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Unofficial Football World Championships

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Unofficial Football
World Championships
Current Champions
 Argentina
Title gained
13 December
2022 		3–0 vs  Croatia
2022 FIFA World Cup
Lusail, Qatar
Title defences
18 December
2022 		3–3 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p) vs  France
2022 FIFA World Cup
Lusail, Qatar
23 March
2023 		2–0 vs  Panama
Friendly
Buenos Aires, Argentina
28 March
2023 		7–0 vs  Curaçao
Friendly
Santiago del Estero, Argentina
15 June
2023 		2–0 vs  Australia
Friendly
Beijing, China
19 June
2023 		2–0 vs  Indonesia
Friendly
Jakarta, Indonesia
7 September
2023 		1–0 vs  Ecuador
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
Buenos Aires, Argentina
12 September
2023 		3–0 vs  Bolivia
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
La Paz, Bolivia
12 October
2023 		1–0 vs  Paraguay
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
Buenos Aires, Argentina
17 October
2023 		2–0 vs  Peru
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
Lima, Peru
Next defence
16 November
2023 		vs  Uruguay
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
Buenos Aires, Argentina

The Unofficial Football World Championships (UFWC) is an informal way of calculating the world's best international association football team, using a knock-out title system similar to that used in professional boxing.[1] The UFWC was formalized by contributors to the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSF) in 2002[2] and published by English journalist Paul Brown in a 2003 FourFourTwo.[3] Brown created a web page for the UFWC, and both this and the RSSF tracked the progression of the championship.

Both sites ceased actively tracking the championship in 2022. A fan-run Twitter account continues to follow the progression, and currently considers Argentina to be the champions.[4]

Background

The idea stemmed originally from some Scotland fans and sections of the media jokingly asserting that as they beat England (who had won the 1966 World Cup) in a British Home Championship match on 15 April 1967—England's first loss after their FIFA World Cup victory—they were the "Unofficial World Champions".[5][6][7]

In 2002, football statisticians James Allnutt, Paul Crankshaw, Jostein Nygård, and Roberto Di Maggio defined the rules of the UFWC, traced its lineage and published it on the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation website. The following year, freelance journalist Paul Brown wrote an article on the UFWC in football magazine FourFourTwo.[3] In 2011, Brown authored a book on the subject.[8] Brown also created the championship's website which tracked its progression up until 2022.

The UFWC is not sanctioned by FIFA, nor does it have any sort of official backing.[9]

Rules

  • The first team to win an international football match were declared first ever Unofficial Football World Champions.
    • This was England, who defeated Scotland 4–2 in 1873 in the second full international match, the first in 1872 having been a 0–0 draw between the same two nations.[10]
  • The next full international (international 'A' match) involving the title holder is considered a title match, with the winners taking the title.[α]
    • In the event of a title match being a draw, the current holders of the title remain champions.
  • UFWC title matches are decided by their ultimate outcome, including extra time and penalties.[β][11]
  • Title matches are contested under the rules of the governing body by which they are sanctioned.

Tracking the Championship

While the Unofficial Football World Championship was invented in 2002, the rules are such that results are analysed retrospectively to determine the theoretical lineage of champions from the very first international matches. A comprehensive list of results of all championship games is maintained on the UFWC website.[12]

Early international football

The first ever FIFA-recognised international match was a 0–0 draw between England and Scotland, on 30 November 1872 at Hamilton Crescent.[13] The Unofficial World Championship thus remained vacant until the same two teams met again at the Kennington Oval on 8 March 1873. England won 4–2, and so are regarded as having become the inaugural Unofficial Football World Champions.[14]

Early international football was almost entirely confined to the British Isles. Wales entered the UFWC 'competition' in 1876—holding it for the first time in 1907, and Ireland (the team representing the Belfast-based Irish Football Association, subsequently known as Northern Ireland) in 1882—first recording a UFWC victory in 1927. The UFWC title swapped between the Home Nations teams several times in this period, and was first competed by a non-British Isles team in 1909, when England defeated Hungary in Budapest.[15]

The fact that none of the Home Nations teams competed in the 1930, 1934, or 1938 World Cups kept the title from travelling too far abroad, and the First and Second World Wars hindered football's globalisation process further.

