a bustling city, cosmopolitan and full of incredible architecture. After the months of travelling I’m not ashamed to say we spoiled ourselves the first couple of days in the city, we took in the famous baths which seemed to melt away months of dirt and our aching muscles, and we gorged ourselves on a plethora of street food and a stay in a place with real feather down beds. After our initial overindulgence we made our way up to the University to deliver what we had ostensibly been sent to do, we were met with discredulity as they didn’t think we would make it all the way here, or that the specimen would be in one piece. Once the discredulity had passed it turned into absolute delight offering us whatever we might want or need. We tentatively told them of our desire to charter a vessel to the island, the delight on their face became tempered with confusion, but nonetheless they offered to look into the matter for us, and in the meantime extended an invitation to host us while they did so. I went to bed with a smile on my face knowing we were one step closer to our goal.”

Chapter One | Chapter Two | ~~Chapter Three~~ | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight | Chapter Nine | Chapter Ten | Chapter Eleven | Chapter Twelve | Chapter Thirteen | Chapter Fourteen | Chapter Fifteen | Chapter Sixteen | Chapter Seventeen | Chapter Eighteen | Chapter Nineteen | Chapter Twenty | Chapter Twenty-One | Chapter Twenty-Two | Chapter Twenty-Three | Chapter Twenty-Four | Chapter Twenty-Five | Chapter Twenty-Six | Chapter Twenty-Seven | Chapter Twenty-Eight | Chapter Twenty-Nine | Chapter Thirty | Chapter Thirty-One | Chapter Thirty-Two | Chapter Thirty-Three | Chapter Thirty-Four | Chapter Thirty-Five | Chapter Thirty-Six | Chapter Thirty-Seven | Chapter Thirty-Eight | Chapter Thirty-Nine | Chapter Forty | Chapter Forty-One | Chapter Forty-Two (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five)

Matchday Three

Group D Table

by **Pyazhnaya** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 4:10 pm

FROM MIRACLE TO MAYHEM

PART 1 — THE IMPOSSIBLE 1–0
The morning of the match feels a little subdued, not even just by Pyazhnayan standards. Not quite a funeral procession, but definitely quieter. In the hotel cafeteria, Akhatova stares into her bowl of cereal like it’s giving her final rites. Vyrypayeva scrolls through predictions on her phone, recoiling at every new “Kamijiro 3–0” forecast like she’s been physically slapped.

Assistant coach Semyon Antonov whispers: Maybe we just… try not to get embarrassed?

Mukhametshin immediately objects.

No. We embarrass them. At least a little bit.

The Match Itself
Kamijiro presses from the first whistle, pushing the Pyazhnayans back, clearly wanting to win the game to avoid a sensational group stage exit. Pyazhnaya survives the first 85 minutes and the players on the bench cheer this like they’ve already won the game, which somehow also seems to energize the players.

In the 86th minute, a Pyazhnayan clearance hoofed from the box by Vladislav Ilyushing accidentally becomes a perfect through ball as Kamijiroan midfielders seem to rely on the other to close down the ball. Raisa Safiullina is the first to react and finds herself in acres of space with Danila Mukhametshin streamrolling past her into the box. She chips it in, Ichi Asumi slips and Mukhametshin fires off the shot. The ball hits the shoulder of Kyōji Kirishima, ricochets off Asumi's hip and then rolls into the goal in almost comically slow fashion.

The stadium freezes.

The players freeze.

It's as if time stands still for a moment before the Pyazhnayan section erupts.

Kamijiro immediately ramps up to full force. They throw everything at Pyazhnaya. A wall of shots. Set pieces. Corners. Even the goalkeeper joins in, but Pyazhnaya defends like possessed cryptid creatures who have realized they have nothing to lose.

Mukhametshin heads away eight crosses.
Terentyev blocks shots with every legal (and borderline illegal) body part.
Akhatova clears the ball so far it actually leaves the stadium.

The last five minutes feel like three hours.

Then—

FULL TIME.

The bench empties.
Some are crying. Some are laughing.
Someone tackles Akhatova in joy; she yells that she can’t breathe.
Terentyev attempts another celebratory suplex but is intercepted by three teammates who don’t want him breaking his spine.

Even Kamijiro applauds them, that sort of rare respect given only after surviving a war together.

Vyrypayeva: Guys? GUYS!

The celebrations briefly halt. She has her phone in trembling hands.

Vyrypayeva: We're actually through! WE'RE IN THE HEXADECIWHATEVERS!

The team stares at the standings like it’s a glitch.

Mukhametshin: Are you sure that's from this World Cup?

Vyrypayeva: No, you goof. This is real.”

Akhatova: So we… made it?

Everyone: WE MADE IT!

PART 2 — THE DRAW THAT BROKE THEIR SOULS
After returning to their quarters, they all cram into the conference room for the knockout draw. There are pastries, juices, water, one giant fish pie. Someone printed a “Possible Opponents” chart with big smiley faces on the easier teams.

Vyrypayeva looks around the room: Alright… let’s hope the chaos gods bless us again.

The announcer reads: PYAZHNAYA will play...

Everyone holds their breath. The banner reveals:

AUDIOSLAVIA

Silence.

Actual silence.

Like someone muted reality.

Khamidullina takes off her glasses, cleans them, puts them back on, and whispers: No. No. Noooo.

Akhatova: Can we redraw? Lottery rules? Best of five?

Vyrypayeva: We got... the reigning... champions...

Mukhametshin quietly: We should’ve lost to Kamijiro.

Then the bracket advances and reveals that the winner of Audioslavia vs Pyazhnaya plays the winner of Tikariot vs Vdara.

Terentyev: BRO WHAT THE—

Khamidullina: NO NO NO NO NO GIVE ME THE PAPER BAG I’M HYPERVENTILATING.

Akhatova throws a cushion at the wall.

Vyrypayeva: This is punishment for celebrating too early. I knew it.

And then the most Pyazhnayan thing happens:

Someone says, “Well… at least it’ll be funny.”

And the entire team nods.

This is their destiny: To suffer hilariously.

PART 3 — ZUBOVA’S SUPERNOVA-LEVEL MELTDOWN

Zubova is pacing like a caged tiger before the press conference. Everyone begs her not to speak. One of her aids tries to confiscate her press badge.

Aide: Miss Zubova... please... we just won... for once let us have peace—”

She marches into the media zone anyway and unleashes her greatest performance yet.

The Rant of the Century

Zubova: YOU THINK THIS TEAM IS READY FOR AUDIOSLAVIA?!

The journalists haven't even had a chance to start their recorders as she begins to yell She is red. She is trembling. She is incandescent.

Zubova: This team—THIS TEAM—only functions through absolute chaos! They fight! They complain! They pronounce nothing correctly! They ignore basic tactics! They are allergic to common sense! LOOK AT THEM! THEY ARE CELEBRATING! THEY JUST QUALIFIED BY ACCIDENT! BY ACCIDENT!”

Reporter: They came in second in their group during the qualifiers. They won their playoff game. They came in third in their group, winning against the group's top seed, managed to qualify for the knock-outs for the first time in Pyazhnayan history and you - just don't believe in them?

Zubova slams a hand on the table.

Zubova: BELIEVE IN THEM?! I— THEY— THIS—

She malfunctions for a good eight seconds before finally roaring:

Zubova: THEY WILL FACE AUDIOSLAVIA AND IF THEY SOMEHOW BULLSHIT THEIR WAY PAST THEM, POSSIBLY TIKARIOT! THIS IS NOT FOOTBALL! THIS IS A CURSE!

The journalists stare, both captivated and terrified. Just outside the press area, a camera captures Ilyushin and Akhatova physically holding Mukhametshin back from marching into the press conference.

Mukhametshin: Let. Me. In!

Vyrypayeva whispers: We’re breaking her psyche at this point.

Mukhametshin: Good! She talks too much anyways!

Agratova: She’ll spontaneously combust before the knockouts.

PART 4 — EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER FINAL LOOP
After Zubova storms off to go scream at pigeons or whatever she does in her sparetime, the players gather for a group photo.

Someone produces a hand-painted banner reading:

HEXASOMETHINGFINAL, WE’RE COMING!

The fans online go nuclear.

“Pyazhnaya is the Chaos Engine of this tournament.”
“This team runs on vibes, fear, and soup.”
“LET THEM COOK (but supervised).”
“Audioslavia should be worried! Chaos cannot be game-planned.”

Terentyev: Imagine if we actually BEAT Audioslavia...

Mukhametshin: Brother, don’t tempt fate. It’s already angry.

Vyrypayeva: But… we believe now. Don’t we?

Silence.
Nods.
Smiles.

And out in the hallway, Zubova shrieks somewhere in the distance:

Zubova: STOP SMILING! YOU HAVEN’T DONE ANYTHING YET!!

by **Kimi-Suomi** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 4:35 pm

Kaikki riippuu tästä. The final day of Group L...and the Huuhkajat of Kimi-Suomi were 2nd as things stood. Beating a Top 10 team in jalkapallo for the very first time helped us toward this point, breaking post-football in prime time with the eyes of the multiverse on us all...but this job was not yet done, and our fate had not been sealed. For Esko Laaksonen and his Huuhkajat, they knew that everything was still up for grabs entering this final game - Top 2 and qualification, 3rd and a wait to see what happens next, or 4th and a plane ride back home - but in the face of this madness, we hoped to shine through this Anaia-heavy group as the leading team from that region...and the required a result here.

We talked a lot of shit about HMA-DAM before a ball had even been kicked, but with all the marbles on the line, the time had come to either put up or shut up. This game between two teams linked to a Rivalry in Esportiva would be the main event this time, with everything on the line, and Esko knew that Ernie Stevenson was going to throw everything at this game. With us in our Home Kits and HMA-DAM in their "Ellis Football Throwbacks", the battle lines had been set long before the anthems had been played or the whistle had gone...and that was just how we liked it. As expected, they threw everything at us in the first half, their Funball pushing our defence right to the edge of fatality...and while we tried our best to hold on, it became too much in the 43rd, and Justin Cherry would make no mistake to take a 1-0 lead into the half. It looked like our words had come to bite us in the ass...but hold on just a moment. Right from the start of the second half, Enni Pajari would slice her way through the opposition before squaring up Jason Jenner-Pokka for an immediate response that many felt this team needed. The rest of the contest was spent trying to find a winner, and while both teams certainly came close, this battle would have to end as a stalemate - and so did the other game in this group. Aphrilinen won this group, we finished 2nd, Ko-oren was 3rd and HMA-DAM went home. 1-1-1, just like JYK-inen at the last three WCs. Thanks you, Mr Stevenson, for that battle - we will continue this with your brother in HASCAR.

And so, our Satavuotisjuhlan Maailmanmestaruuskilpailuihin carries on into our first-ever WC Knockout Game - and an intriguing one at that. Finishing 2nd in Group L meant we would face the winner of Group D...

TANIRINTHINEN
...and that would end up being #10 Tanirinthinen, the Jackalopes, who won their group despite only winning 1 game out of the three they played. Algernon Graves employs a +4 A/DS 3-4-3 formation that likes to keep possession, pressure the opposition, and make countless chances - like Funball, but with tactical foresight in that regard. Their starting front three of Violet Bacchus, Bridget Payne and Lark Holt are dangerous at any given time...but if we can effectively counter, only then can we challenge the experienced Elmer Marshall in net. That was going to be the challenge in this contest, holding on while trying to counter.

If this is our last dance, then we will go out fighting to the end. Suomalaiset eivät lopeta ennen kuin ovat kuolleet.
NOSTA KUIN HUUHKAJAT!

SCHEDULE/AJOITTAA (Group L, Tikariot)
MD1 (Day 6/13:30 Local): vs Aphrilinen [Aphrilia] (15) - The Granary, Morannon L 1-2 (3rd)
MD2 (Day 12/21:00 Local): vs Ko-oren (9) - Creighton Park, Baraldhur W 2-0 (2nd)
MD3 (Day 16/14:00 Local): vs HMA-DAM [HOT-DAMN] (26) - Creighton Park, Baraldhur [color=0000FF]D 1-1 (2nd/1-1-1/4pts/+1GD)[/color]
Ro32 (Day 22/14:00 Local): vs Tanirinthinen [Tanirinthia] (10) - Dhunmoor, Dhun Lagarr

by **Valentine Z** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 5:02 pm

Part 6-2 – The more you climb, the more nervous you get. Applies for both World Cup and Hiking.

Brooklyn M. Arienne Jade Hariwana Hopkins woke up to the vibrations from her GPS watch. “6 AM already? Damn. Maybeeee one more hour,” she said as she gave it the necessary snooze configuration and went back to sleep. She picked the blanket from the floor and gave it a quick shake before putting it back on, still drowsy and mumbling to herself. She lulled back into sleep rather quickly, this time dreaming of the future seasons of World Cup, one that she would score that defining shot that propel Alanis Star as the champion of that season. Just as she was about to score that goal, however, there was a sharp and familiar whistle that blew across the football field. “Wait, timeout,” the referee called, much to the confusion of Brooklyn and of the others. “Hey, what’s happening?” she asked in return, leaving the ball away for a while. The referee replied back with a smirk, “You can’t kick that ball! You are naked!” Brooklyn, confused, looked at herself. She was still dressed in her uniform and outfit, though her shoes were missing and instead was in her socks. “Noooo, that’s just my shoes. Yeah, wait, where are my shoes?” the referee shrugged back in return, “Give the chance to someone chance, Brook. Or I’ll bite your arm.” Bewildered and perhaps a little dazed, Brooklyn made her way to the bench. Just as she was about to sit, it slipped from under her, her body landing with a thud and in turn, she woke up from the sleep with a sudden jolt. Just as then, the watch chimed 7 AM. “Well, I guess I will go, then,” she said to herself, doing her morning routines and then breakfast.

Her breakfast was relatively benign, typical bacon and eggs, along with a smaller-than-usual helping of protein powder that she quite loves. She thought of having a couple of hashbrowns, but she decided to keep them as a form of reward for her task well done. Taking her hiking backpack of supplies and tools, along with activating her handheld and wristwatch GPS, it was time for Brooklyn to set off. As aforementioned, the 55 kilometres wasn’t going to be her exact goal, but rather that it was the distance that she wanted to at least give a hike of. The primary aim was to see that majestic waterfall, take some photos of it, and relax around the said area. Gleeful at mere thoughts of it, Brooklyn clicked her heels and made her way to the entrance, greeted by a couple of park rangers being stationed at the entrance, as well as other Valentian and non-Valentian guests. “Hey, Brooklyn! Happy and safe trails for you ahead!” they more or less said, “Remember to take care around the wild animals and cliff faces! Not a lot of bear activity though, it’s getting a little cold.” She nodded with a smile, “I will, thank you!” And as she slightly bent her head to get past the signs and a little entrance arch, she was off for that solo hike she has been yearning for. From her hiking pack, she also took out her camera and lens, ready to shoot. “Maybe I will take out the tripod later.”

The trail welcomed Brooklyn (and the rest of the visitors) with frequent and gentle cold breezes. Would be a little freezing for those that lived in the warmer regions of the worlds, but for folks like Brooklyn, 15-20 degrees Celsius especially during a hike is absolutely welcomed, and was in fact the most optimal temperature. Plus, the sun was starting to rise, and it would be a clear and sunny day ahead – just the way she likes it. Continuing on forward, and also making sure to be careful with each and every steps, Brooklyn lumbered and hiked through the trail, her hands occupied with the poles that she brought along for additional support. From the many experiences that she has had with hiking across various trails, one thing she – along with many others – have noted and advised for is to have a walking stick or a pole. “It will help not wreck your body, and you won’t need a replacement body anytime soon.” They are also designed with flexibility in mind that, just as she already did, she was able to hold onto the sticks with their loops as she prepared her camera and took a couple of fanciful and artistic macro shots of nature and scenery surrounding her. “Morning dew, I shouldn’t be surprised that they are still around!” Brooklyn remarked, “I do like it when they are around the spider webs, in particular.” And just like that, she marched and hiked on.

