17:30
Luzhniki Grand Sports Arena, Khamovniki District, Kislev"Your Majesty, you did it and brought glory to our country". One of the Arena attendants said.
"Certainly not my good sir, it's I who should be thanking you and thousands of others who managed to enable Krimeon becoming the next host." Tsar Viktor Gough-Petrov alongside his closest family shook hands and commended the great preparations ahead of the World cup, thanks to the entire football association of Krimeon, walking along a hallway which would lead them to the field where the opening ficture was supposed to be played at.
Ever since the news was announced that Krimeon would become the host of the MFA World Cup 2019, the entire country fell into a football frenzy from which the likes have never been seen before; even if Krimeonites were big fans of football, never in their dreams would they have suspected that the hosting rights befell unto them. For several months every citizen waited eagerly until the day of the tournament began, and now when they've finally come this far, sat in front of their screens whether it was at home, in a bar or even huge screens that were placed in large parks and community centers. In other words, the entire Tsardom was captivated by this extraordinary sporting event.
The Khamovniki District features the Pushkin Museum, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Devichye Pole medical campus, and the Novodevichy Convent and memorial cemetery. The stretch of Khamovniki between Boulevard Ring and Garden Ring, known as Golden Mile, is downtown Kislev's most expensive housing area. Khamovniki features the Luzhniki Grand Sports Arena as well, of which its first iteration was already founded in 1954 and has been designated as the National Arena of Krimeon.
With both locals and tourists alike filling up the stadium in no time and chatting away, unpatiently waiting for the event to begin whilst munching on traditional Krimeonite fastfood, they suddenly became silent as a large image of a football was overlaid on the pitch, with a stage in the centre, surrounded by incoming dancers wearing bright and colorful costumes. It was quickly followed by musical acts made by the Pop-duo Michael Jackson and Madonna, as other performers emerged, dressed in the colours of the flags of all 32 teams and carrying a sign bearing the name of each nation.
It also included a scene where famous player Ronaldo
[1] walked out with a child wearing a Krimeon 2018 shirt. Ronaldo returned later with the official ball, which was sent into space with the recent International Space Station crew and came back to earth earlier this month. He then shaped to take the opening kick but pulled out, inviting the child to pass it to
Zabivaka, a brown and white wolf that is the official mascot of the tournament.
Tsar Viktor then entered the middle of the field and gave his opening speech in which he talked about an open, hospitable and friendly Krimeon hosting the tournament. He also described Krimeon's love for football, calling the tournament and the game "a unity which cannot be affected by different language, ideology or faith". The speech which took a few minutes ended with: “Our duty is to preserve this power of humanity for generations to come for the sake of developing sports and strengthening peace and mutual understanding between people. I wish all the teams’ success and an unforgettable experience for the fans. Remember to drink plenty of Vodka
and now...”
With that said and dropping the mic like a true bowser, Tsar Viktor and his family left the field and made their way to the assigned seats, amidst the overwhelming applauses and shouts of the football fans, being emitted out of the stadium and thus leaving it ready to be played on.
Group AKrimeon ( New Derusmia Bakkermaya Suseikawa | Group B Dartfordia (6) Royal Seleucid Biseam Cantabria | Group C Hygelac (3) SCIR Pardclinnia Seaforth | Group D Nya Aland (2) Slava Lavosk Zimalia Sarandib |
Group E Lodja (4) Socram Ui Cenneslaig Huisslandia | Group F Vaguzia (7) Quintelia NQF Marseilles | Group G Achkaerin (1) Phuebra Nemerie Aquitaine | Group H East Moreland (5) Tamora Ecclesiastical State Kaitaine |
Note: The number in brackets next to the first team listed in each group represents the seeding of that team these are in the case of the first seven seeds reflective of their world ranking (calculated based on previous tournament performance) while Krimeon as host is granted the 8th seeding.
StandingsSpoiler: Fixture List show
First Round Fixtures
Group A
Krimeon v New Derusmia
Bakkermaya v Suseikawa
Group B
Dartfordia v Royal Seleucid
Biseam v Cantabria
Group C
Hygelac v SICR
Pardclinnia v Seaforth
Group D
Nya Aland v Slava Lavosk
Zimalia v Sarandib
Group E
Lodja v Socram
Ui Cenneslaig v Huisslandia
Group F
Vaguzia v Quintelia
NQF v Marseilles
Group G
Achkaerin v Phuebra
Nemerie v Aquitaine
Group H
East Moreland v Tamora
Ecclesiastical State v Kaitaine
Second Round Fixtures
Group A
Bakkermaya v New Derusmia
Krimeon v Suseikawa
Group B
Biseam v Royal Seleucid
Dartfordia v Cantabria
Group C
Pardclinnia v SICR
Hygelac v Seaforth
Group D
Zimalia v Slava Lavosk
Nya Aland v Sarandib
Group E
Ui Cenneslaig v Socram
Lodja v Huisslandia
Group F
NQF v Quintelia
Vaguzia v Marseilles
Group G
Nemerie v Phuebra
Achkaerin v Aquitaine
Group H
Ecclesiastical State v Tamora
East Moreland v Kaitaine
Third Round Fixtures
Group A
Bakkermaya v Krimeon
New Derusmia v Suseikawa
Group B
Biseam v Dartfordia
Royal Seleucid v Cantabria
Group C
Pardclinnia v Hygelac
SICR v Seaforth
Group D
Zimalia v Nya Aland
Slava Lavosk v Sarandib
Group E
Ui Cenneslaig v Lodja
Socram v Huisslandia
Group F
NQF v Vaguzia
Quintelia v Marseilles
Group G
Nemerie v Achkaerin
Phuebra v Aquitaine
Group H
Ecclesiastical State v East Moreland
Tamora v Kaitaine
Fourth Round Fixtures
Group A
Krimeon v New Derusmia
Bakkermaya v Suseikawa
Group B
Dartfordia v Royal Seleucid
Biseam v Cantabria
Group C
Hygelac v SICR
Pardclinnia v Seaforth
Group D
Nya Aland v Slava Lavosk
Zimalia v Sarandib
Group E
Lodja v Socram
Ui Cenneslaig v Huisslandia
Group F
Vaguzia v Quintelia
NQF v Marseilles
Group G
Achkaerin v Phuebra
Nemerie v Aquitaine
Group H
East Moreland v Tamora
Ecclesiastical State v Kaitaine
Fifth Round Fixtures
Group A
Bakkermaya v New Derusmia
Krimeon v Suseikawa
Group B
Biseam v Royal Seleucid
Dartfordia v Cantabria
Group C
Pardclinnia v SICR
Hygelac v Seaforth
Group D
Zimalia v Slava Lavosk
Nya Aland v Sarandib
Group E
Ui Cenneslaig v Socram
Lodja v Huisslandia
Group F
NQF v Quintelia
Vaguzia v Marseilles
Group G
Nemerie v Phuebra
Achkaerin v Aquitaine
Group H
Ecclesiastical State v Tamora
East Moreland v Kaitaine
Sixth Round Fixtures
Group A
Bakkermaya v Krimeon
New Derusmia v Suseikawa
Group B
Biseam v Dartfordia
Royal Seleucid v Cantabria
Group C
Pardclinnia v Hygelac
SICR v Seaforth
Group D
Zimalia v Nya Aland
Slava Lavosk v Sarandib
Group E
Ui Cenneslaig v Lodja
Socram v Huisslandia
Group F
NQF v Vaguzia
Quintelia v Marseilles
Group G
Nemerie v Achkaerin
Phuebra v Aquitaine
Group H
Ecclesiastical State v East Moreland
Tamora v Kaitaine