1930s–2000s

It was 1931 when the title was first passed outside the British Isles, to Austria in their third attempt with a 5–0 victory over Scotland.[16] They held the title until 7 December 1932 when they lost 4–3 to England at Stamford Bridge,[17] and for all but the last few months of the decade it was held by those four teams. In the 1940s, the title was held by continental teams, notably those representing the Axis powers and countries neutral during World War II, but was recaptured by England in time for the 1950 World Cup. Here, in a shock result, they lost to the United States in one of the biggest upsets ever; it was the first venture of the title onto the Americas,[18] and stayed there because Chile immediately took it with their win in the last game of the group stage which wasn't enough to qualify for the later stages. This made 1950 both the first World Cup where the title was at stake and not captured by the winners. It remained in the Americas for all but one of the following 16 years.

Football confederations in the world

This time included the four-day reign of Netherlands Antilles, who beat Mexico 2–1 in a CONCACAF Championship match to become the smallest country ever to hold the title.[19]

The UFWC returned to Europe in time for the 1966 FIFA World Cup with the Soviet Union. They lost the championship in the semi-final to West Germany, who lost the final to England.[20] The following year, the England v Scotland match of 1967, which first gave rise to the idea of an unofficial world championship, really was a UFWC title match.[21] With West Germany's victory over Netherlands in the 1974 World Cup Final, West Germany became the first team to hold the World Cup, European Championship and the UFWC at the same time.[5] The title stayed in Europe until 1978, when it was taken by Argentina, the winners of the 1978 World Cup. It remained in South America until the 1982 World Cup where Peru lost to Poland.[22] The UFWC remained in Europe for the next ten years, except for a one-year tenure by Argentina.

In 1992, the title returned to the United States and then was held for one match by Australia,[23] before it worked its way through several South American nations, back through Europe and to its first Asian holders, South Korea, who defeated Colombia in the 1995 Carlsberg Cup semi-final.[24] The Koreans lost the title to FR Yugoslavia in their next match, and the UFWC remained in Europe until March 1998 when Germany lost it to Brazil in a friendly. Argentina then defeated Brazil in a friendly to carry the UFWC into the 1998 World Cup.

France repeated Argentina's 1978 feat by taking the title as they won the World Cup on home turf, beating Brazil 3–0 in the final.[25] England took the title for the last time to date at UEFA Euro 2000.[26][27] France and Spain enjoyed spells as champions before the Netherlands won the title in March 2002. As the Dutch had failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, the UFWC was, unusually, not at stake at the official World Cup. The Netherlands retained the title until 10 September 2003, when they lost a Euro 2004 qualifier 3–1 to the Czech Republic.[28]

2004–2010

The Czechs defended their title a few times, before losing it to the Republic of Ireland in a friendly via a last-minute winner by Robbie Keane.[29][30] The title then went to an African nation for the first time, as they lost it to Nigeria.[31] Angola won and kept this title through late 2004 and early 2005. They were then beaten by Zimbabwe (in a match that tripled as a World Cup qualifier and an African Nations qualifier),[5][32] who held the title for six months before Nigeria re-gained it in October 2005. Nigeria were beaten by Romania,[33] who lost it to Uruguay within six months.[34] Uruguay became the highest ranked team to hold the title since 2004, but their failure to qualify for the World Cup finals meant that, for the second time in succession, the unofficial title was not available at the official championships.[35]

The title was brought back to Europe by Georgia on 15 November 2006, with both goals scored by Levan Kobiashvili in a 2–0 victory.[36] They lost the title to the highest ranked team in the UFWC of all time, Scotland, on 24 March 2007, nearly forty years since Scotland had last gained the title.[37] Just four days later, Scotland conceded the title 2–0 to FIFA World Cup holders Italy,[38][39] and the title passed through the hands of Hungary twice, Turkey, Greece and Sweden before being claimed by the Netherlands,[40] who eventually lost the title to Spain in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final after a run that saw more successful defences than any other reign with 21.[41][42]