As the hours passed, Brooklyn looked at her watch in delight, noticing that she has already hiked a good 25 kilometers, and that the sun was then at its zenith for the afternoon. The temperature also climbed up steadily, but still thankfully not as much as she would have had in some other parts of Valentine Z, say such as Singapore or Yangon. “Sweltering heat, and your sweat cannot evaporate because of the high humidity. At least for now, it’s perhaps only 25 degrees, it’s still bearable!” she thought to herself once again, looking around to sit down and eat one of her ration bars. She found just that, in the form of a big tree a few meters away from the trail, and with a couple of sturdy chairs provided by the Valentian park rangers. Brooklyn set her hiking bag down – a hefty bag by all measure with all of the equipment and food stuff inside of it. Perhaps even bigger than some of the field packs that a typical Valentian soldier would have to carry for their route marches. For her, however, it was nothing much that she can’t deal with, save for a little bit of pinched nerves here and there that she would need to mention to doctors couple of times now and then. It was nothing too serious, but the numbness could be a cause for concern and, as the doctors told her, not to tax her body too far. “Knew a guy who went to Japan. Heavy bag, pinched his nerve.”

She ate her ration bar as she watched the sights and sounds of nature, along with the passing fellow hikers of both the tall and the short. A lot of them recognized her from World Cup fame, and a bit more particularly so because Brooklyn is one of the few Defender players, owing to the extremely offensive playstyles of the Valentian Kittens and Alanis Star Node 93 Diodes. For her, it is an honour nonetheless, and in fact is a good attribute to boast about. After all, it is not every day that you see a defender from far away doing a godly goal kick. Still, if only that would help propel them to bigger heights. “One day, Brook… one day,” she thought, trying to not get World Cup too much into her head, “Besides, this is my off-season. You got time for yourself, doing what you love best by hiking and taking photos of things. Sweating it out a bit, all by myself for these few days. It’ll be peaceful, it’ll be lovely. In fact, it already is! And sometimes you got people on the trails that they recognize you because hey, you are a rising football star. Some wants to take photos of you or with you, but that’s fine! They are all respectful, no hecklers or any of that sort. Yup – make it worth it! I am going to see that waterfall, definitely take pictures with it, maybeeee even bathe in it? I would not have done so any other time, but I did bring my swimsuit this time, so…” her mind raced with a couple of such thoughts as she strolled around the immediate area, agreeing to take a couple of pictures with some of the tourists and fans of hers. Even for the Valentians, Brooklyn’s 709 cm is something of a tall order to take.

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 5:11 pm

The audio section of this RP represents one of those pretentious pregame trailer clips from, in this case, NBO's television coverage of the Kytler Peninsulae-Qusmo hexadecifinal, narrated by Harry Oldham, the titular lead in detective drama "Illingworth Investigates."

Declaration of non-text machine-generated content: The voice of Alice Mulholland-Pearce is machine-generated via Eleven Labs. (The male voices are all my own.)

This was, technically, not a path they had to follow - it's one that would potentially take them over the border to Tydebwg for a quarterfinal, and ignores Zube altogether until after that - and yet it was the one marked out for them if, as it turned out, their seeding allowed them priority over their knockout path.

And a great deal of that was specifically to exorcise the ghosts of Baker Park. Of that first-half hammering that popped a bubble of excitement around a Kytlerian team that ultimately, by cruel fate, mostly wouldn't get another shot at redemption themselves - or even bear witness to the future efforts of others, which on a human level is of course far more upsetting.

"Obviously Andrew (Patterson, the then-manager) and most of his team - I'm very grateful to have those who were based elsewhere or missed that squad for another reason like Vicente and Zachary (Edwards-Hillier) and a couple of others - of course on some level we're trying to do what they never got the chance to," noted Thomas Hooker - who took over the phoenix national team following the Flight 134 tragedy - in an emotional pre-match press conference. "And we made it clear that we wanted to play this match here, and some of that was the practical reasons - we could potentially, if things in the other host groups went a certain way which of course they did, travel here and settle in 48 hours before our opponents were known and hence before our opponents knew where they were going, even if there's the extra rest day this time which obviously offsets that a bit - but also we had the emotional score to settle."

They might not necessarily have done that if they had, in fact, known their opponents. By way of a rock-paper-scissors resolution after the final group games - and a full 78 hours after the Kytlerians had wrapped up their Group A win by beating Nova Calania in Roddens with an Oliver Vandome header in first-half stoppage time - the Qusma seeding process threw up the Qusma team themselves. Their short-notice trip was literally just across the Xandrian Sea - they could have made it by ferry, and more to the point many thousands of their fans surely would. And, again, Baker Park in a worse version of this same situation without that advantage won here with a 3-2 score that wasn't as close as that makes it sound, the second Kytlerian goal a Vicente penalty with the last kick of the match, the game already lost.

But that was that team. With a few exceptions - Vicente, of course, included - this is a completely different one. Zachary Edwards-Hillier will be the only other starter from that team also starting for this one; he's been a low-key contender for player of the tournament so far with his solidity as the single pivot in Hooker's 4-1-4-1, and is central to why this team will be favourites in Alaer against a team they have met four times in friendly competition and beaten 1-0 on each and every occasion.

Of course, they were favourites against Baker Park too.

But this team wasn't. And this team get to play Qusmo, who have never beaten ranked opposition in any competitive knockout match.

In case this new team needed any reminder of the history - though they don't - the bracket has provided another one. Their potential opponents in a Bay City octofinal?

Baker Park.

All the talk now is of double righting of that wrong from last time - winning at the "G" first, then beating Baker Park - en route to a first ever World Cup quarterfinal. It's a plausible dream, but a dream is - for now - all it is.

Time to make it reality.

by **Saint Eleanor** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 5:28 pm

OOC 1: If you play my team in the knockout stages, do not name Olympia Woodward as having any involvement as a player. She is injured. Again.

OOC 2: By convention, Saint Eleanor always suffers a humiliating exit at, or immediately before, the last sixteen. To be fair, though, that's five of our six World Cup exits and the other one was an bleeding obvious group-stage blazeout. Losing to Graintfjall at WC91, needing only a point to deny them a knockout spot, was a humiliation. Defeating Baker Park at WC94, only to be eliminated on six points, may well have been a humiliation. Defeat to Huayramarca in the first fifteen minutes at WC96, after Gentle Breeze's well-laid plans had been ripped up at short notice, was a humiliation. Defeat to Tanirinthia on penalties at WC98, in the complete opposite of Olympia Woodward and Sylvia Hollenberg's finest hours, was a humiliation. Defeat to Aphrilia in comprehensive fashion at WC99, having literally been in the lead with half an hour to go, was a humiliation (although Gentle Breeze and many on the team understandably didn't see it that way). Therefore, I will drop the final three episodes of Goodbye To Love before the Ro16 if we make it, and during the qualifying stages of WC101 if we don't. If, by some miracle of Margaret, I do wind up in the quarter-finals, I will post a teaser of my next roleplay series within the allotted time.

Group of Six meeting (CII) --- SAINT ELEANOR 3-1 Kelssek
Participants: Gentle Breeze, Reniira Clevinger, Stephen Mitcham ~ Lydia Vickers [C], Cathy Winchester [VC], Maria Morgan [ballot]
Location: A branch of CónDorado; near the Paladon Bay Hotel, Avanaroch; TKT

I'm Stephen Mitcham. Two lots of apology are due. First is to Reniira for switching places with her; Gentle Breeze was entirely serious with her plan on the staff's end, but the players didn't hold up their end of the bargain until so late in the Eshialand game that Reniira decided to take command. Second is to Olympia for not anticipating her latest ACL injury, although thankfully it was incurred in training, because Kavezalea played more than a pivotal role - opening the scoring, sniffing out Kichiro for the second to lock down control, and (to use that all-too-Eleanorian turn of phrase) "riling up the opposition defences."

Isabella's goal did, in her own words right after the match, "really [feel] like a consolation," and she may well be right given the context of most of the game after Kichiro's strike, in which Kelssek took one big opportunity after half time with both hands but struggled to parry away a couple of others. I was not confident in victory myself at some stages - whether it be after Olympia forced us to rethink our formation (if not quite our strategy or other planning; Kavezalea has always been more of an attack-minded playmaker), Kelssek threatened an equaliser, or even after the match when I got asked a million and one questions by five million different people - but I am grateful that we have achieved it and secured a perfect group stage record.

Indusse are the most knowable unknown in the knockout stages. No matter what anyone in their camp tells you, in no way, shape, or form is Indusse going to be an "easy opponent," My analysis of their group stage performances suggests that their default stance is to play a more possession-based game and be more aggressive in times, and against teams, of opportunity, but that they will default to a more counter-attacking style of play against stronger teams and in times of more danger. Goblin Grundjee appears to be the major attacking threat at any given time, but they run the risk of underestimating our similar style of play.

Cathy and Steve are the last survivors from our last matchup with Indusse, our meeting with fate and Sreevastva eighteen years ago. The typical Indussean starting eleven will have Kumar, Mersiás, and Grundjee. We cannot compare the two matches, as it's unlikely that both teams will be reduced to ten players after half an hour, nor will it be anywhere near as free-flowing or low-stakes. Neither Indusse nor their players appear to have distinctive playstyles, so it's not wise to be making plans to deal with their defence/midfield/attack now, as opposed to fifteen minutes into the game when it will become more obvious how they're acting. We will be playing as normal tomorrow, but all players must be wary of sudden attacks, avoid dwelling on the ball for too long, and prioritise creating and capitalising on our lead (lest they react in kind).

Accordingly, we will be fielding the same 4-2-3-1 as we did last time: Sundgren; Falconer, Vickers, Wilson, Barnett; Morgan, Matsuda; Lawson, Felaraneta, Ohan; Bright. As a reminder, Isabella will be the lone striker, while Kavezalea will start over Gisken.

Goodbye to Love
Episode V

10:43am - Wednesday 25th January 2017

For the first time in ages, Rebecca Bryant was back under the roof she called home. To be fair, though, she had a choice. She had to be at home on Tuesday. It was going to snow a lot. It did. There isn't any school, here or anywhere, and nobody really cares. Today wasn't a scheduled cheer day. Never was. Probably should have been, without hindsight.

The snow gets you first. It could be... "fifteen degrees," like Hazel says. If that happens, it's probably sunny outside. It wasn't last time. Definitely not this time. It is a day to stay at home, endure a lot of rubbish (normally on the television), and hope for the best. And Rebecca wanted to wake up... oh. Around this time.

"I said, we already have the paperwork." My mother. She looks at me and gives me the cutesy-eyed face. If I fuck up. If I don't, we're on speaking terms.

"Yes. We mutually agreed on that. And nothing else!" My father. He can't look at me. If I make a mistake. If I don't, he likes me.

"I am no longer interested in living with you. You." I can hear it from the distance.

"What about our daughter? She's not up to any good!" The lights, the sounds, the action. No camera.

I think I should go downstairs. I need my coffee.

"Do NOT come downstairs!"

I'm no longer having coffee.

"You won't let our daughter come downstairs. And for what?" She's on my side. Love you, Mum.

"I am very clear that she is causing trouble in this family." Hazel asked if my parents still loved me. I told them she didn't.

"The problem isn't with me. It's not with her, either." Yeah, I know, right? It's not like I've been vindicated by history or anything.

"Your disagreements with me should be reasonable. Not unreasonable." I'm using big middle-class words help

"Okay, if you think it's not reasonable to blame your daughter, call her down." The divorce wasn't your fault. The divorce wasn't your fault. The divorce wasn't your fault. Wasn't wasn't wasn't wasn't

"Rebeccaaaaa!"

I'm going downstairs now. Help

"Your mother has been very upset."

"Not with you. He doesn't trust you."

"I need my coffee."

"Okay, Rebecca."

"You let your daughter - YOUR daughter - slack off at school?"

"She has friends."

"She needs a better life! Not friends!"

"It's better that she lives with them than with you, all the time, complaining about her." Secretly, this is a great idea. Love you, Dad.

"I'm not complaining. I'm telling the truth."

"Seriously. Seriously."

"Do you want me to unplug the phone?" Says the customer service rep.

"Don't unplug it. Don't. I have my mates from work." Slurrrrppppp.

"Rebecca's not going to leave the home all day."

"My mates aren't, either. Aren't they just as important?" Someone's priorities are a bit out of wack.

"You have no idea the fire you have ignited!"

"There's not a fire!"

"The decision has been made."

"There's not a decision to be made!"

"The die has been cast."

"Your lie will not last!"

"Strap me up and put me in a plaster cast! You IDIOT!"

"I'm not going to harm you."

"YOU are NOT going to harm ME!"

"Go away!"

"I'm going away!" And I'm going to finish off this coffee and go to sleep.

"We're going to talk!"

"We're TALKING! LISTEN!"

"WE ARE SHOUTING!"

"I DON'T WANT TO HAVE AN ARGUMENT!"

Goodnight. I'm twenty pages away from finishing this hockey romance novel. I wonder how it sold in Kelssek.

Okay. I'm up now. It's four o'clock. I need to sleep. I can't.

"Hello?" I'm not on the phone.

I need to call someone. Anyone.

"You can have the phone later!"

Fine. I'm going back to sleep now.

11:43pm - Wednesday 25th January 2017

"Seriously, Becca. You could have called me earlier."

"I am not making this up, Johanna. I seriously, seriously am not."

"Let me guess."

"I'm still afraid of my parents."

"Are they going to steal your phone? Hazel's insured her phone because she thinks that could happen."

"Line rental."

"Point of order, but most mobile phones don't get stolen in Saint Eleanor. Most of them don't leave the country."

"The only useful things we have to sell are oil and footballers, Jo-Jo. They aren't going to mine our mobile phones for critical rare earth minerals or whatever buzzword they're using overseas."

"Yes, 'our mobile phones,' while neither of us have one."

"What are you doing on your parents' phone?"

"Coincidence. I always pick up the phone first."

"You're sensible."

"I want to say I am...?"

"Please tell me what to do."

"Hazel's a better advice-giver than I am. I normally get the advice. You've talked to her loads."

"Yes, but I'm talking to Hazel, not the Lord Jesus Christ."

"Start praying again. It will do you a lot of good."

"Why do you say that?"

"I've started doing it already. You need God's help. Probably more than you need mine."

"I'll try doing that. But... my parents have already filed the divorce papers."

"Oh. You're eighteen. There's no custody there. You're expected to live independently."

Rebecca thought to herself for a bit. "Did I hurt you?" Apparently so, because the phone had been slammed down.

Past midnight - Thursday 26th January 2017

"Are you okay, Rebecca?"

"Yes. Dad slammed it down. I wasn't talking."

"Do you ever think of yourself as a third-party character?"

"As a character in a video game? Yes."

"So do I. I like to think that whoever's behind my controller is a bit nicer."

"Okay... what did you say about me having to live independently? That hurt me a bit."

"Oh, no. I shouldn't have done that. I do like telling the truth. Sometimes I get too obvious with it."

"Okay, so if I was in your house and you had to lie to save my life from the..."

"At this point? Yes."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me. It's a national security thing."

