There were competitions for both genders and various age groups, organised by Cambridgeshire FA working together with Cambridge City Council, with the adults playing on Saturday and the juniors on Sunday.
The sun shone on Saturday, with near-perfect conditions on the common, and success extended to the food and drinks vendors as well as the victorious teams! Sunday the 12th was unfortunately a bit wet but it could not dampen the ardour of the young players who produced another splendid day of friendly yet competitive football.
The general idea is to encourage people from all backgrounds and ethnicities, particularly those who do not play regularly in affiliated teams, to come together to enjoy a feast of football in a 7-a-side format. There are no football ‘club’ entrants as such; instead, each team chooses a country to ‘represent’ in the spirit of bringing communities together and having some fun. The first round is played on a league basis with the first and second placed teams going through to the knock-out stages of the World Cup, whilst the third and fourth teams progress to a Shield tournament.
Which is how Sudan came to win the World Cup for the first time ever! Some might have recognised some faces from Fulbourn Institute and other clubs in the winning team, but on the day, it was the yellow shirts of Sudan who lifted the adult men’s trophy. Ecuador collected the Shield after steadily improving their form during the competition. In other sections, the Women’s World Cup went to England – a popular win – with France picking up the Shield, and Uganda brought glory to Africa in running out Men’s U20 winners.
Other countries celebrating World Cup wins on Sunday evening were South Africa (Boys U16), England (Girls U16), Argentina (Boys U14), England (Girls U14) Columbia (Boys U12), and Portugal (Girls U12). Shield honours went to Honduras (Boys U16), Ghana (Girls U16), England (Boys U14), Brazil (Girls U14), Italy (Boys U12), and Spain (Girls U12).
The driving force behind the Mini World Cup is Jim Hill, Cambridgeshire FA’s Football Development Manager. He was delighted with the tournament: “It was wonderful to see such enthusiastic participation from everyone. We brought football to over 2,000 people over the two days, when you include parents, friends and other spectators, and most pleasing was the fact that people from diverse communities enjoyed each others’ company in a way that is not normally possible. This represents an important part of our work, not just inside the world of football, but in the wider public arena.”
Photos of the event can be found on the Cambridgeshire Football Association facebook page