2010–present

The European sojourn of the title was brought to an end when Argentina beat Spain 4–1 in a September 2010 friendly,[26][43] and after beating the Argentines in a friendly,[26] Japan brought the title to the Asian Cup for the first time in 2011, and remained unbeaten throughout the tournament. Scheduled defences of the title were cancelled after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and they held the title for over a year before relinquishing it to North Korea,[44][45] ranked 124th in the world by FIFA, the lowest ranking of a UFWC champion since the rankings were introduced in 1993. North Korea continued to hold title through their successful campaign in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup, where low-ranked nations Philippines,[46] Tajikistan,[47] India,[48] Palestine,[49] and Turkmenistan challenged, the last of whom almost pulled off a major upset.[50][51] North Korea's reign was memorable for the fact that so many low-ranking teams challenged to become holders of the crown – as well as the aforementioned AFC Challenge Cup, low ranking nations competing in the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup second preliminary round such as Kuwait,[52] Indonesia,[53] Chinese Taipei,[54] Guam,[55] and Hong Kong[56] all unsuccessfully attempted to take the title away from North Korea.

The title was finally taken from North Korea by Sweden in the 2013 King's Cup, a result not recorded as a full international by FIFA, but nevertheless considered valid by the UFWC website.[57] In a friendly in February, Sweden were beaten by Argentina who took the title to South America.[58] In October, Argentina lost a FIFA World Cup qualifier to Uruguay.

Uruguay took the UFWC into Group D of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. During the group-stage an already-eliminated England challenged Costa Rica for the UFWC in their third group-stage game and the UFWC was mooted as a potential consolation prize in the British press,[59] however the match was drawn and Costa Rica took the UFWC into the knockout phase. The UFWC and World Cup were "unified", with Germany securing both in the final.

Shortly after the World Cup, the runners-up Argentina beat Germany in a friendly to claim the UFWC title. This reign ended one match later, when Brazil won the UFWC title after winning 2014 Superclásico de las Américas.

Brazil held onto the title to take it into the 2015 Copa América, where it ended up with tournament winners Chile. Chile lost the title to Uruguay who took it into the Copa América Centenario, but regained it before winning the tournament. The UFWC was exchanged between CONMEBOL sides during 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, and remained in South America despite being contested by outside teams during Chile's successful 2017 China Cup campaign. Ultimately it was Peru took the Championship into the 2018 World Cup where the title ended with tournament victors France.

For the next four years, the title was traded between UEFA teams, with most matches being either Euro 2020 qualifying, UEFA Nations League and World Cup 2022 qualifying games. In terms of number of consecutive title defences, the 2020–2021 streak by Italy, which included their victorious UEFA Euro 2020 campaign, was the joint longest in UFWC history (tied with the Netherlands in 2008–2010).[60] The 2022 World Cup ended with victors Argentina also holding the 2021 Copa América and the UFWC.

All-time rankings

The UFWC website maintained an all-time ranking table of teams, sorting by number of championship matches won. Owing mostly to their successes in the early years of international football, where competition was almost entirely limited to the British Isles, the top ranked team is Scotland.[61][62]