"My parents aren't necessary for national security."

"Matilda would be able to disprove you on that. We will all be needed if Saint Eleanor comes under foreign occupation."

"Okay, so this is a distraction. I think I'm going to be homeless."

"Unstable living situation and not knowing where to go next. You're homeless."

"I am?"

"Yes. Not at our church, but I read a story in the Reporter a couple of years ago about a non-binary child who got kicked out of their house after coming out to mum and dad."

"Hazel would be pissed at their parents."

"I'm sometimes surprised to realise that there are nailed-on conservatives who care more about the queer community than some of the people I have to share a pew with."

"Do your parents know you're non-binary?"

"Yes, because they overheard you say that. The serious answer is yes, I told them last year and they don't mind."

"You still use female pronouns?"

"She/they. My pronouns are whatever they want them to be - I no longer really identify as being a woman - but people don't really ask what they are, so they assume. Don't call me a boy, though. I'm still a cheerleader."

"Honestly, though? The two people who have made the most sense throughout this entire process have had short hair."

"Hazel and your dad?" Johanna had short hair. She was being self-depreciating here.

"Shut up."

"I won't. Dad might put the phone down on me."

"Are we going to talk about my situation or are we going to talk about nothing in particular?"

"Honestly, I would go to sleep and prepare for school."

"I woke up at 10pm. I've not had the most fun day." That was almost a euphemism.

"Don't be too obvious, then. From what I've been able to gather, everything is going to spiral downwards very, very rapidly unless the law gets changed or Hazel wants a permanent lodger."

"I don't think she would mind."

"So ask her!"

by **Kwrpania** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 5:29 pm

WORLD CUP 100

First-half flurry sends Electric Eels to knockouts

BEZBENPAM, WEST PROVINCE – Three goals in the opening half was enough to lift Kwrpania over Pasarga, 4-2, and set up a date with Chromatika in the hexadecifinals.

The Sunset Coast Arena was the stage for a true spectacle, and the players certainly delivered. With the Wanderers of Pasarga entering the game after back-to-back defeats, they knew that any chance of their progressing to the knockouts required a win, and likely by some margin - and they showed their intent early, with a loose pass from center back Bezypman-bof being intercepted by dynamic playmaker Zágon Schmid, who took advantage of the turnover and bit of space by hitting a thundering shot that Fakswr-rof could only get fingertips to. The Electric Eels bounced back quickly, however, and an extended period of pressure following the kickoff ended with an attacking corner, where Magnws-rab found Fandwrsw-vyz, who found Rynropeka-gyv lurking to slam home an equalizer. A lull in play would settle both sides' nerves, but it would be another set piece which broke the game open for the home side. A routine straight from the training ground began with Magnws-rab sliding the ball to Vabwpetob-zok, whose pacey, whipped cross found the diving head of the captain, Magnws-rym, who extended his record as Kwrpania's best goalscorer and gave his nation a vital lead.

The pressure from the Electric Eels would not let up, and the visitors were caught on the counter-attack having pushed for an equalizer late in the opening period. Synydwb-pyt picked Mór Buday's pocket down the Pasargan left, and his driven ball for Fyrek-syn-nam was the starting gun for an extended sprint that led to the winger sliding a ball across, where the youngster Rynropeka-gyv was again on hand to repeat the opening goal of the tournament against Indusse and send the home side to the locker room with a decisive lead. It would not let up after the break, either, as the Pasargans were again caught on the counter, now needing more than a few goals having seen the results elsewhere during the interval. Again, Fyrek-syn-nam found space in behind, but instead of curving a ball behind the defense, he cut inside the left back Joska Szöllôsy before cutting back to Magnws-rym, who swept the ball into the bottom right corner to finish the move and release an outpouring of relief and joy across Kwrpania. The visitors kept pushing, however, and would receive some small consolation as striker Bogdan Laszlo was felled in the area by Mamzwb-bab, and the Wanderers' offensive talisman Járngrímur Náttúlfsson sent Fakswr-rof the wrong way with a cool finish into the bottom left corner. That would be all from the scoring, however, and as the news of the final whistle in Zube (curiously reported as Zube, Kwrpania in Busogan papers) filtered through, it confirmed the Electric Eels' position as the 2nd-placed side in Group C. Despite their status as the host nation, expectations were still that the Kwrpan would have a difficult path to qualification, but they certainly achieved it in style with a stunning victory over a former World Cup champion. Following the match, the Torgos Tribute announced that Ingþór "Thor" Auðbjörnsson, manager of the Wanderers, had tendered his resignation to the Pasarga Football Association.

Up next for the Electric Eels is a date with Chromatika as they return to the National Stadium in Tydebwg. The Anomalies are a two-time World Cup semifinalist, having fallen to Banija in the final of World Cup 93 in their own home tournament. The Government has again declared a national holiday (excepting areas of the interior West currently under "an altered state of law following public disturbances"), and hundreds of thousands are expected to attend fan zones and watch parties across Kwrpania.

Pasarga 2-4 Kwrpania
Sunset Coast Arena, Bezbenpam, Kwrpania
Lineup: Fakswr-rof; Synydwb-pyt, Bezypman-bof, Fandwrsw-vyz, Mamzwb-bab; Fyrek-syn-nam, Magnws-rab, Vabwpetob-zok, Pabofen-nam; Magnws-rym, Rynropeka-gyv
Goals: Rynropeka-gyv 12', 40'; Magnws-rym 29', 50'

Kwrpania vs. Chromatika
National Stadium, Tydebwg, Kwrpania
Projected Lineup: Fakswr-rof; Synydwb-pyt, Bezypman-bof, Fandwrsw-vyz, Mamzwb-bab; Fyrek-syn-nam, Magnws-rab, Vabwpetob-zok, Pabofen-nam; Magnws-rym, Rynropeka-gyv

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WORLD CUP 100 – Farfadillis become first nation eliminated via third place table despite four points

The Day the Sky Rained Fire
Chapter 3: Conflict and Confederation

As they gathered under the Father and spread themselves across their land, the Kwrpan remained a people, connected and yet increasingly disparate, in geography and lifestyle. The city dwellers of the North lived lives unrecognizable to the forest dwellers of the South, who did to the nomads of the West, who did to the fishermen of the Northwest. The idea of a people as a nation was long in future history - for now, the Kwrpan were organized by clan and kin. The two concepts remained separate but interconnected - many clans, especially the great ones, comprised perhaps tens of thousands of members, who obviously lacked blood relation, and those numbers swelled as clans competed both for influence over territory and the influence over the potentially Clanless people living there. Over hundreds of years, this process continued, until all the Kwrpan lands were spoken for - spoken for twice, or thrice, perhaps, but claimed. This began the next great age following the Great Migration - the Era of Conflict.

The most important periods of Kwrpan history do not have particularly complex names, and the Era of Conflict is no different. Beginning approximately 2800 years ago (around the year 1200 in the old style Kwrpan calendar), constant, low-level warfare was a fact of Kwrpan life. These battles were not large, mind - the vast, vast majority comprised perhaps two dozen combatants on each side, out of a population that reached the better part of a million, fueled by the agricultural booms of the riverine communities. Contests of prestige, or martial prowess, or local strength, or simply raids for loot and treasure - all fed into the trickles of blood that ran across the Kwrpan earth. Naturally, the great mythmaking of the Kwrpan did not stop with the new era. Stories abound of an unflappable archer who pierced the eye of an enemy's horse from a thousand paces in a driving storm, and a mighty swordsman who held off two dozen raiders in a rushing ford, saving his farmstead from sacking. The [NAME], a two-handed, double-ended spear, became the cheap, widely adopted weapon of choice, and as the people grew ever more distant from their ancestors of the Migration, they spilled ever more blood in the service of their mortal goals.

Centuries of warfare also, paradoxically, bred centuries of peace. With great clans settling their conflicts with still-tiny numbers of combatants, the vast, vast majority continued to work their farms or, increasingly, labor away in the great workshops of invention. Over time the settlement of the great city of Tydebwg gave way to the creation of the Kwrpan alphabet, which revolutionized what could soon be called "the sciences". (Naturally, one story grants the Father credit for having dreamt the shapes and flows of letters under a full moon atop the tallest hill of Tydebwg). As the clans settled their scores, they saw no reason to stop the flow of trade, with great barges loaded with wood and metals and produce floating down Mother River to the great cities of the North. Soon this endless flow gave way to a new hub - across the mighty river from Tydebwg sprouted [NAME], which became the entrepot of not only the great hinterland but the nomads of the West and the increasingly settled and productive Northwest. Over yet more centuries, these rivals grew, until [NAME] counted within its walls over a quarter of a million souls, and Tydebwg no fewer.

Finally, we must introduce the next great character of Kwrpan history. As the Father led the Kwrpan from the tumult of the Migration to the establishment of their homes, this new champion would start the process of creating a nation from the people. Rektyr, child of Pykpytyr, of clan Zokoz, was born in [NAME] in the early 2830s. Child of a dockside merchant, they received an excellent education, both in the history of the Kwrpan and what knowledge came from the interactions with traders from the lands beyond. Rektyr-zok soon took their parent's profession, and excelled at it, even leading trading expeditions to the developing Bezbenpam and the ever-distant Ren'ban. It would be a still, moonless night, under the stars of the rolling fields of their native Northwest, that the Father came to Rektyr-zok. Gazing to the stars, they first saw a wink, then a flash, then a pattern in brilliant starlight. A bolt of lightning - the symbol of their Clan - soared across the sky, and pierced a shield inscribed with foreign writing. As quick as it emerged, the shield dissolved into inky blackness, and the lightning bolt came real, with a distant but unmistakable crash, then another so close that it left their hairs stood on end. As with all peoples, the Kwrpan had enemies - peoples from the lands beyond menaced them, abducting their traders or burning their villages. It would be upon Rektyr-zok - "Storm-born", of the clan of Lightning - to deliver their people from their enemies, and unite them into the force that that bolt in the darkness embodied.

The future of their people rested on their choice. Recent harvests had been poor. Recent storms had been harsh. Perhaps that was a message from the Mother - the people require a savior, and you must play the role that fate has assigned to you.

Rektyr-zok awoke at dawn, mounted their horse, and rode off to war.

by **Qusmo** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 5:32 pm

As an OOC reminder before this RP, I’d like to note that Qusmo is an IC host nation for World Cup 100 but merely a technical advisor, not a host, OOCly. I have no knowledge of any nation’s RP bonus, and my own RP makes no attempt to ascertain or account for any nation’s RP bonus. None of this tournament’s OOC hosts are involved with, revealed probabilities regarding to, or provided grading data for this RP. The only help I received from the hosts pertained to understanding how the scorinator worked itself.

My methodology is to set LISA to the paradigm specified in the host bid and to input each remaining nation’s KPB+ points, without regards to any RP or roster bonus (or penalty) any nation may have accrued. I then calculate the likelihood of each potential knockout fixture and how likely each team would be to win it, assuming the initial inputs of my model are correct. All this information is public.

Though this method takes in a great deal of data, it is imperfect, as I do not and cannot know the real values the tournament hosts will input to their scorinator. In this way, it mirrors real-life statistical models, which can estimate probabilities but will invariably fail to get the figures exactly right. In this instance, nations with exceptional RP bonus will be underestimated by my model and by my accompanying RP. I can only extend an apology. Likewise, other nations’ chances may be overestimated by my model and RP.

The Mathletic
Informed analysis.

QSIM: World Cup 100 knockout projections
What are the chances your team will win the centennial World Cup?

The centennial World Cup has reached its knockout rounds. Two hundred seventy-three teams were whittled down to forty-eight, and forty-eight have turned into thirty-two. After five progressive rounds of fixtures, our thirty-two remaining teams will be whittled down until we’re left with a single champion. Every fan thinks they know which team will win the tournament, and every player is confident they’ll be the ones to lift the trophy. But are they right?

In collaboration with the Margaret Institute at the University of Zube in the Kytler Pensinulae, The Mathletic is proud to introduce a statistical model predicting the results of every possible knockout fixture — and the probability that any of the thirty-two remaining nations could become the centennial World Cup champions. Please allow us to present the Quantitative Sporting Index Model, or QSIM.

Methodology

Researchers at the Margaret Institute developed an advanced statistical model to predict the likelihood of any particular nation winning any particular knockout fixture at a neutral venue, given the two teams’ KPB+ rankings, called LISA. Data scientists at The Mathletic then used that model to assign probabilities to each nation’s chances of advancing to the octofinals. They then used the results to predict the likelihood of every possible octofinals fixture actually occurring, and the odds each nation would win that fixture should it happen.

The Mathletic continued this process until it had predicted all two hundred fifty-six possible combinations of teams for the final. Using the data from all four hundred ninety-six possible knockout fixtures over the entire remainder of the tournament, The Mathletic can predict the chances any given team in the World Cup 100 knockout rounds will advance at least as far as any particular round, or even win the tournament altogether. If you’d like to learn more, you can explore the full data set.

QSIM predictions

Commentary

Our model projects several distinct tiers of contenders. After two percentage point gaps between the odds of each of the five likeliest contenders, the model assigns probabilities within a single percentage point for the four next-likeliest teams, before taking another big gap of over a percentage point before the team it thinks is tenth-likeliest to win the tournament. Fourteen teams have at least a two percent chance of winning it all, while the bottom eleven top out at less than two-thirds of a single percentage point. Still, every team at least has some chance of winning the trophy — even if that chance is exceptionally slim.

Valanora v. the Ko-orenite Constellation

Our model gives a lot of love to a very familiar face: Valanora is the likeliest team to participate in every round of the tournament’s knockout stage, and they are the likeliest team to win the World Cup — which would represent a record-setting sixth trophy in the tournament’s landmark hundredth edition. That is, in part, due to a very kind draw. The second-lowest-ranked team to qualify for this World Cup, the Ko-orenite Constellation is by far the lowest-ranked team to make it this far. Meanwhile, Valanora is Valanora.

This hexadecifinal represents an incredible mismatch for a World Cup knockout fixture. No wonder these represent the likeliest and least likeliest teams to win the tournament. Valanora and the Constellation are ranked second and eighty-fifth in the Multiverse, respectively. Valanora’s odds of winning the tournament are estimated to be six hundred fifty times those of the Constellation’s. In fact, QSIM believes Valanora has better odds of winning the World Cup than the Ko-orenite Constellation has of simply winning its hexadecifinal against Valanora.

It’s not just the hexadecifinal matchup that was so kind to Valanora, though. The whole bracket is fantastic for the Vanorians. The team won group H, but they were the tenth-best group winner across the tournament. That means they have to play a group runner-up in the hexadecifinals, but they were paired with the lowest-ranked team in the knockouts. Unlike the top four group winners, they may have to play a fellow group winner as soon as the octofinals — and a higher-seeded group winner at that — but they won’t face any top-twelve team in the rankings until the quarterfinals at the earliest. In fact, Valanora cannot face any team higher than seventh until the semifinals, and they would avoid top-ranked Flavovespia and the third-ranked Squornshelan Remnant States until the final. If Valanora needed any assistance in achieving its long-held dream of a record sixth championship, the way the knockout bracket was seeded certainly provided it.

Flavovespia v. Edsmontik

Meanwhile, World Cup 98 champion Flavovespia’s odds of winning another West Pavola World Cup just two cycles later are only about seventy percent of Valanora’s, despite the fact that Flavovespia is the highest-ranked team in the Multiverse. Unfortunately for them, their hexadecifinal fixture is much less kind. Despite being the best-performing and highest-ranked group winner in the tournament — one of only two teams with a perfect nine points, as well as the most goals scored and highest goal difference of any team in the tournament — and being paired against the very last third-placed team that made it into the knockout round altogether, that third-placed team turned out to be fifth-ranked Edsmontik, themselves semifinalists the last time this tournament was hosted in West Pavola.

