# 2023 WMF World Cup

The 2023 WMF World Cup was the fourth edition of the WMF World Cup organized by the World Minifootball Federation (WMF). The tournament was contested in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates between 26 October and 4 November 2023. Mexico are the defending champions. Romania defeated Kazakhstan 12–11 by penalties after a 2–2 draw in the final, to win the title.

## Venue

The United Arab Emirates was awarded the right to host the event on 10 June 2022. All the matches are played at the Ras Al Khaimah Minifoot Stadium in Ras Al Khaimah.
* Ras Al Khaimah
* Ras Al Khaimah Minifoot Stadium
* Capacity: 4,500
* Ras Al Khaimah

## Teams
### Participating nations

| Team | Finals appearance | First appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance |
| Albania | 1st | None | None | Debut |
| Algeria | 1st | None | None | Debut |
| Azerbaijan | 1st | None | None | Debut |
| Bulgaria | 1st | None | None | Debut |
| Czech Republic | 4th | 2015 | 2019 | Champions (2017) |
| Egypt | 1st | None | None | Debut |
| England | 2nd | 2019 | 2019 | Group stage (2019) |
| France | 2nd | 2017 | 2017 | Quarter-finals (2017) |
| Georgia | 1st | None | None | Debut |
| Ghana | 2nd | 2019 | 2019 | Round of 16 (2019) |
| Guatemala | 3rd | 2017 | 2019 | Round of 16 (2019) |
| Hungary | 3rd | 2017 | 2019 | Fourth place (2019) |
| India | 4th | 2015 | 2019 | Group stage (2015, 2017, 2019) |
| Iraq | 3rd | 2017 | 2019 | Group stage (2017, 2019) |
| Ireland | 1st | None | None | Debut |
| Japan | 2nd | 2019 | 2019 | Group stage (2019) |
| Kazakhstan | 3rd | 2015 | 2017 | Round of 16 (2017) |
| Lebanon | 3rd | 2017 | 2019 | Group stage (2017, 2019) |
| Libya | 2nd | 2017 | 2017 | Round of 16 (2017) |
| Mexico (Holders) | 4th | 2015 | 2019 | Champions (2019) |
| Montenegro | 1st | None | None | Debut |
| Oman | 1st | None | None | Debut |
| Portugal | 3rd | 2017 | 2019 | Group stage (2017, 2019) |
| Romania | 4th | 2015 | 2019 | Third place (2015, 2019) |
| Serbia | 3rd | 2015 | 2019 | Round of 16 (2019) |
| Slovakia | 2nd | 2019 | 2019 | Quarter-finals (2019) |
| Spain | 2nd | 2017 | 2017 | Fourth place (2017) |
| Sudan | 1st | None | None | Debut |
| Thailand | 2nd | 2019 | 2019 | Group stage (2019) |
| Ukraine | 2nd | 2019 | 2019 | Quarter-finals (2019) |
| United Arab Emirates (Hosts) | 1st | None | None | Debut |
| United States | 4th | 2015 | 2019 | Champions (2015) |

### Draw

Originally, the teams that were supposed to participate in the championship were Brazil, who were supposed to defend their silver medals from 2019. Lebanon and Tunisia withdrew because of the presence of Israel. Israel, who did not travel to the venue due to the conflict with Hamas.
The Brazilians were replaced Oman, Israel was replaced by Algeria, Tunisia was replaced by Kuwait and Lebanon was replaced by Bahrain, who withdrew a few days before the start of the tournament and was replaced by Sudan. For all the replaced teams, it was not only their first participation in the WMF World Cup, but also their first international matches.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| United Arab Emirates (Host)  Azerbaijan  Brazil → Oman  Czech Republic  Hungary  Mexico  Romania  Slovakia | Bulgaria  France  Guatemala  Kazakhstan  Serbia  Tunisia → Kuwait  Ukraine  United States | England  Egypt  Georgia  Israel → Algeria  Ghana  Libya  Montenegro  Spain | Albania  India  Iraq  Ireland  Japan  Lebanon → Bahrain → Sudan  Portugal  Thailand |

## Group stage
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Kazakhstan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 1 | +22 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | United Arab Emirates (H) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Ghana | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 9 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | India | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 25 | −25 | 0 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Georgia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 2 | +16 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Mexico | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Ireland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 16 | −11 | 3 | |
| 4 | Guatemala | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 30 | −29 | 0 | |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Czech Republic | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 1 | +20 | 0 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Thailand | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Ukraine | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 10 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Algeria | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 | −20 | 9 | |