All-time ‘Unofficial Football World Championships’ rankings
Rank Team
UFWC
matches
played
UFWC
matches
won
 UFWC last held
1  Scotland 149 86 28 March 2007
2  England 146 73 20 June 2000
3  Argentina 115 72 Current Champions
4  Netherlands 96 58 7 September 2020
5  Italy 79 45 6 October 2021
6  Russia[a] 64 41 23 February 2000
7  Brazil 72 38 17 June 2015
8  France 67 33 3 June 2022
9  Germany[b] 69 31 6 September 2019
10  Sweden 46 28 6 February 2013
11  Uruguay 65 26 15 November 2016
12  Chile 49 21 23 March 2017
13  Spain 34 18 10 October 2021
14  Hungary 47 17 10 September 2008
15  Czech Republic[c] 38 15 31 March 2004
16  Peru 43 14 16 June 2018
17  Austria 38 12 16 June 1968
 Wales 70 14 September 1988
19  Croatia 22 11 13 December 2022
 Greece 24 24 May 2008
 Japan 24 15 November 2011
22  North Korea 16 10 23 January 2013
  Switzerland 35 26 June 1994
24  Colombia 32 9 26 June 2015
25  Bolivia 19 8 31 August 2017
 Costa Rica 13 5 July 2014
 Paraguay 32 6 September 2016
 Romania 25 23 May 2006
29  Angola 10 7 27 March 2005
 Zimbabwe 11 8 October 2005
31  Bulgaria 22 6 4 September 1985
 Denmark 25 10 June 2022
33  Belgium 20 5 17 January 1990
 Northern Ireland[d] 64 14 October 1933
 Serbia[e] 18 31 May 1995
36  Nigeria 7 4 16 November 2005
 Poland 21 7 May 1989
38  Mexico 18 3 18 June 2016
 Republic of Ireland 9 29 May 2004
40  Ecuador 15 2 22 August 1965
 Georgia 4 24 March 2007
 Portugal 22 4 June 1992
 United States 7 14 June 1992
44  Australia 7 1 18 June 1992
 Curaçao[f] 4 28 March 1963
 Israel 7 26 April 2000
 South Korea 6 4 February 1995
 Turkey 8 17 October 2007
 Venezuela 6 18 October 2006
  1. ^ Russia's statistics include figures for the Soviet Union before 1992.
  2. ^ Germany's statistics include figures for West Germany 1949–1990.
  3. ^ Czech Republic's statistics include figures for Czechoslovakia before 1994.
  4. ^ Northern Ireland's statistics include figures for Ireland before 1953.
  5. ^ Serbia's statistics include figures for Yugoslavia before 1992 and Serbia and Montenegro 1992–2006.
  6. ^ Curaçao's statistics include figures for Netherlands Antilles before 2011.

UFWC at major championships

Due to the nature of group stages, a team may win or retain the UFWC without qualifying for the knock-out stages of a competition. If, on the other hand, the UFWC champion reaches the knock-out stage, then the title of that competition will be unified with the UFWC.

Global

FIFA World Cup

Year Holders going into competition Holders at end of competition Holders absent from competition
1930 — —  England
1934 — —  Wales
1938 — —  Scotland
1950  England  Chile —
1954 — —  Paraguay
1958  Argentina  Brazil —
1962  Spain  Mexico —
1966  Soviet Union  England —
1970 — —   Switzerland
1974  Netherlands  West Germany —
1978  France  Argentina —
1982  Peru  Italy —
1986  West Germany  Argentina —
1990 — —  Greece
1994  Romania  Colombia —
1998  Argentina  France —
2002 — —  Netherlands
2006 — —  Uruguay
2010  Netherlands  Spain —
2014  Uruguay  Germany —
2018  Peru  France —
2022  Croatia  Argentina —

No team has ever successfully defended the unofficial world championship title through a World Cup Finals. The Netherlands have come closest, remaining unbeaten in both the 1974 and 2010 competitions right up until the final, where they lost to West Germany and Spain respectively. West Germany were also beaten finalists in 1986, but the title changed hands four times during the tournament.[citation needed]

By necessity, each time the UFWC holder makes it to the knockout stage of a FIFA World Cup, a reunion of the two titles occurs, since the knockout format ensures that the UFWC trophy will be handed on throughout the games into the final. There it will be won by the team which also wins the World Cup. It is, however, possible that the UFWC holder is eliminated in the group stage of the World Cup and leaves the tournament as reigning UFWC champion, in which case no reunion occurs; this happened to Chile in 1950, Mexico in 1962 and Colombia in 1994.

FIFA Confederations Cup

Year Holders going into competition Holders at end of competition
1992  Argentina  Argentina

Continental

The championships of each of the continental championships are only listed when the UFWC was contested during the tournament. The continental championships of Africa and Oceania have not yet seen competition for this title.

UEFA European Championship

Year Holders going into competition Holders at end of competition
1976  Czechoslovakia  Czechoslovakia
1984  Yugoslavia  France
1996  Russia  Germany
2000  Germany  France
2020  Italy  Italy

UEFA Nations League Finals

Year Holders going into competition Holders at end of competition
2021  Italy  France

Copa América

Year Holders going into competition Holders at end of competition
1953  Brazil  Uruguay
1955  Paraguay  Argentina
1956  Argentina  Brazil
1957  Argentina  Peru
1959  Brazil  Brazil
1959  Brazil  Uruguay
1979  Paraguay  Chile
1993  Argentina  Argentina
2015  Brazil  Chile
2016  Uruguay  Chile