As a result, top-ranked Flavovespia has the third-best odds in the tournament, and fifth-ranked Edsmontik has the ninth-best odds. The path does clear a bit for whichever giant survives their hexadecifinal, but Flavovespia has only the twelfth-highest odds of winning a knockout game, and Edsmontik isn’t even in the top twenty likeliest teams to advance to the octofinals. It should be one of the matches of the tournament: no other fixtures between two top-five-ranked nations are possible until the semifinals of the tournament, at least.

Valentine Z v. Ko-oren

Every forty-eight-team World Cup thus far has seen a third-placed team make it to the quarterfinals, and one of them even won the most recent World Cup. QSIM thinks Ko-oren and Edsmontik are the likeliest to repeat those feats. Despite their tough opening fixture, Edsmontik still has more than one in four odds of making the quarterfinals and more than a four percent chance of winning the tournament.

Ko-oren does likewise. In fact, despite dipping to a third-placed finish in the group stage, QSIM is even more optimistic on Ko-oren’s odds of winning the tournament than the KPB+ rankings are alone: the ninth-ranked Dragonflies are the eighth-likeliest champions, with more than five percent odds. There is a gulf between Edsmontik’s and Ko-oren’s chances of winning the tournament and any other third-placed team. QSIM ranks Ko-oren as the eighth-likeliest champions and Edsmontik as the ninth-likeliest — and the next-likeliest team is Reçueçn, the twenty-third-likeliest champions, with less than half a percent chance to win the World Cup.

On the other hand, Ko-oren’s hexadecifinal opponent is Valentine Z. They’re the fourth-seeded team in the bracket, meaning they are slated to play a third-placed team in the hexadecifinals and, if they win that fixture, a second-placed team in the octofinals. Still, they only have the twenty-fourth-best odds of winning the tournament — below third-placed teams Ko-oren, Edsmontik, and Reçueçn — due, in large part, to a hexadecifinal against ninth-ranked Ko-oren followed by a potential octofinal against the third-ranked Squornshelan Remnant States, all just to get to the quarterfinals. As a result of how the bracket turned out, Valentine Z has the fourth-lowest odds of making the quarterfinals, despite being the tournament’s fourth-highest-seeded team.

Tanirinthia v. Kimi-Suomi

While Valentine Z has a nightmare path to the quarterfinals, Tanirinthia is much luckier. The Jackalopes only recorded five points in the group stage, but a massive matchday three win over World Cup 98 finalist Crpostran allowed them to win group D. Their reward was a hexadecifinal against Kimi-Suomi, the fourth-lowest-ranked team in the knockouts, and a potential octofinal against either the Busoga Islands, the ninth-lowest-ranked team in the knockouts, or Auprussia, the second-lowest-ranked team in the knockouts.

Only Valanora has a better chance of reaching the octofinals or quarterfinals, and no other teams but Valanora and Tanirinthia have better than fifty-fifty odds of reaching the quarterfinals. The path does get much more difficult in the quarterfinals, where they might have to face teams such as fourth-ranked host nation Tikariot or sixth-ranked defending champion Audioslavia, but it’s still a dream path forward for a team which has only just won their first match of the tournament.

The Kytler Peninsulae v. Qusmo

Finally, one of the most geographically-proximal and emotionally-charged matches of the tournament will be played in Alaer, with two tournament cohosts divided only by the Neqyeq Strait taking each other on in the hexadecifinals. Qusmo are certainly the underdogs, but they still have received a kind draw. The fifty-eighth-ranked team in the Multiverse has already beaten the team ranked thirtieth, and now they’re paired against the team ranked twenty-ninth, for a place in an octofinal against a team ranked either twenty-eighth or thirty-first.

Yes, if Qusmo makes it that far, they will likely have a more difficult quarterfinal. They may have to play twenty-fifth-ranked Juvencus, which defeated Qusmo in their lone semifinal appearance in any major tournament, Cup of Harmony 73. They may have to play ninth-ranked Ko-oren, which won Qusmo’s World Cup Qualifying group and defeated Qusmo by a record five goals during that campaign, which represented a larger margin of defeat than any other competitive or friendly loss in the team’s history, before or since. They may have to play the third-ranked Squornshelan Remnant States, the World Cup 99 finalist nation whose strong Qusma diaspora and mighty domestic league was and still is vital to maintaining a viable Qusma national team of any sort in the aftermath of the Reforms.

Granted, Qusmo likely won’t play more than a single knockout fixture this tournament, much less advance to the team’s first-ever World Cup quarterfinal. QSIM gives Qusmo about a one in three chance to make it to the octofinals, then about a one in eight chance to advance to the quarterfinals. Still, those odds are quite good for a team which is ranked fifty-eighth in the Multiverse and whose entire World Cup knockout history consists of a single loss eighteen cycles ago.

The thirtieth-ranked team among the remaining field of thirty-two, Qusmo has the twenty-fourth-best odds of reaching a quarterfinal. That isn’t great, but it could be much worse, as the team’s precipitous drop from over twelve percent odds to reach the quarterfinals to under three percent odds to reach the semifinals hints at. And if you told Qusma fans before the start of this cycle that they’d not only qualify for the World Cup on merit, but reach the knockout rounds and have a thirty-four percent chance of recording their first-ever World Cup knockout win, almost all would be likely to take that offer.

Overall

Of course, there will be upsets. There always are. Even the Ko-orenite Constellation has a two percent of one percent chance. Even the extraordinarily unlikely is still possible. Still, we hope that QSIM can serve both to entertain and inform fans across the Multiverse — and inspire joy when trans inevitably defy the odds, and perhaps even win World Cup 100.

by **Kwrpania** » Wed Nov 26, 2025 5:56 pm

CUTOFF
Hexadecifinals

by **Audioslavia** » Thu Nov 27, 2025 4:45 am

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So Audioslavia were drawn into a bracket with some tough
teams. Vdara or Tikariot awaited us in the next round if
we could find our way past a Pyazhnayan team ranked 46th

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Tikariot will be difficult, but once we're done with the
inevitable win over Pyazhnaya, a team who have never won
against us in ninety minutes, we can work out a gameplan

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Your grace, King Fraser I of Audioslavia, heir to the th

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rone and Ambassador to Bostopia, The Bulls, they, er, th

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They got pumped by Pyazhnaya in the 2nd round. We're out

+*%**+*##***+++++*##***##%%@%%@@@%%*+++++*%%%%%#+=======
=+%#***###*++++++*%#*##%%%%%@@@@@@@@%*+++++**++++=======
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........................................................

===++++++***+++++*%@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
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Anyone who really wasn't expecting King Fraser I to show
up two cycles after his plotline disappeared, you can go

%%%%@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@%####
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You morons! You spineless little bastards! You go on and
on about how investing heavily into ASCII art is the key
to winning and then we get papped by the teal and maroon
circus over in the North West? Do you have any notion of
how difficult it's been to make ASCII bullshit every MD?

*****###**+++++++++++++=====+******++===++++==========-=
*****###****+++++++++**+=+++******#+++++============---=
*****#%*###*******++++++++*%@@@@@@@%*+++++++=========-==
****#%%####*********+***%%@@@@@@@@@@@@#++++++++++++===++
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#%@%#%%%#%%##***##**@@@@@@%%*+-......  ..-=+++**++++++++
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**%#************#@@@@**%#*+===---::====++++++++++++==+++
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**##*#+*-:......:::::::*%%=-  +%@#@@%#%%%###***+++++++++
**=-:....................-%%#++%#%:@@%########*++++++++*
King Fraser, we said it's something we could maybe do on
one occasion, not keep it up as a gimmick for the entire
fucking tournament. And in any case, you just go to that
website https://www.asciiart.eu/ and convert everything!

++++++++++++++*#%@%*=#%@@%####%%%%%%#%%@%%#**++#####****
+++++++++++++#@@@%%#+==:...:-+****#%%%##@@%##**++#%#****
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**########%-:----:::-=+==+*#%###=-+**#####=+%%%%##**++++
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**********==+::--:::..:-==++=-....:%%##%#+=%%%##%%%##*++
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#**##**%%#@%=:+=---:::::-=*::-#@@@%##*+===#%@@@@@@@@%###
#*##***%%#@@# .==---::::-=::-+#*###*+#*+=+##%%@@@@@@@%%@
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*****#**%%%@%%. .+=-::::=+-+#%@@@@%#**+=+###***#%%@@@@@@
+#***#**#%#@%#*   *==---::::::=+=-==**=+#%@%###*##%@@@@@
+##**##*#%#%%#%=   -+==--:::---==+===++%@%@@%%%%%%%%%%%%
+#@##*#**%%#%##@-   :#*+--::::---:--=*##@%@@@@@@@@%%%%%%
*#@##**#*#@%###@@:   .+#*+======+++*#*###%@@@@@@@@@%%%%%
And your decision to make all of this dialogue the exact
same length as each ASCII image. The reason it is taking
so fucking long to write all of this out, especialy when
I have to make ludicrous decisions e.g using 'it is' for
'it's', mis-spelling 'especially' and being inconsistent
with punctuation. Whose fucking idea was that? Huh? Who?

****#%%####*********+***%%@@@@@@@@@@@@#++++++++++++===++
***#%@%#*###*******+*+%@@@@@@@@@@@@%@@#%#++++++++**+++++
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#*##%#%%%%%********#@-::----:...::=####=#@%++++++++=+**+
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**##*#+*-:......:::::::*%%=-  +%@#@@%#%%%###***+++++++++
**=-:....................-%%#++%#%:@@%########*++++++++*
My King, it's an aesthetic thing that catches the hosts'
eye and might lead to us picking up extra RP bonus which

##########*************************+++++++++++++++++++++
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##########************#@@@@%#*+++**++=--=+++++++++++++++
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###########**##%-..-#%%%*****+--.:-=+###===@#++++++=====
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#**++++++*#@@@#**##%%%%**++++***##%%%#+@@@@**+===-----==
++++++++*#@@@@@**###*****+****####%#+=*@@@#+*+=+=-------
====++**%@@@@@@********++*****###*---=#@@@*+*++++=-----:
====++*#@@@@@@@#***+++++****#*+-:---=+@@@@*+++++*======-
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Extra RP bonus? What good is that? We're out of the cup!

=+++++++++++++++++++++++++**++****#%%%%##**+=+*#@#******
=+++++++++++++++++++++++++**+++++#%%%%*=-----.:*%#******
=++++++++++++++++++++++++++**+--=+*==+%*--=====*##******
=+++++++++++++++++++++++++**=---+==+*%%%%#%%@@*%#*******
=+++++++++++++++++++++++***+---=*+*%@@@@@@@@@@%%%@#*****
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#%@%******@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@#+#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The only thing to do now is to post a meme from 2009 and
work on our bid for the 13th CAFA Cup. We will just have
to use the Helvetica System to take out our frustrations
on the rest of the region. Pyazhnaya can celebrate their
last sixteen appearance by having an away match at Sgr A

***********************#%%@@@@@@@@%@@%=#**==+=*#+-+##%#+
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He's bluffing. He wouldn't do that to us all. Or himself

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God damnit. I'm almost out of failed attempts at TIP six

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Maybe we should do it. Maybe we should bring back Jeremy

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by **Busoga Islands** » Thu Nov 27, 2025 10:01 am

Busogan TV commentators, in the 72nd minute of Busoga's 0-0 match against Auprussia

Color Commentator: "We're at 72 minutes in here, and Auprussia are setting up for a free kick in a dangerous area- about 25-30 yards from goal. It's been a fairly even game- Auprussia have maybe created better chances, but certainly not an overwhelming advantage by any means. Neither team has had great opportunities in front of goal, and would've needed some truly top drawer finishes to take any of their opportunities. Neither side has done so- which means we're still here, at nil-nil."

Play-By-Play Commentator: "Still here at zeroes, but a free kick in this situation might be the best chance that either team has had all day. Rogeur Pagault is standing over the ball, as the Islanders get their wall set up. We've got... Looks like 4 players on the wall- we've even got an opposition player right in the middle of it. The Quebecois referee is walking them back, using his disappearing spray to mark the spot of 10 yards away. He's in a position where he can go direct- but he's got some players lined up on the back post."

Color Commentator: "It wouldn't be a bad idea to play a ball towards the back post. He's got some talented dudes over there .Lithobert in particular can be dangerous in the air- we'll see if the Islanders can cover him."

Play-By-Play Commentator: "Pagault is set, as he's talking to a couple of his teammates, who both get away from him. He's the only one standing over the ball- takes three steps back, and a couple of steps to the right. It certainly looks like he's going to whip this towards goal- and why not? It's 0-0 in the knockout stages, your opportunities have been few and far between, so it makes sense to put it directly on goal."

"Pagault has struck.. And it hits the wall! The wall does its job, as the ball strongly richochets behind the taker, towards an Auprussian center back. The center back tries to play it back towards the box- but mishits it, and it goes right to Coro Dibihari- who is suddenly coming down the center of the pitch with the ball!

He plays a long ball out wide.. And it looks like Abu Sesay is going to be first to get to it, as he is going to race to get it before it reaches the corner flag!" (The fans in the seats, on both sides, rise to their feet) "Sesay is going to come up the back line, and oh wow- a rainbow over his defender, in the middle of a game! What a move to generate himself space and get open, in a critical moment! Another defender leaves their man to try and make the tackle on Sesay, and he whips in the cross...

Color Commentator: " AND A WIDE OPEN OMAR JALLOW HEADS THE BALL INTO THE BACK OF THE NET- GOAAAAAAAALLLLLL FOR THE BUSOGA ISLANDS! (The scenes are mad- Jallow races behind the goal to jump in the midst of the Busogan fans, as the entire bench sprints down to celebrate with him. A tremendous goal, to break the deadlock- and the celebrations match, as Busoga are suddenly on the brink of winning their first knockout stage match at a World Cup in national history.)

The Lakiska Daily

EDITORIAL: Show some respect for Busogan football

PORT RHOVANYON, TIKARIOT- "I can't believe what I'm seeing." Said Ayben Uzun, the Busogan #9, after Busoga's 1-0 win over Auprussia. The win itself wasn't so much of a shock- the Busoga Islanders did win their group, and are ranked ahead of Auprussia. It is about what this run is doing for the perception of Busogan football- both around the world, and crucially, inside not only Busoga- but Banija as well. It is the type of run that was not supposed to happen- we should've been a playoff team, at best, or considering we didn't sniff World Cup 99, not even be here.

But somebody tell this man- believe it.

When you imagined your dream epic tournament at World Cup 100, from the point of view of a neutral, when qualifying started, you know what nation you didn't mention? The Busoga Islands. We have one top-flight team in the entire country. We're a nation of just 12 million people. A number of major nations that are at the Cup of Harmony would've been in the TV broadcasters preferred lineup over the Busoga Islands. World Cup 100 without Eastfield Lodge? Hapilopper? Drawkland? It's all madness- and not only did that happen, but we're still here, still going.

The reputation for Busogan football, generally, is down in the gutter. And fair enough- we've mostly got a massive history of failure at all levels in international football. Youth tournaments, regional tournaments, and even World Cup Qualifying until 98, we've simply never done anything of note until we qualified for World Cup 98- and then stunned the world by defeating a top 10 Yuezhou, away from home. And so, at every step of the way this cycle, being drawn with Busoga has been seen as a good thing for your nation.

