1985 Meker World Cup

The **1985 Meker World Cup** was the seventh edition of the Meker World Cup, hosted in Italy and going from June 27th to July 25th, 1985. The winner of this edition was Italy.

## Before the cup

### Host selection

The selection proccess happened on October 3rd, 1980, the same day that the hosts from 1982 to 1984 were chosen.

#### First phase

The first phase poll happened on October 3rd, 1980 in Leeds, England. All then 122 FIMA affiliated countries representants participated of the event. Six nations submitted entries to host the 1983 edition: Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Thailand

 **4** |  Argentina
 **5** |  Czechoslovakia
 **6** |  Thailand

#### Second phase

The second phase happened on the following day, with Italy being chosen as the host of the edition.

### Classifiers

This edition had 24 participants, the same amount as the previous one. It was also the last edition to have 24 participants before the increase to 32.

The number of participating countries of the event this time around were 172, all FIMA associated countries at the time. The classifiers were divided by continental comitees, and the respective winners would be classified to the first world cup, except for Italy, that was already classified as the host of the competition, and Portugal, winner of the 1984 Meker World Cup.

#### EUMF (European Meker Federation)

Games begun on November 10th, 1984 and ended on February 15th, 1985. Featuring 38 of the 40 nations then affiliated to EUMF.

The games were hosted in four cities in Switzerland (Bern, Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich).

##### Phase one

For the first phase, the teams were divided in seven groups of five and one group of three, the two best teams of each group of five and the best of the group of three would classify to the second phase.

#### Phase two

In the second phase, the teams were split in three more groups of five, with the two best performing teams of each group being qualified to the world cup.

 **4** |  Netherlands
 **5** |  Soviet Union

#### MCNCAC (Meker Comitee of North, Central America & Caribbean)

Games begun on December 11th, 1984 and ended in February 9th, 1985. Featuring all 27 nations then affiliated to MCNCAC.

The games were all hosted in four american cities (Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Washington).

##### First phase

The phase begun with all teams being split in nine groups of three, with the best performing team of each group moving on, the best performing runner up would also move to the second phase.

##### Second Phase

For the second phase, the teams were split in two groups of five, with the two best performing teams moving to the world cup, and the two runner ups going to a final phase.

 **4** |  Guatemala
 **5** |  Dominican Republic

Final Phase

And in the final phase, the two teams would go on two way matches, with the winner qualifying to the world cup and the loser to the intercontinental play off.

#### SAMC (South American Meker Commitee)

The south american qualifiers begun on December 19th, 1984 and ended in January 27th, 1985. All 10 SAMC affiliated nations participated.

Just like the previous years, the teams were split in two groups of five, with the two best peforming teams of each group classifying to the world cup, and the thirds going to a play off match with the winner going to the intercontinental play off.

The games were hosted in three stadiums in Uruguay (Two in Montevideo and one in Salto).

 **5** |  Bolivia

#### MMASC (Main Meker Asian Comitee) and MOMC (Main Oceanic Meker Commitee)

The qualifiers begun on November 16th, 1984 and ended on February 11th, 1985. All 39 MMASC and all 11 MOMC affiliated nations participated.

##### First phase

For the first phase, the teams were split in ten groups of five, with the best performing teams of each group qualifying to the second phase.

##### Second phase

In the second phase, the teams were split in two groups of five, with the two best peforming teams of each group classifying to the world cup, and the third placers going to a play off match with the winner going to the intercontinental play off.

 **5** |  Bangladesh

#### AMF (African Meker Federation)

The qualifiers begun on December 10th, 1984 and ended on February 14th, 1985. All 45 AMF affiliated nations participated.

All teams were split in nine groups of five, with the winner of each group moving on to the second phase.

##### Second phase

In the second phase, the teams were split in three groups of three, with the winners being qualified to the world cup and the runner ups moving to the final phase.

##### Final phase

In the final phase, all teams were put together in a group, with the winner being qualified to the intercontinental play off.

 **3** |  Botswana

#### Intercontinental Play Off

The intercontinental play off was held in England from February 19th to February 21st, 1985.

  Mozambique

### Classified Nations

At the end, the following twenty four nations were classified for the event:

"#" = Quantity of cups participated

"C" = Quantity of consecutive cups participated

### Urn filling

The urns were filled using the same criteria as last year, based on the positions of each team in the Meker World Ranking, with the eight best placed teams in the first urn, with the following teams being placed on the subsequent two urns based on the same criteria, except for the host, that would always be in the first urn and Group A. And this is how the urns were filled, based on the chart of April 1985:

### Group Formation

The groups were formed in Leeds, England on May 12th, 1985, with the following results:

### Host Stadiums

Seven stadiums were selected to host the games, Two already existing ones and five made specifically for the competition. These were them:

* Romano Meker Stadium, Rome (New)
* Nuovo Fratello Stadium, Milan (New)
* Torino Stadium, Turin
* Giancarlo Magnani Stadium, Bologna (New)
* Polignano al Mare Stadium, Naples
* Florenza D'oro Stadium, Florence (New)
* Nuova Sicilia Stadium, Palermo (New)

## History

The opening match was Italy and Haiti on June 27th, 1985 in Rome. The two best performing teams of each group would be classified for the round of 16.

### Group A

Games

 Naples

### Group B

Games

 Bologna

### Group C

Games

 Palermo

### Group D

Games

 Florence

### Group E

Games

 Turin
 Milan

### Group F

Games

 Milan
 Palermo

### Group G

Games

 Rome

### Group H

Games

 Palermo

Final Stage

## Aftermath

Italy got its third title, which guaranteed its participation in the 1987 Meker World Cup.

## Conclusion

**1985 MEKER WORLD CUP -**  Italy

* **Winner:**  Italy **(3rd title)**
* Runner Up:  Portugal
* Third place:  Colombia
* Fourth place:  Mexico
* Highest score (difference):  Italy 8 - 0  Haiti
* Best scoring team:  Italy (21 marks)