Internatia Cup

Internatia Cup

Founded	2013
Region	Internatia (FIT)
Number of teams	55 (qualifiers) 16 (finals)
Current champions	Edoriada (1st title)
Most successful team(s)	Edoriada
II Internatia Cup

The Internatia Cup is the primary association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Confederation of Internatian Football (FIT), the sport's Internatian governing body.

Prior to entering the tournament all teams other than the host nations (which qualify automatically) compete in a qualifying process.

The most recent championship, co-hosted by Irdminia and Mukaltin in 2013, was won by Edoriada, who beat Sunetti 3–2 at the final in Sakgthatöön. The host of II Internatia Cup will be announced in December 2013 or January 2014.

Format

Qualifying

In order to qualify, a team must finish in one of the qualifying spots or win a play-off. After this a team proceeds to the finals round in the host country, although hosts qualify for the tournament automatically.

The groups for qualification are drawn by a FIT committee using seeding. Seeded teams include reigning champions, and other teams on the basis of their performance in the preceding qualifying. To obtain an accurate view of the teams abilities, a ranking is produced. This is calculated by taking the total number of points won by a particular team and dividing it by the number of games played, i.e. points per game. In the case of a team having hosted one of the two previous competitions and therefore having qualified automatically, only the results from the single most recent qualifying competition are used. If two teams have equal points per game, the committee then bases their positions in the rankings on:

1. Coefficient from the matches played in its most recent qualifying competition.
2. Average goal difference.
3. Average number of goals scored.
4. Average number of away goals scored.
5. Drawing of lots.

The qualifying phase is played in a group format, the composition of the groups is determined through means of a draw of teams from pre-defined seeded bowls.

Each group is played in a league format with teams playing each other home and away. Teams then either qualify for the final tournament or to further playoffs depending on their position in the group. As with most leagues, the points are awarded as three for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. In the eventuality of one or more teams having equal points after all matches have been played, the following criteria are used to distinguish the sides:

1. Higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question.
2. Superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question.
3. Higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question.
4. Higher number of goals scored away from home in the group matches played among the teams in question.
5. Results of all group matches:
   1. Superior goal difference
   2. Higher number of goals scored
   3. Higher number of goals scored away from home
   4. Fair play conduct.
6. Drawing of lots.

Final tournament

The four groups are again played in a league format, where a team plays its opponents once each. The same points system is used (three points for a win, one point for a draw, no points for a defeat). A schedule for the group matches will be drawn up, but the last two matches in a group must kick off simultaneously. The winner and runner-up of each group progresses to the quarter-finals, where a knockout system is used (the two teams play each other once, the winner progresses), this is used in all subsequent rounds as well. The winners of the quarter-finals matches progress to the semi-finals, where the winners play in the final. If in any of the knockout rounds, the scores are still equal after normal playing time, extra time and penalties are employed to separate the two teams.

Results

Edition	Host		Winners	Score	Runners-up		Third place	Score	Fourth place		Number of teams
I Details	Irdminia & Mukaltin		Edoriada	3–2	Sunetti		Irdminia	2–1	Monteverde		16