In Qualifying- we were the Pot 2 team that most nations wanted to draw. And yet? With Huayramarca's complete collapse, we went unbeaten and topped our group. In the Finals? We had a very muddied group, with three teams ranked within 5 places of one another- and Pasarga, far and away the #1 team in our group. They collapsed as well, not earning a single point at these Finals- but it started with us, when we beat them, 3-1, to open the Campaign. We don't do that, Pasarga are very likely still playing. Even Auprussian media- "Busoga on paper is an inferior opponent". And yet, here we are, advancing to the knockout stages- while they go home.

And even Mathletics, saying that Tanirinthia have one of the easiest paths to the quarterfinals because they are facing us in the octofinal. And look- a tournament like this, a run like this, would show the world exactly how good Busogan football is, how much of a pushover that we cannot be taken as. No longer should teams see Busoga on the schedule, and say, "oh man, I'm glad we're facing them." From here on out, it's- "oh shit, we're facing the Busoga Islands. We've gotta lock in."

Now lets have our boys lock in, and really shock the world- by upsetting a top 10 nation in the knockout stages of the World Cup. Our time is now, eh?

World Cup 81/82/83/84

BP, KP to meet again with last 8 on the line
Scott McCrae
The Daily Mail Chief Soccer Writer

The Commonwealth of Baker Park and The Kytler Peninsulae will once again renew acquaintances when they meet for the fourth time over the last three World Cup cycles at Carva Dock Arena in Kytler Bay City with a place in the quarterfinals of World Cup 100 at stake.

The co-hosts overcame their West Pavola neighbor Qusmo in extra time to reach this point, while the Bees continued their run of sublime performances in breezing past Kanzlia to reach the last 16 at a World Cup for the 12th time in their history.

The sides met in Alaer in the Round of 32 during WC 98, where BP deflated the atmosphere created by the home crowd by knocking their heroes out of that competition, which turned out to be the unfortunate end of a promising generation of Kytlerian talent which tragically perished in the crash of Flight 134; Park were the opposition at the memorial benefit match that preceded WC 99 qualifying, a 2-1 home win at the same Clituleng Giisost Stadium which brought a sense of emotional closure to the Rushmore nation; and the sides met during the most recent WCQ during a friendly on matchday 14 at the State Fairgrounds Stadium in Springfield, where they split the honors at 2 apiece.

Their fourth encounter can be said to possibly be the most important fixture in the recent history of both national teams, as a place among the eight survivors of the largest field to ever take part in a World Cup awaits. The Bees have reached that level on three previous occasions--85, 88 and on home soil in 90--while it would be a first ever achievement for the hosts.
And while the story of this current Kytlerian team is a rebirth, for BP the plot revolves around the close of an era, as Will Barnard's next defeat will mark the end of his now 194 match tenure, second longest in BPNT history.

But a funny thing has happened on the way towards the exit--his playing squad have forgotten to simply phone it in and await a new boss. Seventeen matches in a row without a defeat have propelled the Gold and Black to this point, putting the gaffer within 90 (or maybe 120) minutes of doing what his two predecessors--Ichi Tuzzio in 85 and Jennifer Prescott in 88 & 90--accomplished.

The sides enter the contest divided by a razor thin margin, separated by just one place in the rankings--BP at 28, KP at 29--and it is statistically the closest matched of the eight fixtures of the round, with Park given a 50.06 chance of winning according to one model.

_________________________________________________________________________
Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation, CBC Soccer Night Pre-Match Show--Kytler Peninsulae vs Baker Park

Leslie Van Horn--Welcome back to our coverage of Kytler Peninsulae against Baker Park here on CBC Soccer Night from Bay City. Great privilege to have here on set our guest panel, all of whom have won major trophies in their careers. Former BP Assistant Manager Shane Newman, now President of the Indusse Football Association and winner of the IAC with that nation; Darren Kirby, another former AM who led BP to the AOCAF 66 title; Jennifer Prescott, Baker Park's all time winningest boss and AOCAF 62 winner; Kate DiMarini, yet another BP National Team assistant manager who of course won the World Cup for Zwangzug; and Pam Scott, two time World Cup winner for Banija. It's really a great honor to have all of you here together. Let's start off with the immediate subject, the match itself. It's obviously a very strong advantage for Kytler playing at home, but the Bees have played twice at this venue during the group stage and have been based here the entire month. Does that take some of the edge away? Shane?

Shane Newman--I think the players always sense the crowd a bit, whether they are your own or the opponents. But there's a lot of pressure on the host nation and yeah I think having the comfort level of playing here twice already is something Baker Park can feel good about.
LVH--Kate?
Kate DiMarini--Yeah, there's something to be said that if it any of the circumstances were different that it would be a bigger advantage for the home side. Say if Kanzlia were here instead, the crowd and the unfamiliar surroundings might play against them as opposed to BP. Or if this was BP in Tikariot it would be a bigger test.
Darren Kirby--It's these kind of matches that you are preparing for when you go to tough places during friendly tours. The actual 11 v 11 is one element but what you're always thinking about is the mental process. You want the players in a frame of mind of 'we can cope with the noise, the weather, the atmosphere'.
Pam Scott--That's always been something as a national team we pride ourselves on, right? We've always been willing to go anywhere, because that's the measure you want. How do we fare under adversity.
Jennifer Prescott --I think one immediate factor that we might overlook is the regional strength. Arrosia has all six of their teams that advanced still alive, yeah two of them are facing each other, but when we go to play in the ARC you're playing in tough matches. Just like in the AO tourney, there weren't many easy fixtures.

LVH--I think it's fair to say that right now the Bees are one of the form sides still left in the tourney? Predictions for how things might go? How does the fact that the teams played one another already this cycle fit into the overall outlook? Jen, we'll start with you and go in reverse order.
JP--I think Willie is going with five? of the same starting XI from when they met in Springfield, which is probably just how the rotation has sorted itself. They've alternated during these Finals--cautious start, fast start, cautious start, fast start. I don't think he's going to stay with that pattern. I think it'll be high intensity from kickoff. I'm going to say...BP by 2 goals. 4-2?
PS--I hate to make a comparison like this**, but I think BP are the best team Kytler have faced so far and I don't think they're going to get much host nation advantage. Bees win. I don't think extra time or penalties will come into play.
DK--I'm going to lean in a different direction. I think they definitely could go 120 minutes without a winner. I think the longer it goes the better for the home side.
KdM--Pam is obviously booked on a flight leaving before the match ends, making that kind of prediction. (laughter from all) I think Jen hit it on the head. The Springfield match was a bit of a test bed, not at all in keeping with the qualifying fixtures before or after. He'll have them start fast, if they get an early goal I think it'll be hard for the home side to get back into the match. I will say he'll not hesitate to change everything if he's behind at half.
SN--In my heart I want Willie to go out on top, or at least get one more day. I think along the same lines as Darren, if it goes long it's Kytler's match to lose

LVH--Let's talk about the NT job for a minute. Do any of you think that the FAC will open up the process to find a foreign manager this time? Pam, start with you.
PS--Regardless of what happens tonight or next week, this is a good job to have. I think anyone with ambition would look at the Baker Park National Team position as a potential gold mine of opportunity. There's going to be some top tier posts open at the end of this cycle and I think BP should be included in that list
KdM--You're not wanting to come back, are you?
PS--No, I am Not. (laughter from all)
KdM--Good. Neither am I, but I agree wholeheartedly. I think we have plenty of top flight coaches in the Commonwealth right now, but if the FAC wanted to bring in someone to shake things up a bit, I think it would be a good step in a different direction. We still have talent and the resources are available.
DK--I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a situation where an outside candidate was hired with a track record of success at international level. I'm a club boss now but I'm sure the National League would be open to having a fresh face lead the NT into a new era.
JP--I can't disagree. It's finding the right person who has the credentials and is a personality that is strong enough to work within the larger structure of the association. We might not get a Tuzzio, but we can certainly draw a big name if we make the supporting cast attractive enough that it's a transition that builds upon what's been started with this cycle.
SN--Definitely. Baker Park has a singular reputation in the sport, with a strong foundation and an unparalleled record. There's not as far to go to get back to where they were in the past as some other nations currently face. It's still a bit of a sleeping giant in the international game.
LVH--That's where we'll leave it for now. When we come back, we'll get some thoughts on the other Round of 16 matchups. Back after these messages

**(Pam Scott believes this. Send all complaints regarding this statement to her last employer of record, the RBSA c/o Busakuma, Banija)

by **Paradystopia** » Fri Nov 28, 2025 2:29 am

"... And there you have it, with his third goal of the match, Error Message has surely sealed a monumental win for Paradystopia. Aphrilia 0, Paradystopia 4. An outstanding contribution from the Paradystopi captain, manager, and general exemplary adonis of a man. He's now celebrating in front of the crowd, running along the sidelines with his arms outstretched and giving high-fives to all the Paradystopi substitutes. Now he's even making his way into the dugout to high-five the sack of turnips, extraordinary scenes, incredible. He's now withdrawn one of the turnips from the sack and has thrown it into the crowd as a souvenir for a lucky fan. A truly great gesture there, especially considering the current turnip shortage Paradystopia is experiencing. There he goes again, taking another turnip ..."

I was just about to throw a second turnip into the jubilant crowd when it spoke to me with a voice I recognised instantly as Stavros.

"Sike"

"Wait ... what?"

"Beep beep"

"You're not making any sense, Stavros ..."

Error suddenly came to consciousness as the incessant beeping of his alarm clock ripped him from his slumber. He leapt eagerly out of bed for it was obvious to him that the dream he had just been pulled from was clearly a premonition of the match later on in the day. He cleared a spot in his suitcase for the match-ball he was predestined to win and skipped out of his room still in his pyjamas to wake his team-mates and pass on the good news that they had an octofinal fixture to prepare for.

by **Flavovespia** » Fri Nov 28, 2025 5:17 am

World Cup 94: Retrospective

MD1 Saint-Jean-Jacques-sur-Mer H 2 2 Cole 67, 81’

MD2 Tanirinthia A 0 2 Cole 36’, Lane 51’

MD4 Trolleborg H 0 0

MD5 Vilita A 1 5 Lane 6’, Cole 23’ (P), 69’, Player 47’, Bagshaw 89’

MD6 Dantopia H 1 0 Bagshaw 81’

MD7 Euran Oceania Territories A 1 5 Edwards 13’, Bagshaw19’, 68’, Shepherd 30’, 48’

MD8 Patriotlandia H 4 5 Cole 6’, 59’ (P), 77’, Jones 45’

MD9 Ziwana A 2 4 Bagshaw 4’, Cole 40’ (P), 81’, Jones 60’

MD10 Neibeskiya H 3 0 Wassell 16’’, Singh 18’, Hill 47’

MD11 Valentine Z A 1 3 Jones 8’, Bagshaw 42’, Cole 68’ (P)

MD12 Saint-Jean-Jacques-sur-Mer A 3 2 Adams 39’, Lyons 51’

MD13 Tanirinthia H 5 1 Lane 6’, Birmingham 63’, 83’, Player 69’ Own Goal 95’

MD15 Trolleborg A 2 2 Cole 44’, Own Goal 72’

MD16 Vilita H 2 3 Cole 16’, Jones 68’

MD17 Dantopia A 2 2 Cole 33’, 82’ (P)

MD18 Euran Oceania Territories H 4 2 Birmingham 22’, Player 43’ Singh 58’, Cole 71’

MD19 Patriotlandia A 2 3 Cole 9’, 49’, Jones 83’

MD20 Ziwana H 1 1 Jones 64’

MD21 Neibeskiya A 0 4 Jones 13’, 50’, Bagshaw 16’, Player 92’

MD22 Valentine Z H 6 1 Adams 9’, Cole 26’, 53’, Jones 66’, Bagshaw 82’, 93’

   Group 15                          Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Flavovespia                        20   12   5   3    60   29  +31    41
 2 Vilita                             20   11   6   3    64   41  +23    39
 3 Trolleborg                         20    7  10   3    24   17   +7    31
 4 Dantopia                           20    7   9   4    42   33   +9    30
 5 Valentine Z                        20    8   6   6    42   41   +1    30
 6 Tanirinthia                        20    8   5   7    43   48   −5    29
 7 Ziwana                             20    6   7   7    44   43   +1    25
 8 Patriotlandia                      20    5   8   7    42   46   −4    23
 9 Saint-Jean-Jacques-sur-Mer         20    5   7   8    35   47  −12    22
10 Neibeskiya                         20    3   7  10    31   47  −16    16
11 Euran Oceania Territories          20    1   4  15    25   60  −35     7

World Cup 94. A cycle Flavovespia hit new highs, a cycle where Flavovespia well and truly battled with the World’s elite, but a cycle ending in heartbreak. Before going to the World Cup, Flavovespia had to qualify. In Pot 2, their Pot 1 opponents were Vilita. A thriller in the jungle saw Flavovespia win 1-5 against their much higher rated opponents, just as frustration creeped into qualifying. It was a hard thought campaign, with Valentine Z, Dantopia Ziwana and Trolleborg all prominent. Needing a win to guarantee group victory, Flavovespia stormed clear against Valentine Z, 2-1 at half time became 6-1, and a ticket to a 4th consecutive World Cup was secure.

Now Pot 3, Flavovespia landed a group of Turori, Nephara and HUElavia. There’s no easy groups, but that was a tough one on paper. However in the first Matchday, Flavovespia weathered the Turori attacking storm, keeping a clean sheet and thanks to Adrian Jones and Michael Cole, secured a 0-2 victory, only a 2nd ever World Cup win. Nephara though were too good for Flavovespia, but a 7 goal thriller was 4-3 in the end to Nephara. Flavovespia knew a win vs HUElavia would be enough. Michael Cole scored the all important goal in the 63rd minute. Turori would defeat Nephara 1-0, Turori were still out, Nephara were second and Flavovespia, courtesy of having the only 2 goal win in the Group, had won Group G.

And then the infamous Round of 16 match vs Farfadillis. Flavovespia had incredibly gone 0-2 up by 20 minutes, and it seemed for the world that Farfadillis would go down to 10 men, Michael Cole elbowed in the face. However referee Ssendi Lutanywa disagreed, to the shock of many. Farfadillis were fired up, and would managw to make it 3-2 by injury time in the second half, with Kieron Player dubiously sent off for 2 yellows. But second choice free kick take Jonathan Bagshaw provided a spectacular equaliser. With 10 minutes of injury time to go, the 10 men of Flavovespia took an unexpected lead! Could they hold on? Well, no, Ssendi Lutanywa would send off David Lyons for yet another dubious decision, Farfadillis unsurprisingly equalised against 9, and in the penalty shootout they were perfect. Flavovespia were home in heartbreaking circumstances and Ssendi Lutanywa was now the most hated figure in the nation.

Plenty of familiar faces starred this cycle, Jonathan Bagshaw, Michael Cole, Kieron Player, David Lyons, all were instrumental in the successes this time around. However new faces burst onto the scene. Nathan Crewe moved into being the top choice goalkeeper, with his command of area and long distribution perfect for Rinaldi's style. Stan Scott-Wilson proved useful as a full back able to play on both sides. Charles Adams made his mark in the midfield, and two new strikers appeared, Peter Langdon and Charles Shepherd. Flavovespia had a Squad ready to contenders further, and avenge the sad end to World Cup 94 for them.

by **Aphrilia** » Fri Nov 28, 2025 8:32 am

And thus we sing of renewal, and thus we sing of remembrance.

