2018 FIFA WORLD CUP (FROM THE GROUND UP)

[OliDegu2008]

THE 2018 FIFA WORLD CUP: RUSSIA

I told you i'd be back!

I will be recreating the 2018 FIFA World Cup using the cards and dice game Soccer Blast as my simulator. I am in the process of creating all 210 nations that entered qualification. It is no small task by any means but I just can't let EA ruin my love of this great competition.

As was the case with my 2010 and 2014 World Cups simulations, the only change I will make is by randomly drawing the pairings and groups during each qualification stage in each Confederation, just to give the match-ups a little different feel!

The 2010 journey saw Germany win the World Cup, Brazil defended its home turf in 2014. Will the trophy stay in Brazil for 4 more years or will it change hands? Only time will tell.

Here is a quick Q&A to answer any questions.

Q: What does from the ground up mean?
A: I will be recreating each confederation qualifying from the preliminaries all the way to the World Cup Final.

Q: How will updates occur?
A: Different from my first adventure recreating the 2014 World Cup, updates will be much more detailed for these reports. They will also chronicle the individual story-lines along with week-to-week updates instead of waiting for a whole group to be finished.

Q: How will I know what is going on with all the games being played as a reader?
A: I will have information explaining every update on what is going on and I will try my best to make it clear what is happening so it is not jumbled and you folks are not confused. Most were happy with my 2014 report, so I won't mix it up too much.

Q: Will you be doing one confederation at a time?
A: Yes, until all 32 qualifiers have been selected.

Q: What are the confederations?
A: Each continent has its own football confederation, UEFA, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, CAF, AFC, OFC.

Q: What about Red Cards, Lineups and Injuries?
A: Red cards yellow cards and injuries will all be dealt with as they normally are in real life. A red card means immediate ejection and you miss the next competition. The recaps will provide all the details on what happens in every game during the qualifying process and the World Cup. In terms of squads, I will do my best to represent real life situations and go from there. Try to mix it up as it happens, just like in real life.

2018 world cup Russia pic.jpg

[OliDegu2008]

2018 FIFA WORLD CUP QUALIFYING LIST

1. Russia (Host)

Africa (CAF) (54 teams competing for 5 berths)

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North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF) (35 teams competing for 3 or 4 berths; a playoff against AFC determines which confederation gets the berth)

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South America (CONMEBOL) (10 teams competing for 4 or 5 berths; a playoff against OFC determines which confederation fills the berth)

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Europe (UEFA) (54 teams competing for 13 berths)

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Asia (AFC) (46 teams competing for 4 or 5 berths; a playoff against CONCACAF determines which confederation gets the berth)

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Oceanic (OFC) (11 teams competing for 0 or 1 berths; a playoff against CONMEBOL determines which confederation gets the berth)

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[asvpxhughuet]

Great to see you starting another one of these Oil, and as always count me as a follower! I must say I was nervous that EA might of gotten in the way of your "From The Ground Up" series but I'm glad you found a work around. I did read both your 2010 and 2014 versions before this world cup and they inspired me to do my own world cup series on here (although not as long as yours). I'm excited to see how this works out with the board game and can't wait for it to start!

[GaloVingador]

I'm intrigued by how a soccer simulation cards game can even exist. Interesting choice.

[pfeifere1]

I thought you would find a way to recreate the 2018 WC in your own way. I'm really excited to see how this will go!

You know I'll be here following!

[OliDegu2008]

Thanks everyone for the love as always. This is going to take a bit to get off the ground as it is a hefty process making the teams but I couldn't hold my excitement of announcing it any longer!

[OliDegu2008]

2018 world cup Russia pic.jpg

I am beyond excited to announce that this project, the 2018 World Cup (From the ground up) is almost ready to begin.

It will still be a couple of weeks yet before the first qualification game kicks off but I could not hold my excitement any longer.

In the meantime, check out my prior two World Cup sims (links below) that I did where we saw Germany win the ultimate prize in 2010 and Brazil take home the trophy in 2014!

2010 FIFA WORLD CUP (FROM THE GROUND UP)
2014 FIFA WORLD CUP (FROM THE GROUND UP)

Telstar18.jpg

[OliDegu2008]

The 2014 World Cup in review ---
Brazil defends its home turf, wins the 2014 World Cup

Brazil wins the 2014 World Cup!.jpg

Brazil lifted the World Cup trophy for a record setting 6th time and for the first time since the South American nation won the 2002 World Cup which was being hosted in Japan and South Korea.

The semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup saw Brazil, Colombia, Italy and Uruguay all battle for football immortality. I know what you're saying to yourself and yes, not only was the World Cup held in South America but 3/4 semi-finalists were South American nations.

In an insane World Cup Final, Brazil would go on to defeat the Colombians in 3-2 and hoist the Jules Rimet for the first time since 2002. Late Brazilian sub Lucas scored the winning goal, he'll never have to work again!

Two small minnows, the Solomon Islands and Cape Verde all made the big dance in 2014 showing what really makes the World Cup so special.

I have said it before and I will keep saying it, fans are what keeps the game going around the pitch, without them, sport is nothing. There is no other competition in the world, in the galaxy that is as competitive and beautiful as the World Cup. It unites countries and defies laws, it takes 4 years to qualify.

The 11 men representing their countries are out there not only as world class athletes on the pitch, but world ambassadors representing the best aspect of the human perspective and their cultures.

Here is a list of World Cup champions since the first tournament played all the way back in 1930.

1930: Uruguay
1934: Italy
1938: Italy (2)
1950: Uruguay (2)
1954: West Germany
1958: Brazil
1962: Brazil (2)
1966: England
1970: Brazil (3)
1974: West Germany (2)
1978: Argentina
1982: Italy (3)
1986: Argentina (2)
1990: West Germany (3)
1994: Brazil (4)
1998: France
2002: Brazil (5)
2006: Italy (4)
2010: Germany (4)
2014: Brazil (6)

Which nation will be crowned the 2018 World Cup champion?

THE ROAD TO RUSSIA STARTS NOW!