Somebody got an amazing chance to watch their first football 'World Cup Final' recently, in Hong Kong! A World Cup Final with a difference of course as this is the Unofficial Football World Championship which is totally separate from the 4 yearly World Cup. The Unofficial Football World Championship operates on a simple system - a bit like Boxing - if you beat the reigning champion you take the title of them and become the winner! Believe it or not, this dates back to the England versus Scotland match in 1872 and each match since then that has involved the 'world champion' has been labelled as a World Title Match!! England were the first winners of the 'trophy'. There is a full table and league system for the UFWC (Scotland are currently far ahead). Have a go at working out the system, but basically a team gets 1 point for a win when they play a World Champions Match and zero for a draw. Only international matches involving the current champion count.
As a crazy football fan, this competition is an excellent alternative to the FIFA World Cup. Unfortunately until recently I never had the chance to see an actual UFWC match. Thanks to Australia drawing with North Korea, this meant that North Korea remained champions going into their recent match with Hong Kong.
So finally I could attend! I'm currently living in Hong Kong and so I headed over to Hong Kong Island for this spectacle.
I felt like a kid again - so excited to be going to a 'big match' - well the 'unofficial World Cup Final' no less - check out my match ticket in the photo!
I headed over to Hong Kong Stadium on HK Island for the match - I went with 3 others and it was a fun day out. The price to get in was 80 HKD (basically 6.40 UK and $10.30 USD). The views inside and around the stadium are immense. Skyscrapers and hills almost hide the sky on you!
Skyscrapers are everywhere in Hong Kong - you just can't miss them unless you are well out into the New Territories. This means the views are normally stunning. The views from within and around the national Hong Kong Stadium are typically impressive.
But it was the football that we came for and despite Hong Kong holding out for the first half hour or so, they soon conceded 3 to give North Korea full control. Hong Kong did have some running and ideas in them but ultimately lacked skill and strength. In the second half North Korea added one more goal, to make the final score 4-0 and maintain the title of unofficial World Champions for North Korea.
Later on however Australia clinched the Asian Cup place leaving the North Koreans out of luck. The Aussies hit 8 past Chinese Taipei (Taiwan's national team) in an 8-0 win. So while North Korea are still unofficial World Champions, they lost out on their East Asian Cup place on goal difference!
I was able to meet a few North Korea fans at the match and talked to them - interesting and hopefully a story for another time!
So why no photo of North Korea lifting the trophy? Because there isn't one. These are the Unofficial Football World Championships don't forget, but fun none the less!
And while I'm at it - if you know me, you'll know I come from Northern Ireland - I hope we can win the UFWC again - Northern Ireland are 5 times winners and 29th in the all time rankings. I'm looking forward to attending another UFWC title match someday!
As a crazy football fan, this competition is an excellent alternative to the FIFA World Cup. Unfortunately until recently I never had the chance to see an actual UFWC match. Thanks to Australia drawing with North Korea, this meant that North Korea remained champions going into their recent match with Hong Kong.
So finally I could attend! I'm currently living in Hong Kong and so I headed over to Hong Kong Island for this spectacle.
I felt like a kid again - so excited to be going to a 'big match' - well the 'unofficial World Cup Final' no less - check out my match ticket in the photo!
I headed over to Hong Kong Stadium on HK Island for the match - I went with 3 others and it was a fun day out. The price to get in was 80 HKD (basically 6.40 UK and $10.30 USD). The views inside and around the stadium are immense. Skyscrapers and hills almost hide the sky on you!
Skyscrapers are everywhere in Hong Kong - you just can't miss them unless you are well out into the New Territories. This means the views are normally stunning. The views from within and around the national Hong Kong Stadium are typically impressive.
But it was the football that we came for and despite Hong Kong holding out for the first half hour or so, they soon conceded 3 to give North Korea full control. Hong Kong did have some running and ideas in them but ultimately lacked skill and strength. In the second half North Korea added one more goal, to make the final score 4-0 and maintain the title of unofficial World Champions for North Korea.
Later on however Australia clinched the Asian Cup place leaving the North Koreans out of luck. The Aussies hit 8 past Chinese Taipei (Taiwan's national team) in an 8-0 win. So while North Korea are still unofficial World Champions, they lost out on their East Asian Cup place on goal difference!
I was able to meet a few North Korea fans at the match and talked to them - interesting and hopefully a story for another time!
So why no photo of North Korea lifting the trophy? Because there isn't one. These are the Unofficial Football World Championships don't forget, but fun none the less!
And while I'm at it - if you know me, you'll know I come from Northern Ireland - I hope we can win the UFWC again - Northern Ireland are 5 times winners and 29th in the all time rankings. I'm looking forward to attending another UFWC title match someday!
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