The final whistle blows, and cheers erupt throughout the stadium. For the second time in their history, Aphrilia was heading into the round of sixteen after a tough knockout match with newly found rivals Paradystopia. These two sides had met twice in qualifying, a win and a loss for each. But now, here, that battle had been settled at last.

Three goals from The Anchors to Paradystopias one... Knowing the team, maybe they shouldn't have let in that consolation goal. This team despite their defensive reputation, hasn't had a clean sheet in a while. But truthfully? Who cares about that statistic? Aphrilia are through to the Round of 16, that's the exciting part. Aphrilia will be facing off against three-time World Champions Banija in the Round of 16, a team that The Anchors have only ever played once in an international friendly that ended in a draw.

As the end of the match died out and the team starts to prepare to head back and rest, Leonardo Bianchi, as he was walking towards where the he'll meet up with he team to talk about the match, he sees someone approaching. Jessica Rhine-Faust had been exceptional in this match, considering the sort of team they were facing. Not only that, her capabilities and leadership have improved substantially throughout this campaign. Bianchi already knows about her backstory, from being a meek girl who struggled to give orders to someone who was dependable but still kind at their core. Not every captain could be soft with their words then stern by the next second. And he appreciated that talent.

But Jessica's face was that of uncertainty. Despite her growth as a captain, player, and person, Bianchi could tell something is gnawing at her. "We... No, I need to talk about something, Bianchi." The team captain said. Despite the worry in her voice, she was certain with this choice. The manager has heard of her newfound willpower from the others on the team, considering she leads them. "Alright then. We'll talk about it, but preferably in a more private location." He responded. Jessica merely nodded and nudged him to follow her.

Was this serious? Bianchi hopes it isn't too much of a worry. But all he can do is be there.

Well it turns out things were indeed that serious. But not in the way Bianchi thought.

What had first rushed into his mind was perhaps an accident had occurred or whatnot. Maybe someone got injured? It would have been really bad if something like that did happen. Perhaps there had been a scuffle amongst the team? Bianchi noted that the team was in a good mood when they had just beaten Paradystopia... Was there something that he had missed in regards to the team? Surely not. Some of the players actually seemed to be on the up, including the likes of Calico Knacke and Hendrick Meyer-Bertrand.

But what has been revealed to him was... Well, it's certainly a shock, for one. He's gotten used to the concept of ohia existing, even if it's weird to think about considering he has gone to many worlds throughout the multiverse. But Eluwa was a world he had to stay in, away from his usual home of Crpostran. At least when it comes to national team business anyways. But this was certainly a whole new thing, especially considering this had been hidden from him. But considering everything about it, he doesn't blame them.

Teñvana and Kariaha. Beings of angels and demons, Jessica had told him. This is relevant apparently because Theresa Villa is in fact the former. Right now he's in a room with the aforementioned Theresa, Jessica, Alexander Burns, Hanna Morgan-Keynes, and Aguri Hosokawa. They all had different reactions when Jessica brought him into the mix, but she defended her argument saying that he deserves to at least be in the know because of the fact that he was the manager. Better late than never, the captain added.

"I am not exactly sure what I am meant to say about this." Bianchi commented, taking it all in.

"We apologize for hiding this from you. But we thought it was best that until everyone who directly knew about was onboard with one another before bringing it up." Jessica added on. It was a reasonable assessment, especially since up until now, Hannah was really the X factor in all of this due to her former issue with Theresa. She had known from the very start, back when they were on the U21 team together. Apparently when Theresa was letting her wings out, Hannah had accidentally saw all of it. And then that confrontation happened. Jessica and Alex meanwhile, after that incident, started doing their own research about Teñvana and Kariaha. Later down the line Theresa ends up telling Aguri.

"I was honestly fine with it, not like she was doing anything bad or hurting people. I did say she probably should have told Jessica and Alex about it since they were the ones actually wanting to be in the know." Aguri added through her own comment. Theresa looked at her with a deadpan, but the chevalune was right. That much the forward knew, even if Aguri was fine having to be in the know and to keep it a secret until now. "...Now what?" Theresa asked, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room.

It's as if the girl was expecting something to happen with this revelation. They say Teñvana bring bad luck, sin, and trouble. As if her presence on the team was only bound to bring struggle and misery for The Anchors. "We can still talk this out, Theresa." Jessica says, while Aguri puts a hand on the Teñvana's shoulder to comfort her. Hannah and Alex... They were unsure of what to say or do, they weren't as close as the former only recently resolved her problem with Theresa and the latter doesn't know her very well.

"Nothing is going to happen to you or the team, not on my watch."

"Eh?" Was all Theresa could muster up as she looked at Bianchi. The man's words were resolute, as if he was very well certain with his decision. "You're staying with the team. Nothing is going to happen to you or anyone, I promise. I already appreciate that you're willing to share this secret to me. We're a family, right? That's what I said back when I first got the job, I'll say it again. As a family, we stick together through thick and thin as well as have each others backs. Trust me as I trust you, trust your teammates as you trust yourself." Bianchi added on. Jessica breathed a sigh of relief, while Alex was talking about how she shouldn't have worried about this at all. Hannah merely gave an understanding nod.

"There's people here for you, Theresa. It's not just me." Aguri spoke. Theresa looked at the chevalune, who had a small smile on her face. She softly affirmed Theresa's feelings, and she's... Happy about that. Implications of her existence aside, the fact that there was more than one person willing to accept who she is filled her with relief and joy. For so long, she has had to hide who she truly was, to the point that her horns were... That would be for another day. But other than that, Theresa is happy. Theresa is glad.

That's one fear down. The next is to willingly show who she is to the rest of the team.

APHRILIA 3 - 1 PARADYSTOPIA
Ines Forrestal (16')
Ashton Roberts -- (35')
Hendrick Meyer-Bertrand P (40')
- HALF TIME -
Brent Wallace (47')
(71') -- Grumpy Gustavus
(90+3') Error Message
- MATCH END -

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Fri Nov 28, 2025 11:48 am

One way or another, this was always going to be an unforgettable night.

World Cup knockout matches generally are for the teams involved of course, at least for those who haven't established themselves at the top of the sport yet - which clearly covers both of the teams that opened World Cup 100's bracket in Alaer - but this one was on a different level. The Kytlerians had home advantage, four straight 1-0 friendly wins over this opposition, and the ghost of history to exorcise from World Cup 98 when they also played this first knockout fixture and rapidly imploded to a brutal defeat to Baker Park. Who, incidentally, loomed as a potential octofinal opponent for the winner of this.

On that night in Alaer, the dreams turned to a nightmare in frighteningly quick time; 2-0 in 15 minutes, 3-0 seven minutes after the break, the scoreline entirely reflecting the balance of play until two late goals - the second a penalty with the last kick of the match - made it not so much misleading as an outright fabrication. The phoenix team's win in that friendly against the same team in the same building ultimately rang hollow, for all that it felt cathartic at the time to see Vicente (whose Quebecois club duties meant he split from the team at Joongyeong's Bobigny Airport and never boarded Flight 134) smash in a memorial golazo; the similar screamer he smashed past Hapilopper in the opening match of the subsequent WC99 qualifying phase was more meaningful, but only in the sense of setting the team on a collision course with a PTSD-inducing trip to Arrosia for the Proper, and few if any Kytlerians were shocked at the team being tamely grouped when they got there.

Now the new team is settled, with a home World Cup of their own, and they got this night in Alaer.

And within six minutes, it was going the same way as that one. The source of the opening goal was crushingly ironic, too; right-back Sevet-Ajark Tez, a central part of the AFC Edencliff team that memorably won the NSL title before losing more players to Flight 134 than any other club, looped a cross towards the far post that looped over Peter de Beukelaer and in off the inside of said post. You could tell by their bewildered expression that this was no intentional shot; you could sense from the silence inside three-quarters of Clituleng Giisost Stadium that it felt like it was going to be the same story all over again - and what more emphatic way to hammer that message home than a fluke goal from a team who had lost four straight matches to the Kytlerians and scored in precisely none of them?

But this time, by the time the crowd had come to terms with their fate, destiny called and asked for a refund. A short corner routine set up a shooting chance from the edge of the box for Stijn Beverwijk, whose effort looked to be going just wide of the far post but took a fateful flick off Prant-Culak Guv to send it into completely the opposite part of the goal, Kepex-Cheng Yan left grasping at thin air as the ball drifted into the vacated part of their net. 1-1 after nine minutes, and suddenly all was loud again.

From then on, both teams seemed determined to show that the goal they conceded was an aberration and a fluke, a reasonable approach considering that this was entirely the truth in each instance. There were no more shots on target at either end in the entire first half, though the Kytlerians did have the better of possession and also had the biggest "oooooh" moment when a Vicente effort from distance whistled past the post with Kepex-Cheng beaten. There was no sense of panic in the second half from the Caldera Sun either, seemingly happy to take the sting out of the match and perhaps waiting for their opponents to choke it away again, not the worst gameplan considering the unbearable weight of context around this match; attacking substitutes forced decent late saves at each end, with a Dino Azar trademark YOLO blast needing the helping hand over the bar it got and Sevet-Matez Fox not quite finding the power in a precisely-placed low shot to stop de Beukelaer from tipping it behind, but 1-1 felt like an apt final score for everyone concerned.

Except, of course, this is a knockout tournament and hence 1-1 cannot be a final score; the two teams would face half an hour of additional play to break the tie, and a spot-kick showdown if that did not suffice. One way or another, this story needed a definitive ending.

The one it got was storybook.

As the clock ticked into the 117th minute, Vicente drifted across the field from his usual left-channel role and won a free-kick in potential shooting range just outside the right post. Dino Azar stood over it as well - arguably it was his territory in terms of a pure shooting chance, given that it was a fair way out - but everyone not in the wall for the Caldera Sun was focusing on a potential cross to the far post. Most of the Kytlerians were lined up as though that was the plan too, with an element of perhaps trying to bait players out of the four-strong wall (it's extremely not a four-man wall when it's a Qusma team!) so that Dino Azar or Vicente could have a crack at goal. They didn't take that bait.

Instead, they'd taken an entirely different one. The plan was never a shot, and nor was it a Vicente curling delivery aimed at one of the units at the back stick (Oliver Vandome and Charles Packard both had a clear height advantage to exploit); instead, Dino Azar merely flicked the ball sideways, and Vicente watched the wall disperse in front of him before threading a pass into utterly unguarded space being filled from the right flank by Joke Feltkamp, who promptly tucked a left-footed shot through the legs of Kepex-Cheng and away from the despairing failed block of Prant-Culak on the line.

Feltkamp, who came on with Dino Azar on 64 minutes, only missed Flight 134 because she had just completed a move to FC Alaer from the Red League side now known as Myana Eyrodii (and now, or next season at least, not a Red League side anyway) and ruled out selection for the national team trip to Arrosia for friendlies with Banija and a Q-League All-Stars team in order to work with her new club side. Her entire continued existence hinged on that fateful decision, and now she had scored a 117th-minute winner in a World Cup knockout match at the G itself.

Destiny had come knocking, indeed. For this team. On this night in Alaer.

As if to underline the point, Baker Park overcame Kanzlia at the ZOS to set up an octofinal with the hosts in Bay City. The two sides are separated in the KPB+ rankings by a slither of a gap that no other team is squeezed into, and Baker Park will likely have almost as few returning players from that night in Alaer as the hosts; if you're looking for objective reasons to believe this is anything other than a coinflip, you'd struggle to find one. Naturally, both teams and their collective coaching will do everything in their power to find a way to carve a logical path to victory, and some of this effort may even bear a degree of fruit - but this has the hallmark of a match that defies such trivial things as logic and tactics, and on some level the setting reflects that.

The Carva Dock Arena has two large L-shaped stands above a shallow lower bowl, allowing light and views through a diagonal path. On one side of this path lies Kytler Bay. On the other lies the route through which tens of thousands of spectators will enter and exit the ground, linking the Carva Olympic Park to Bay City Olympic station and its maglev link to Zube; the 10.93m-wide Margaret Bridge.

Margaret may hold more bearing on this one than any other individual "actually" involved.

by **Valanora** » Fri Nov 28, 2025 1:08 pm

The fans of the Marauders that had made their way over to Tikariot for the Finals and were traveling along with the team might have found themselves thinking quite a bit of home at the latest stop for the Vanorians during their travels. Baraldhur had an aroma that would not have been out of place from many different towns and cities in the southwest of the mainland, where grapes from the vineyards would arrive and be eventually turned into the fine elven wine that was a staple of a Vanorian diet, as well as one of the largest exports. This provincial capital in Tikariot seemed to be quite the epicenter for spirits and distilleries, as well as more than a few breweries, giving a lot of credence as to why the location had seemingly been dubbed a liquor store of a city by a mix of locals and the rest of Tikariot. While it was not of the same quality that was found in the Vanorian wine cellars and pubs, there was a certain quality to the alcohol here that many of the fans could have easily lost themselves to a taste tour and have missed out on traveling to the knockout match entirely if their friends and loved ones did not remind them of why they were actually in the city.

The sixty-one thousand capacity stadium was quite full and there was a noticeable amount of fans wearing the Marauders home navy kit, probably a fourth of those who were in attendance for the first knockout round fixture. There was expectation among the fans that this was merely a formality, that the team simply needed to show up to the match and play their game and that would simply be that. The Ko-orenite Constellation was overmatched in every way, be it by the visual different in skill and talent as well as the rankings that were used to determine the pots and seeds for the competition, there was no way for them to win. The team and staff knew better to make such assumptions, it would ignore history and the present in far too much of an arrogant manner to deny the quality of any team that had made it into the knockouts of a World Cup, luck could only take you so far and that destination was far before the knockout rounds of this prestigious tournament were set to begin. The Constellation had earned their spot in the last thirty-two of the tournament and they were going to be as fierce as any team that the Marauders were going up against, perhaps even more as they had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

It was unbearably loud inside the stadium as songs were in the midst of being sung when the opening whistle was blown to start the game and the Constellation looked to try and shock the footballing world with an upset against the second ranked Marauders. They had not fared well against the first ranked team but each match was its own situation and moment, this moment meant absolutely nothing compared to that and granted an opportunity to go the furthest they ever had in the competition. Tackles were tough, possession was hard to maintain for the Vanorians in the first half hour as the Ko-orenite squad was battling with every fiber that they could muster to try and do what HUElavia had done in the group stage and pull off the result against the former five time champions. The heart and determination was there, the effort was there as they had forced two first half saves from Tobias Propst, yet neither effort had any real zeal behind it and had been easy for the keeper to handle. It was those sort of opportunities that you had to take if you really wanted to pull off the upset against a superior opposition and they had failed to do so.

Those failures to beat the keeper would feel like a gut punch when in the forty-first the Marauders would finally show a little bit of class and break the deadlock between the two sides. Linus Sollien had intercepted an attempted through ball on the left side of the pitch and played a clever one-two with Zack Sjöberg to advance up the wing and around the midfield of the opposition. Racing down the sideline, the winger then sent a driven through ball behind the defense and towards the spot where Haaland ran on to it, the striker collecting the ball taking a stride to his left and then sending it to the far post where Aya Haukås was waiting to tap it in past a sprawling keeper. It had been the first real scoring threat that the Marauders had had through the first half, having been held to a handful of shots from distance until this moment, and yet it had been all that they needed to head into the half time break with the lead in their pocket and looking to get a second and then a third in the second half to salt the game away and put themselves into the Round of Sixteen.

