Here we go then, another Football Manager release, another Draft World Cup! This article will explain what this tournament is for new folk, and explain the changes to last year for those who have been brilliant enough to return.
What is the Draft World Cup?
The DWC is a tournament which uses Football Manager to run a World Cup (and other tournaments!) where players are eligible for the country they play their football in, rather than the country of their nationality. For example, Eden Hazard doesn't represent Belgium (where he is from), he will instead represent Spain (as he plays for Real Madrid). In previous years he represented England (as he played for Chelsea).
You can view the outcomes of our previous three tournaments, plus two Women's Draft World Cups, here.
The format
I have kept the changes made to the rules from last year. Firstly, players on loan are eligible for the team they are on loan to (e.g. Philippe Coutinho will play for Germany rather than Spain). Secondly, clubs that play in a league outside of their own country (e.g. Swansea City, Toronto) have their players eligible for their actual country rather than the league they play in. Finally, players out-of-contract are firstly eligible for their country of nationality, but if they aren't selected they can play for their second nationality or the country they are listed as being based in. This is to make sure as many teams have good squads.
Qualification remains much the same, aping real World Cup qualifying. Six continents go through qualification, with 29 teams automatically getting through to the finals. The remaining three spots are filled from the excellent Intercontinental Play-Off, which features one team from each continent:
What is the Draft World Cup?
The DWC is a tournament which uses Football Manager to run a World Cup (and other tournaments!) where players are eligible for the country they play their football in, rather than the country of their nationality. For example, Eden Hazard doesn't represent Belgium (where he is from), he will instead represent Spain (as he plays for Real Madrid). In previous years he represented England (as he played for Chelsea).
You can view the outcomes of our previous three tournaments, plus two Women's Draft World Cups, here.
The format
I have kept the changes made to the rules from last year. Firstly, players on loan are eligible for the team they are on loan to (e.g. Philippe Coutinho will play for Germany rather than Spain). Secondly, clubs that play in a league outside of their own country (e.g. Swansea City, Toronto) have their players eligible for their actual country rather than the league they play in. Finally, players out-of-contract are firstly eligible for their country of nationality, but if they aren't selected they can play for their second nationality or the country they are listed as being based in. This is to make sure as many teams have good squads.
Qualification remains much the same, aping real World Cup qualifying. Six continents go through qualification, with 29 teams automatically getting through to the finals. The remaining three spots are filled from the excellent Intercontinental Play-Off, which features one team from each continent:
The format of qualifying in each continent remains the same, except in Asia where a preliminary knock-out round has been added in. With Asian qualifying providing some of the more ludicrous one-sided scorelines we've seen, this may provide some mercy to the smaller teams.
Below is the format of qualifying for each continent:
Below is the format of qualifying for each continent:
Nation changes
Frankly, I love playing Football Administrator, and part of that has allowed me to make changes to where teams play. Last year Kazakhstan were moved into Asian qualifying from Europe, and now they are joined by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Whether they can follow Kazakhstan and qualify remains to be seen.
All four teams have been moved because they actually are in Asia, and similarly Australia have been moved back to Oceania from Asia. With Oceanic qualifying culminating in a two-legged play-off, this may well end up in a tasty battle between Australia and New Zealand, who have previously dominated this qualifying section.
There are also new teams. I have been able to gather enough players together to create squads for Kiribati (Oceania), Montserrat, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin and US Virgin Islands (all North America).
The changes made have reduced Europe to 52 teams. With 9 teams, 54 would be a much neater number, so I have allowed two new teams based on areas with strong independence movements, and established (if unofficial) national teams. I have chosen Catalonia and Sicily. However, contrary to the rules above, these teams are going to be represented by players specifically in the local leagues - i.e. Barcelona and Palermo players will still represent Spain and Italy.
Below you can see the rankings for all teams in this year's DWC - their points change is compared to where they were this time last year:
Frankly, I love playing Football Administrator, and part of that has allowed me to make changes to where teams play. Last year Kazakhstan were moved into Asian qualifying from Europe, and now they are joined by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Whether they can follow Kazakhstan and qualify remains to be seen.
All four teams have been moved because they actually are in Asia, and similarly Australia have been moved back to Oceania from Asia. With Oceanic qualifying culminating in a two-legged play-off, this may well end up in a tasty battle between Australia and New Zealand, who have previously dominated this qualifying section.
There are also new teams. I have been able to gather enough players together to create squads for Kiribati (Oceania), Montserrat, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin and US Virgin Islands (all North America).
The changes made have reduced Europe to 52 teams. With 9 teams, 54 would be a much neater number, so I have allowed two new teams based on areas with strong independence movements, and established (if unofficial) national teams. I have chosen Catalonia and Sicily. However, contrary to the rules above, these teams are going to be represented by players specifically in the local leagues - i.e. Barcelona and Palermo players will still represent Spain and Italy.
Below you can see the rankings for all teams in this year's DWC - their points change is compared to where they were this time last year:
It's clear that Wales and Canada were huge beneficiaries to the rule change that allowed them their best club sides. Meanwhile, it's generally been tough for the sides near the top of the rankings, which is really a by-product of a harsh ranking system.
It can be seen that the new sides are not bottom of the pile, instead taking up the positions between 185-191. However, when they are drawn into groups for qualifying, they will take the lowest possible seeding.
Episodes
Hopefully this has whet your appetite for DWC action! I'll soon be putting up the first episodes of this year's DWC adventure. As mentioned at the end of last year's, my wife & I were due a baby in August. He actually arrived in September, but either way that affects my ability to write these episodes. (I'm also currently busy building up to the UK General Election on my other website).
With that in mind, updates from qualifying are likely to be quite brief, summarising full rounds to help this progress faster. It'll still be quite comprehensive though, as a huge part of the excitement comes from seeing which plucky teams go far in qualifying! The best way to avoid falling behind is to follow me on Twitter.
It can be seen that the new sides are not bottom of the pile, instead taking up the positions between 185-191. However, when they are drawn into groups for qualifying, they will take the lowest possible seeding.
Episodes
Hopefully this has whet your appetite for DWC action! I'll soon be putting up the first episodes of this year's DWC adventure. As mentioned at the end of last year's, my wife & I were due a baby in August. He actually arrived in September, but either way that affects my ability to write these episodes. (I'm also currently busy building up to the UK General Election on my other website).
With that in mind, updates from qualifying are likely to be quite brief, summarising full rounds to help this progress faster. It'll still be quite comprehensive though, as a huge part of the excitement comes from seeing which plucky teams go far in qualifying! The best way to avoid falling behind is to follow me on Twitter.