Introduction

This was the second Confederations Cup to be contested, and was held after World Cup X. A total of ten teams made up the field, 4 from Europe, 2 from South America, 2 from Asia, 1 from Africa, and 1 from North America. This counts Georgia as an Asian nation, since they are currently in AFC. However, technically Georgia qualified as a European nation, since they were a member of UEFA when they won the World Cup that earned their place in this tournament.

• Teams Entered: 10
• Champion: England (1st)
• Top Scorer: Villa (6)

Qualification

Qualification was supposed to be straight forward. The latest World Cup champion from World Cup X, the 5 continental champions from the second edition of each of the continental cups, and then the only teams who had won multiple World Cup championships (Norway and Georgia) were going to form a field of 8 for a nice, easy to set up, straightforward tournament.

However, two things changed those plans: Norway won Euro Cup II and Challenge League Season 1 was completed.

With Norway now filling two of the spots, the tournament needed to take qualifiers from elsewhere. Spain had won the previous tournament and had also won the individual tournament from the Challenge League, so they were given a spot. It wasn't fair to only take the individual champion though, so the winner of the #1 bracket (England) and the #1 side on the team who finished with the best record (Netherlands) were given bids as well. This brought the field up to 10, assuming that one of the nine teams who were already invited would not win the next World Cup. Argentina wound up winning the World Cup to round out the field.


-Georgia qualified as World Cup IV champion.
-Argentina qualified as World Cup X champion.

-Jamaica qualified as Gold Cup II champion.
-Nigeria qualified as African Cup II champion.
-Norway qualified as Euro Cup II champion.
-South Korea qualified as Asian Cup II champion.
-Uruguay qualified as Copa America II champion.

-Spain qualified as Challenge League Season 1 Individual champion.
-England qualified as Challenge League Season 1 #1 champion.
-Netherlands qualified as Challenge League Season 1 Team champion.


Argentina, England, Georgia, Jamaica, Norway, Spain were competing for the second time in a row.
Netherlands, Nigeria, South Korea, Uruguay were competing for the first time.

Draw

The draw was based on geography, each group would have 2 teams from Europe, 1 from South America, 1 from Asia, and then 1 from either Africa or North America.

Results

Group A

Netherlands - 12 pts +7 GD 8 GF 1 GA
Uruguay - 6 pts +0 GD 4 GF 4 GA
Jamaica - 4 pts +0 GD 4 GF 4 GA
Norway - 4 pts -4 GD 4 GF 8 GA
South Korea - 2 pts -3 GD 2 GF 5 GA

Jamaica 1 - 2 Netherlands [Lowe; Van Persie, Robben]
Uruguay 1 - 2 Norway [Forlan; Carew, Nevland]
BYE: South Korea

Netherlands 1 - 0 Uruguay [Huntelaar]
Norway 2 - 2 South Korea [Nevland, Winsnes; Lee Chungyong, Park Chuyoung]
BYE: Jamaica

Uruguay 2 - 1 Jamaica [Eguren, Suarez; D. Phillips]
South Korea 0 - 2 Netherlands [Robben, Van Bommel]
BYE: Norway

Jamaica 0 - 0 South Korea
Netherlands 3 - 0 Norway [Van Bommel, Van Persie x2]
BYE: Uruguay

Norway 0 - 2 Jamaica [M. Bent, Marlon King]
South Korea 0 - 1 Uruguay [Suarez]
BYE: Netherlands

Group B

England - 8 pts +4 GD 7 GF 3 GA
Spain - 7 pts +5 GD 10 GF 5 GA
Georgia - 7 pts +1 GD 3 GF 2 GA
Argentina - 3 pts -4 GD 3 GF 7 GA
Nigeria - 3 pts -6 GD 2 GF 8 GA

Argentina 0 - 2 Nigeria [I. Uche, Mikel]
England 0 - 0 Georgia
BYE: Spain

Nigeria 0 - 3 England [Gerrard, Lampard, Barry]
Georgia 2 - 1 Spain [Arveladze, Iashvili; Villa]
BYE: Argentina

England 2 - 1 Argentina [Walcott x2; Tevez]
Spain 4 - 0 Nigeria [Villa x2, Iniesta, Torres]
BYE: Georgia

Argentina 1 - 3 Spain [Tevez; Torres, Villa, Silva]
Nigeria 0 - 1 Georgia [Arveladze]
BYE: England

Georgia 0 - 1 Argentina [Higuain]
Spain 2 - 2 England [Silva, Puyol; Rooney, Owen]
BYE: Nigeria

Quarterfinals

Spain 3 - 0 Jamaica [Xavi, Silva, Marcos Senna]
Uruguay 1 - 2 Georgia [Forlan; Kenia, Iashvili]

Semifinals

Netherlands 2 - 3 Spain [Robben, Kuyt; Xavi, Villa x2]
England 4 - 0 Georgia [Barry, Rooney x2, Owen]

Third Place

Netherlands 0 - 3 Georgia [Arveladze x2, Kobiashvili]

Championship

Spain 1 - 2 England [Iniesta OT; Rooney OT, Owen OT]

Top Scorers

The top scorers from the tournament (players with 3 or more) were:

Villa - 6
Arveladze - 4
Rooney - 4
Owen - 3
Silva - 3
Van Persie - 3

Last modified: ?8?/?2?/?2018? ?4?:?07?:?58? ?PM