It had to have been heartbreaking for the Constellation to have felt like they had done a good enough job at defending and keeping the Marauders from dominating possession in the first half like they often did against inferior opposition, only for one clinical counter attack off a turnover to be the difference. Then conceding in the forty-ninth minute, just a few minutes after the second half had start, had to feel like a wretched punch right into the gut that almost assuredly meant that there would be no route to victory for the underdogs. Laborious Hawk and been brought down while trying to chest down a cross just outside the box, a little to the left of the top of the D. He then proceeded to take the free kick and produce one of those highlight reel free kicks that had been synonymous with his career that bent around the wall and sneaking inside the near post and into the back of the net. The Marauders were on cruise mode, Haaland hitting the crossbar twice more in the half and Hawk having a rebound effort smothered to have prevented any more scoring from the Marauders. The Ko-orenite side was given some brief hope with a goal off a counter in the seventy-ninth but they would not get another shot on net in the remaining eleven minutes of the match and the Vanorians were on to the next round.

From here the team knew that the difficulty had just hit a massive spike as each next opponent was going to be more difficult than the last and would have more vigor and determination as they all inched closer to what the ultimate prize was. The team now was off to the coast of Tikariot, to Carathyr which was an old city that had much of the same hustle and bustle that one might have seen in Raynor City with it giving off the feeling of a vibrant trade center. The stadium here was roughly another ten thousand larger in capacity, said to be one of the best for fans to visit and located along the shoreline to offer amazing views in the trip to it. It was here that the Marauders would face a familiar foe and one that had given them a bit of trouble in recent times, Siovanija and Teusland. The Goldhorns had not too long ago defeated the Marauders in the group stage of the Finals and they had only gotten better since, their star striker in Hackl seemed to be setting the world ablaze with his clinical finishing. Rasmus Andersen was going to have his hands full in trying to keep the young striker in check, while the likes of Sollien, Hawk, and Haaland looked to unlock the defense of their Arrosian brothern who had thus far been quite stingy. It was going to be a testy and tense affair but the side had its hunger and desire to get the specter of the sixth title off its back, to get a bit of revenge for results that they felt had wronged them, this was an opportunity to continue down those paths.

by **Squornshelan Remnant States** » Fri Nov 28, 2025 2:56 pm

Postmatch Snippets:

Dudu Madeiros
"Dudu, your side needed extra time just to get out of the first round, was there a familiarity with your tactics that allowed Cesare Ajello's side to succeed, or do you see this as an indication of deeper vulnerabilities in your team?"

"We've been using more or less the same general tactical approach for over four cycles now, so I think anyone who's been paying attention is familiar with the way we like to play by now, not just my paesani. And let's also not pretend anyone really expected this to be a walkover for us. Yes, we have aspirations to go deep in this tournament, but gli attaccanti, we should keep in mind, were ranked in the top ten just one cycle ago, and have only recently taken a bit of a slide in the rankings. I thought Cesare's side played well. They looked well-prepared, they knew what they needed to do and took advantage of their chances, so as you all saw, it took everything we had to beat them out there. Fortunately for us, we have the luxury of an amazingly deep bench, so when I can bring on Rasha (Sargsa) and Øystein (Shakhnovich) heading for extra time with fresh legs, it's a great feeling, and of course it makes me look pretty good for Rasha to score the winner."

"Is it particularly meaningful for you to win this match in particular? Or is there any sense of a divided heart in wishing your homeland had gotten a chance to extend their run?"

"There's no divided loyalty for me, if that's what you're asking. Honestly I feel I should be a bit insulted that you've asked? This whole team is focused on getting back to the top of the mountain, especially after being so close last time out, and so am I. I wish all success to Juvencus of course, I want them to do well, and I have absolutely been pulling for Cesare. We've spoken a few times in the past months as a matter of fact. But all of that ends when you're out on the pitch with a match to win."

"With your status within SCFA history you could probably have whatever position you liked in the SRS, but do you have any dreams of returning home and managing gli attaccanti in the future?"

"It would of course be an exciting opportunity and a privilege if the stars aligned in that way, but it's not something I've spent a lot of time thinking about. I'm quite happy here with the SCFA. I have a good relationship with (SCFA President) Dudin (Gereben) and we've obviously had quite a bit of success together, so I think if I were looking seriously into managing Juvencus it would mean that something had first gone very badly wrong here, which I don't think anyone wants."

"What preparations are you making for the upcoming octofinal against Valentine Z?"

"Well aside from stilts for setplays? We have some preliminary ideas based on scouting reports from qualifying, but my staff and I won't have a definite gameplan until after we review some more recent video tomorrow morning. They're another team that likes to keep the ball moving, get things forward, of course, so it'll once again come down to who can best capitalize on their opportunities."

Rasha Sargsa
"Rasha, congratulations on the win, and an impressive finish on the winning goal. How did that play come together from your perspective."

"Thanks, it all really started from the back though. Valtteri (Tirel) was under a bit of pressure from Audiol but he got a good ball forward anyway, launched Esti (Madathil) up the field and the press was pretty well on at that point. From there it was Esti and Inder with a bit of back and forth, playing in Aile (Tutku) as well to stretch the defense out onto the wing. Once we had a little space to the inside Joonas (Priam) made a good run and whipped that short low cross in for me, no look that pass by the way, and I was able to get just a step on Pujals. At the point I just thought to put it back where the keeper was coming from, use his movement against him, so back to the near post and it worked out in the end.

"The attack has been a bit inconsistent thus far for this team, one goal against Siovanija & Teusland, six and a McGill hat trick against Zwangzug, nothing against Paradystopia, and now perhaps a more typical three. Do you feel there's any adjustment that needs to be made to get more regular results going forward?"

"Well fortunately it isn't my job to figure all that out. I just take my chances where I find them, try to make the keeper work for it, try to help my team to a win. If you're trying to bait a comment about wanting more playing time I'll have to disappoint you. Estina's a phenomenal talent, as is Minakshi for that matter, so that's definitely not the problem."

"As you move deeper into your eighth World Cup cycle as part of the national team, I think there's one question a lot of your supporters are wondering: is this the last dance for Rasha Sargsa?"

"Oh wow, I honestly haven't even thought about that yet. I suppose in a sense it's up to the SCFA, if they want to invite me again in a couple years' time. For right now, I'm focused on the task at hand, there's plenty of time to consider the future afterward I think."

SCFA President Dudin Gereben
"Dudin, the Squornshelan national team has enjoyed a run of unprecedented success, with one World Cup trophy, one set of runners' up medals, and three Arrosian championships. What has been the key to building this winning culture?"

"I want to first emphasize that the foundations for these high times were built by Ailen Koirala. The team was honestly very unlucky not to have had more success under her guidance, and so despite never having been particularly highly ranked before, this was a team that was always a lot better than its ranking. How many times were the Black-and-Reds the best team not to qualify for the World Cup? More than a few, if my memory serves. In any case, I've done more by simply continuing and doubling down on a lot of Koirala-era initiatives than by innovating. We've poured a lot of ourselves into youth development, but again you have to remember that this current generation of players came up before my time in charge. I guess the big decision I can really own is going out to get Dudu Madeiros, which I'll remind you more than a few of you media types thought was absolutely crazy at the time."

"How do you keep your focus on continuing development in spite of success?"

"See, this is where it's a good thing that I'm not the manager, because I don't think I'd be able to keep focused being so close to all the happenings. My job affords me a bit more distance from the day to day though, and of course the association is itself a very talented and focused team who live and breath football and want to promote it at every level. I should also mention how glad we are that the current administration sees the value of sport in general and football in particular, so that we continue to have the resources needed to invest in youth and other grassroots programs to make sure the game remains a thriving part of Squornshelan life."

"One last question, Dudin. Do you have high hopes for this team making another final?"

"Certainly I have hopes, I hope to win another World Cup, this team is certainly capable. Trouble is there's quite a few other quite capable teams out there as well, yes? But I have full faith in our team and management, honestly why wouldn't anyone believe in them? They've done it before, nearly did it again, and whatever some might say about our qualifying record, I don't think you can honestly point at this team and say they've regressed in any real way from a cycle ago."

by **Siovanija and Teusland** » Fri Nov 28, 2025 4:38 pm

Score! Magazine

Goldhorns up against history in WC100 Round of 16

When the final whistle blew in Tikariot City at the end of the Round of 32 match between Siovanija & Teusland and Reçueçn, there was great joy and relief amongst the thousands of travelling Goldhorns fans in the stands. It had been a tough game - we’ll get to that - and the confirmation of the final victory was more than welcome in the sea of gold.

When they saw the name of the Goldhorns’ opponent in the Round of 16, however, a lot of that joy must have faded away. Valanora.

Great neighbours and friends - but unfortunately, not great to us on the football pitch. The Goldhorns have met the Marauders 7 times at the senior level - 6 of them have ended up in defeat. 5 of those were in knockout matches - most recently the 5-4 extra time thriller at the Draistadion in St. Jakob for the semifinal of ARC IV.

For that reason, and others, we at Score! think that it’s quite fair to say the Goldhorns will be up against history tonight at the Jewel of the Coast Stadium in Tikariot. But first, let’s see how we got to this point.

The match against Reçueçn was never going to be an easy one - Hans Gruber stated before the match that “every game gets harder the further you go in this tournament, and this will be no different.” Einar Hackl, the goalscoring fiend who took the Pasargan league by storm this season with Player of the Year honours, stated that the opponents had “one of the best defensive setups in world football… it’s not going to be easy to take our chances against them, but we have to find a way.” On paper, the Goldhorns were surely the favourites - rank #13 against #36 - but is there such a thing as a favourite in a World Cup knockout tie?

Early in the match, the story was of the Goldhorns building up well, but being just unable to break through the staunch defending of Reçueçn. Xorge Le Meji fired in a good shot that did reach the target, but was punched away by Gerauld Firault - and that was about as good as it got for the Goldhorns in the first half. It was a tough, physical match and Erwin Sanner in particular had to be careful after he earned a yellow card just 7 minutes into the game. It was a good tackle that stopped a Reçueçn counter, but with how the game developed it became a big risk to have him out there.

Halftime called out for some changes for the Goldhorns, and Dominik Weismann shifted things up a bit - Sanner did come off, replaced by TSV Marzig stalwart Silvio Rodl, and Dusan Korlikov was also replaced with Josef Weber in an attempt to give some fresh legs a crack at the Reçueçn defence. A further change was made on the 65th minute, with Santutxo Kramer replacing Mats Winter - to give the Goldhorns even more attacking options in midfield.

Shortly after he came on, Kramer showed the kind of energy and drive forward that - yes, we’re making the comparison - his father used to in a Goldhorns shirt. A long shot from the top of the box was just over the bar, and he also had a good ball forward to Einar Hackl that resulted in the shot being blocked by Lukas Kayserling. It was clear Kramer was hungry to leave his mark on the game - and in the 71st minute, it looked like he would do just that. A rare error from Eric Konig resulted in the Goldhorns regaining the ball in the attacking third with Reçueçn just ever so slightly out of position. Hans Gruber made a quick turn and passed to the young Kramer, who had Le Meji in space ahead but chose to take a shot anyways - and what a shot it was! Firault had no chance as the ball sailed into the top left corner. The Goldhorns fans celebrated like crazy - surely that was the winner, right?

76 seconds later, it was 1-1 again. Reçueçn caught the Goldhorns off guard with a good attack directly from the kickoff, and a shot from Theophile Theriault bounced off the hand of Sepp Kranz and out for a corner kick. Theriault swung it in, and Brigitte Breault rose above everyone else to get a head on the ball and knock it into the back of the net. After over an hour of no action, suddenly everything was happening in just 2 minutes.

From here, the game was going to be about momentum - could the Goldhorns pick themselves back up after that, or would it be Reçueçn taking the positive feelings from that goal to go forward and get another one. Neither side really looked to grab initiative, frankly, and the prevailing feeling was that this game would go to an extra 30 minutes of football.

Einar Hackl had other ideas. As the clock ticked towards 90, he seemed to still be keeping his legs even when those around him were fading. Hackl hadn’t had his best evening, frankly, with a few chances that needed to be acted on just a half-second earlier to really make something happen. But he was coming alive late in this game, with a good shot just wide of the goal and another that forced Gerauld Firaut into an excellent diving save. The winner would come from a set piece. Xorge Le Meji won a direct free kick in a dangerous position, and his shot was just inches from becoming the heroic moment itself - ringing off the post. Hackl found himself in the perfect position to grab the rebound, and with one touch to avoid the block of Kayserling, fired his second into the back of the net. 87th minute, 2-1 for Siovanija & Teusland.

That would stand as the goal that sent the Goldhorns to the Round of 16 for the 3rd time in 4 World Cups. “It wasn’t an easy game,” said the hero Hackl afterwards, “but they never are at this level. I was in the right position, and I took the moment when my team needed it.” The manager, for his part, stated “I thought we recovered well after Reçueçn equalized, we showed a lot of fight, and I know the boys are ready to keep fighting in the next round.”

And so, here we are - that Round of 16 tie with Valanora. Those who have followed this team for a long time remember the moments of heartbreak - the two penalty shootouts that both went the way of our neighbours in the AOCAF, the 3-1 loss in World Cup 87’s Round of 16 in what was really the ‘last hurrah’ for Thorsten Kramer’s generation, and more recently of course the blown lead and devastating extra time goal in St. Jakob. They also remember the one shining moment - Xorge Le Meji’s goal late in the World Cup 98 opener that gave the Goldhorns a 3-2 win over the Marauders, the first and only time the Goldhorns have beaten them at the senior level.

To do it again, they will have to break another curse that will be well-remember by fans of this team. Our Goldhorns have done a good job of reaching the Round of 16 at World Cups in the past - and that is something to be proud of, given how many competitive teams there are in world football. What they have not done a very good job of is winning them. We’ve already mentioned the World Cup 87 defeat to Valanora, but 2 further defeats caused great pain. World Cup 97 - exactly 20 years on from their last appearance in the World Cup knockouts - the Goldhorns shocked the world in not just qualifying for the World Cup, but reaching the playoff stage again. It was exactly what the nation needed after the Sankt Konrad War - but unfortunately, it would end in defeat to the co-hosts Eastfield Lodge. The Eastfielders, turning decades of bad luck into a magical run, would prevail in extra time 4-2.

Last time around, it was even more heartbreaking - on our own home turf in the Nationalstadion, Audioslavia managed to knock out the Goldhorns with a final score of 3-2, with the Bulls en route to an unexpected World Cup victory in the 99th edition. That final result did not make it any easier, however, as you rarely get the chance to play a World Cup on home soil. So that’s 3 for 3 in terms of losses at the Round of 16 at the World Cup - the Goldhorns have never gone any further than that.

Finally, the other fact of history not on our side: the Vanorians are determined as ever in their chase of that 6th World Cup title. While that 5th title came quite a while ago now, in World Cup 61, the Marauders have come so close to making history many times since then: runners up twice, including World Cup 97, and third place as recently as World Cup 95. They are ranked 2nd in the world, boast many of the world’s best players, and everyone knows how much they would love to win the historic sixth prize in the historic 100th edition of the tournament.

So, to recap: almost 0 historic success against Valanora (to be fair, 1 win is better than many sides have done in the past), 0 historic success in World Cup Round of 16 football, and going up against a side determined to make even more history. What, then, is on our side?