### Group D

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Romania | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 7 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | United States | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 5 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Spain | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 10 | +3 | 4 | |
| 4 | Sudan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 27 | −20 | 0 | |

### Group E

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Bulgaria | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | +15 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Montenegro | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Japan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 6 | +8 | 3 | |
| 4 | Oman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 32 | −30 | 0 | |

### Group F

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Slovakia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | England | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 5 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | France | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Albania | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | −3 | 1 | |

### Group G

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Azerbaijan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Egypt | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Iraq | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 1 | |
| 4 | Kuwait | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 11 | −5 | 1 | |

### Group H

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Hungary | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 9 | Knockout stage |
| 2 | Portugal | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 6 | Knockout stage |
| 3 | Serbia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Libya | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 11 | −6 | 0 | |

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Eighth-finals | Eighth-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final |
| 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | | | |
| Georgia | 1 (2) | | | | | | |
| Georgia | 1 (2) | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | | |
| United Arab Emirates (p) | 1 (3) | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | |
| United Arab Emirates (p) | 1 (3) | United Arab Emirates | 0 | | | | |
| 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | United Arab Emirates | 0 | | | | |
| 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | Romania | 2 | | | | |
| Romania | 7 | Romania | 2 | | | | |
| Romania | 7 | | | | 3 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 3 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | |
| Thailand | 0 | | | | 3 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 3 November – Ras Al Khaimah | |
| Thailand | 0 | | | | Romania | 3 | |
| 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | | Romania | 3 | |
| 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | Hungary | 0 | |
| Slovakia | 5 | | | | Hungary | 0 | |
| Slovakia | 5 | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | | |
| Montenegro | 2 | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | |
| Montenegro | 2 | Slovakia | 0 | | | | |
| 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | Slovakia | 0 | | | | |
| 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | Hungary | 1 | | | | |
| Hungary | 3 | Hungary | 1 | | | | |
| Hungary | 3 | | | | | | | 4 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 4 November – Ras Al Khaimah |
| Egypt | 0 | | | | | | | 4 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 4 November – Ras Al Khaimah |
| Egypt | 0 | | | | | | | Romania (p) | 2 (12) |
| 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | | | | | Romania (p) | 2 (12) |
| 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | | | | Kazakhstan | 2 (11) |
| Kazakhstan (p) | 0 (2) | | | | | | | Kazakhstan | 2 (11) |
| Kazakhstan (p) | 0 (2) | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | | | |
| Mexico | 0 (1) | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | | | |
| Mexico | 0 (1) | Kazakhstan (p) | 3 (3) | | | | | | |
| 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | Kazakhstan (p) | 3 (3) | | | | | | |
| 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | Czech Republic | 3 (2) | | | | | | |
| Czech Republic (a.e.t.) | 4 | Czech Republic | 3 (2) | | | | | | |
| Czech Republic (a.e.t.) | 4 | | | | 3 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 3 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | |
| United States | 2 | | | | 3 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 3 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | |
| United States | 2 | | | | Kazakhstan | 3 | | | |
| 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | | Kazakhstan | 3 | | | |
| 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | Azerbaijan | 2 | | Third place play-off | Third place play-off |
| Azerbaijan | 3 | | | | Azerbaijan | 2 | | Third place play-off | Third place play-off |
| Azerbaijan | 3 | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | | 4 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 4 November – Ras Al Khaimah |
| Portugal | 0 | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 2 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | | | | 4 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 4 November – Ras Al Khaimah |
| Portugal | 0 | Azerbaijan | 3 | | | | | Hungary | 3 |
| 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | | Azerbaijan | 3 | | | | | Hungary | 3 |
| 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | 1 November – Ras Al Khaimah | Bulgaria | 1 | | | | | Azerbaijan | 1 |
| Bulgaria | 2 | Bulgaria | 1 | | | | | Azerbaijan | 1 |
| England | 1 | | | | | | | | |

### Final
## Awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament:
* Best Player
* Dragos Nitu
* Top Scorer
* Marius Gabriel Balogh (6 goals)
* Best goalkeeper
* Alexandr Rushinas