Three things come to mind. Firstly, that determination for the historic victory is admirable and understandable. But could it be channeled into a secret weapon for the Goldhorns? It’s extra pressure that the Marauders have upon themselves that the Goldhorns don’t - and if Siovanija & Teusland can make something happen early, could it just give their opponents that little bit of doubt? For the Goldhorns, there’s really no pressure. Much of the country will have seen the name of our opponents and written this one off already - there’s something to prove instead. Secondly, the Goldhorns are in the best form the national team has been in for some time, perhaps ever. In the last 19 matches, the national team have 16 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat. ARC IV and V both saw them reach the Semifinal of the regional tournament that has sent 6 nations to this Round of 16. This is a team with a lot of self-belief and confidence - they won’t be feeling that history weighing on them. And finally? Well, luck has to be on our side at some point, right? Why not tonight?

One match against history, one match to make history.

We’ll be here following it all - come on you Goldhorns!

Siovanija & Teusland v Valanora - World Cup 100, Round of 16

Starting XI Kranz; Schwefel, Apel, Sanner, Reichenbach; Gruber, Winter, Le Meji; Weber, Kosch-Kovarik, Hackl

by **Tanirinthia** » Fri Nov 28, 2025 4:59 pm

OF FATES AND FORTUNES
Chapter Forty-Two - Origins (continued)

”While the professor looked into the matter for us, it gave us some time to study the various documents and manuscripts that Irandar University had to offer. With our final destination just one final journey (albeit arduous) away, we had yet to find anything reliable in the literature about how we might operate the gateway should the ruins truly contain such an artefact. Although we had been able to decipher commonalities in the fantastical stories, they were still fantastical, written in poetical and figurative stylings, more aimed at imparting moral lessons than a technical manual on how to operate thousands of years old magical artefacts. We had the same fruitless results as from our research in St Cirith, which led us to the inevitable conclusion; that we would need to simply spend time studying the artefact and trying out all the myriads of ways that it could possibly work. But how would we do that on an uninhabited island weeks of journey from the nearest land?”

”We debated another cover story, an archeological survey of some kind and used what funds we had left to pay a team of people to help us survive on the island. The problem is that we would need to keep our actual work hidden, and the chances of us being able to do that on a small island where there was literally nothing else going on seemed small if not zero. Luckily for us there were two factors that made another option better in some ways, the expedition notes that started us off on all this mentioned that firstly there was a functional well on the island, meaning a supply of fresh water, and secondly there were no dangerous animals on the island, meaning no need to hire someone to protect us. So it seemed yet again the final hurdle would be with the three of us, we would need to get provisions for several months, charter the ship to drop us off and agree when they would return. We initially worried as to whether it would seem suspicious as to why we wanted to go on alone, but in another stroke of luck before we could even explain that part of the plan to prospective captains they would always start by saying some variation of me and my crew ain’t stepping one foot on those damned shores! So superstition worked in our favour.”

”We found our captain in the end, although we were by no means fully cynical to the ways of the world as yet, our journey so far had begun to sharpen our instincts, certain questions not asked, some questions focused on too much, made us feel that were we to step on those vessels we weren’t coming back. But in the end we found ourselves on Captain Aditi’s vessel, a seasoned sailor with a shrewd eye that seemed to see that our reasons for travelling might not have been fully on the level, yet her concern as to our reasons was none of hers she said, if we paid and stayed out of her and crew’s way and cleaned up our vomit then that was that. Pride comes before the fall they say, and of course we said we were made of sterner stuff and of course we could handle being on a ship without losing our lunches. Fall we did after that prideful display, it took a full week before we even began to get our sea-legs, and if I’m being brutally honest I don’t think I ever fully got them, but I at least managed to keep down most of my food for the rest of the voyage.”

”We had chosen wisely at least, Captain Aditi handled the treacherous ocean voyage as a well oiled machine, all working with one purpose and each member of the crew respecting their captain without hesitation. I discovered that contrary to some of the stories I’d read of captains ruling with an iron fist and fear, using punishments to keep a crew in-line a general tyrant of the shipdom, in this case the Captain was an elected position. The crew had cast lots, and any crew member can at any point ask for a new vote if they have lost faith. I also learned that this crew had been sailing together for seven years at this point, and not at any point in that time had such a call been made. After many weeks with nothing but tempestuous blue around us, one day the call went out; Land ho! It was nothing but a small speck on the horizon, but it was finally there ahead of us getting bigger each day; Faywharf Island.”

Chapter One | Chapter Two | ~~Chapter Three~~ | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight | Chapter Nine | Chapter Ten | Chapter Eleven | Chapter Twelve | Chapter Thirteen | Chapter Fourteen | Chapter Fifteen | Chapter Sixteen | Chapter Seventeen | Chapter Eighteen | Chapter Nineteen | Chapter Twenty | Chapter Twenty-One | Chapter Twenty-Two | Chapter Twenty-Three | Chapter Twenty-Four | Chapter Twenty-Five | Chapter Twenty-Six | Chapter Twenty-Seven | Chapter Twenty-Eight | Chapter Twenty-Nine | Chapter Thirty | Chapter Thirty-One | Chapter Thirty-Two | Chapter Thirty-Three | Chapter Thirty-Four | Chapter Thirty-Five | Chapter Thirty-Six | Chapter Thirty-Seven | Chapter Thirty-Eight | Chapter Thirty-Nine | Chapter Forty | Chapter Forty-One | Chapter Forty-Two (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six)

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by **Tikariot** » Fri Nov 28, 2025 5:06 pm

Arrival in Tovaca - The Thunderdome Beckons

Tovaca is calm and quiet when the Tikariot Owlways plane with the Tikariotian national team touches down at Taeria International Airport outside of the city. The fans are not. A sea of people in black, maroon and white, flags, drums, stomping feet, chants, the airport terminal shakes at its foundations. Despite the euphoria, they politely part like the Red Sea to allow the players and staff to exit the terminal and enter their bus, but not without players taking ample time for autographs and selfie requests. The drive along the cliffs toward the Thunderdome is not much different, with hundreds of fans lining the road. The view is absolutely breathtaking, with Tovaca built on top of a large bluff/peninsula, with (very) high cliffs falling off toward the eastern Xandrian Sea.

Seabirds circle above the Thunderdome when the bus arrives and parks next to another bus, this one in dark teal, maroon and gold colours: The Pyazhnayans had arrived.

As the Snowy Owls alight from the bus and walk toward the player entrance, their opponents are waiting in the player tunnel. Some stand still and serious. Most are not. Specifically: the Danilas are not.

Danila Terentyev stands with sunglasses far too reflective for an indoor setting, striking a pose like a spy whose cover had already been blown. Beside him, Danila Mukhametshin bounces on his toes, his phone held high as his AuraCast stream scrolls with enough emotes to cause motion sickness, showing the arriving Tikariotians.

Tunnel Meeting - Snowy Owls meet Chaos Goblins

Mukhametshin: STREAMITURI TE SALUTANT! We greet our Tikariotian frienemies! Look! Look! It is Wiołeta “Chaos Incarnate” Motyka herself!
Motyka: [marches forward like a general] Turn that camera off before I do something the referees won’t like.
Terentyev: The chat is terrified and delighted. Like they should be.

Serafima Vakhrusheva approaches with the casual confidence of someone who just lifted a league trophy two days earlier. She nudges Port Tacassam FC teammate Grimaud in the ribs.

Vakhrusheva: Hey, old man, good to see you made it to Tovaca without tripping over your ego.
Grimaud: It is a delicate balance, I admit.
Arkhangelsky: It’s a miracle is what it is.

Behind them, von Rosencrantz and Karlsbakk share a handshake so firm it sends shockwaves through the tunnel’s metal beams. Players from both teams instinctively took a half-step back.

Karlsbakk: You ready for this, mountain man?
von Rosencrantz: Always. Are you?
Karlsbakk: I was born on an island of storms, Magnus. I fear nothing.
Nørregaard-Hjelmborg: Seb, you weren’t born anywhere near an island, you were born in Skarraborg, not even near a lake, pfft.
Karlsbakk: Oh shush. Never let facts interfere with the narrative!
Vlahellis: I was born on an actual island.
Belfrage: You’re half Vdaran, you don’t count.
Vlahellis: HEY!

On the Pyazhnayan side, the Danilas have now gathered several teammates to join their chaos livestream. Danila Mukhametshin holds up the phone to include Motyka, who glares with the intensity of a sun flare.

Mukhametshin: Wiołeta, for the stream: who would win in a fist fight, you or a bear?
Motyka: The bear. But only because I’d go easy on it.
Terentyev: CHAT SAYS THEY BELIEVE YOU.
Motyka: Chat is wise.

Fiskerstrand-Kyvåg, hair blazing under the stadium lights, steps forward.

Fiskerstrand-Kyvåg: Are you two actually training for tomorrow, or just trying to break into comedy?
Terentyev: We multitask.
Mukhametshin: We chaos-task.
Arkhangelsky: They “task-never-finish.”
Vakhrusheva: They “task-never-start.”

Press & Fans Event on the Cliffs of Tovaca

By sunset, the team has relocated to the edge of the Tovaca Cliffs, some a little closer to the edge than Tikariot Football Federation officials would want, but they know better than to try to reason. Embedded into the ground just off the cliffs is an old amphitheatre, which has been decorated in true Tikariotian style with torches, drummers from Taerian native tribes and tattered flags fluttering in the stiff breeze coming in from the Xandrian Sea and up the cliffs, which also sends the torches sputtering. The amphitheatre is filled to the brim with fans, some of who have brought homemade signs reading things like:

“WE SURVIVED SALAMANDARE!”
“PROTECT ANNA-SOFIA’S TONGUE AT ALL COSTS”
“MAKE CHAOS PROUD”
“NIGHTHORSE IS OUR SPIRIT GUIDE”

Then, the tribespeople start with a hypnotic rhythm and the fans fall silent, the pulses echoing across the amphitheatre. Seven black-clad figures walk out, all with torches, the ones who the press has dubbed the Tikariot Seven: Wiołeta Motyka, Morris Nighthorse, Solfrid Frøya Fiskerstrand-Kyvåg, Magnus Baltazar von Rosencrantz, Adrian Grimaud, Andarra Belfrage and Anna-Sofia Nørregaard-Hjelmborg. They take up seats at the front of the amphitheatre, placing their torches in holders behind them.

Belfrage: Good evening Tikariot, hope you’re doing well?

The crowd cheers.

Belfrage: Given the occasion, we figured to take some questions tonight, from the press and also you fans. I hope you’ll be gentle, but we’re expecting the worst.

James Crimley (Tovaca Standard): There’s enormous expectation: Fourth-ranked in the multiverse. Hosting part of the tournament. Facing a lower-ranked side. How do you handle the pressure?

The players glance at one another, and without coordination, Motyka is nudged gently (well, not so gently).

Motyka: I eat pressure. With hot sauce. And then I breathe fire.
Crowd: WIO-ŁE-TA! WIO-ŁE-TA!

Nighthorse: We’ve all been in pressure situations before, like at WC98, but yeah, technically we have everything to lose. But we don’t think that way. We can’t think that way. Can we win this thing? Sure we can. Will we win it? Maggie only knows. But we don’t look that far, all that matters is Pyazhnaya.
von Rosencrantz: We’re not thinking about rankings either. Knockouts erase rankings, it’s everyone for themselves. We made it to third twice, we have a really strong team, we have a great spirit, so why not?
Grimaud: Especially when half the Pyazhnayan team is allergic to logic.

Fans laugh.

Belfrage: We feel supported. Strongly supported. Sometimes terrifyingly supported. Can there be such a thing as too much support? No. But we’re realistic. Sure, we’re the favourites against Pyazhnaya, but any team that can throw out the reigning World Cup champions is not someone who’ll just lie down just because we’re number 4 in the multiverse. If anything, they really have nothing to lose because even if we shoot them out of the stadium, they’ve come further than they’ve ever managed and all of that despite all the chaos in their federation. Oh, speaking of which, #Zub-over.

The fans cheer again and start chanting the hashtag.

Jonathan Nyqvist (Skarraborgs Aftonbladen): As you guys mentioned, Pyazhnaya is known for unpredictable tactics. How will you prepare?

Before anyone can answer, half the Tikariotian players point directly at Motyka again.

All: HER.
Motyka: I am not a tactic. I am a natural disaster.
Grimaud: Exactly.
Fiskerstrand-Kyvåg: We have our own Chaos Goblin. They can’t out-goblin her.
Nighthorse: The Danilas are powerful spirits of disruption. Wiołeta is… a more ancient kind.
Motyka: I accept this.
Belfrage: I’m not sure you really can fully prepare for a team like Pyazhnaya. I am convinced that half the time they don’t really know what they’ll do themselves.
Motyka: Well, duh, that’s how chaos works!
Belfrage: All we can do is do what we do best.
Motyka: “Do is do what we do?” Shoobeedoo?
Belfrage: Oh, shush you! We’ll just play and do our thing. It’s worked well for us so far, so why change?

Fan: Did the sauces affect training at all?

Belfrage: Yes.
Grimaud: Yes.
Nørregaard-Hjelmborg: Oh fucking hell yes...
von Rosencrantz: No.
Motyka: They didn’t let me drink that Widow Maker bottle…
Belfrage: Wio, I love you to pieces, but you’re not indestructible!
Motyka: Says who?
Fiskerstrand-Kyvåg: Okay, if we win the World Cup, you can drink one.
Motyka: Now we’re talking!

A fan shouts “FJANDINN FOREVER!” and the players collectively groan.

Random Fan: If you had to fight an angry goose with one teammate, who would you pick?

Grimaud: I beg your pardon?
Motyka: Me. I have studied the goose. I am not afraid.
Nighthorse: All animals deserve respect. Even geese.
Grimaud: I would choose Nighthorse. He could talk the goose out of fighting.
Fiskerstrand-Kyvåg: I’d pick Magnus. He could just catch it.
von Rosencrantz: I do not catch geese. Geese catch me.
Belfrage: …what does that even mean?
von Rosencrantz: I don’t know…

Ragnar Cederholm (host of Conquering the Sun): Would you repeat the Conquering the Sun challenge?

Motyka: ABSOLUTELY.
Nørregaard-Hjelmborg: NO.
Belfrage: My stomach is still in negotiations.
Fiskerstrand-Kyvåg: Maybe in winter, when my tongue won’t melt.
Nighthorse: Pain is wisdom.
von Rosencrantz: If the team needs me.
Grimaud: Only if the sauces stop having names like war crimes.
Ragnar: They won’t.

The fans erupt in laughter once again.

By now, the sun has fully set and the torches are the only illumination on the cliffs. Motyka stands up, drawing questioning looks from her teammates.

Motyka: I wanted to thank you all for showing up wherever we go. I mean, sure, you all live here, so it’s not like you go and colonize another country, but still. It really means a lot to us that no matter what we do, you still stand behind us. Every time. Sure, we’re out there playing and we’re the celebrities and all, but to be honest, without you all, it would be boring. I had an offer to go to Farfadillis during the last transfer window, I didn’t. Sure, Farfadillis is like where Chaos lives, but… I didn’t wanna go anywhere. This here is my home. Well, not the amphitheatre, but you get the point. I am Tikariotian. I was born here, I live here, I play here, I’ll die here. That reminds me, I will make a promise to all of you. If we lose tomorrow, I’ll jump off that cliff beh--
Belfrage: NO!
Grimaud: Don’t you dare!
Nighthorse: If you die, I will have my tribe’s elders bring you back so I can throw you off that cliff again myself for a second time!
Motyka: Aaww, that’s so sweet! Nah, I won’t do that, what would you all do without me, right? Can’t do that.

She picks up her torch and raises it into the night sky.

Motyka: For Tikariot!

The other players lift theirs as well in a throwback gesture to the Tikariotian freedom movement.

All: For Tikariot!

World Cup 100 | RP thread

K U L T A I N E N (Kolme)

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