CONCACAF Gold Cup

Year Holders going into competition Holders at end of competition
1963  Mexico  Costa Rica

AFC Asian Cup

Year Holders going into competition Holders at end of competition
2011  Japan  Japan

Book

Unofficial Football World Champions
AuthorPaul Brown
LanguageEnglish
GenreSports
PublisherSuperelastic
Publication date
4 January 2011
Publication placeUK
Media typePrint (paperback)
Pages186
ISBN9780956227027

Freelance journalist Paul Brown, who wrote the original FourFourTwo article on the UFWC and created the UFWC website,[3] wrote a book on the championship which was published by Superelastic in 2011.[8][63] Written in English, it has also been translated into Japanese.[8] As of 2018, four editions of the book have been published, with the latest UFWC developments added to each.[64]

Similar concepts

The concept of such a title is not unique to the UFWC, similar concepts, with different rules and therefore different lineages, are discussed below.

UFWC Spin-offs

The online community at the UFWC website keeps track of UFWC-like linages confined to each FIFA confederation. A Women's Unofficial Football World Championships can be traced back either to the first FIFA-recognised women's international in 1971 (a 4–0 victory for France over The Netherlands) or to earlier internationals that are not FIFA recognised.[65][66]

Nasazzi's Baton and Netto's Baton

A similar virtual title, Nasazzi's Baton, traces the "championship" from the first World Cup winners Uruguay, after whose captain it is named. Nasazzi's Baton follows the same rules as the UFWC, except that it treats all matches according to their result after 90 minutes.[67] Another virtual title, Netto's Baton, follows the same rules but is traced from the first UEFA European Championship winners Soviet Union and is confined to UEFA member national teams.[68]

Virtual World Championship

Another virtual title, the Virtual World Championship, operates along the same boxing-style lines but only counts matches in FIFA-recognised championships and their qualifying stages. This is to circumvent the criticism of the UFWC that because countries do not always play their strongest teams in non-competitive matches, the honour could be unwittingly lost by a sub-strength team. This title is traced from the 1908 Olympic Games, and treats all matches according to their result after 90 minutes. Olympic competitions since 1936 are not considered, as full international teams ceased to take part after that tournament.[69][70]

Pound for Pound World Championship

Another similar competition, the Pound for Pound World Championship (PPWC),[71][72] was created by Scottish football magazine The Away End. This title only recognises competitive games, although it recognises many unofficial tournaments which are considered to be friendlies by FIFA. As with the UFWC, extra time and penalties are taken into account in defining the winner of a match. It only counts games from as far back as the first FIFA World Cup in 1930, and states that no matter who holds the title of Pound for Pound World Champion they must relinquish the crown at the beginning of every World Cup finals. At the end of the tournament the World Cup winners are crowned the new Pound for Pound World Champions. Therefore, the tournament is "reset" every four years.

Notes

  1. ^ Where the FIFA-accredited status of a match is in question, as was the case for 2013 King's Cup matches in January 2013, title matches must meet the FIFA definition of 'A' matches included in the UFWC rules: "an international 'A' match shall be a match that been arranged between two national A associations affiliated to the Federation and for which both Associations field their first national representative team."
  2. ^ An exception to this rule is if the second leg of a two-legged playoff goes into extra time because it is tied on aggregate goals and away goals. Since the purpose of the extra time (and penalty kicks if necessary) is to determine the winner of the playoff, not the individual match, it is not included.

References

  1. ^ Watt, Thom (10 August 2013). "Why Scotland are the most successful Unofficial World Champions". STV Sport. Archived from the original on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  2. ^ "Unofficial World Championship". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 28 January 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Brown, Paul. "Unofficial Football World Championships – FAQ #4". Unofficial Football World Championships. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  4. ^ "UFWC corner". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Coyle, Andy (27 March 2011). "Scotland: (unofficially) the greatest international side in history". STV. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  6. ^ Lines, Oliver (13 August 2013). "Five classic clashes". Sky Sports. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  7. ^ Knight, Simon (21 June 2013). "Arsenal 'world champions', Wolves rule the world and more spurious 'world titles'". TalkSport. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  8. ^ a b c Brown, Paul. "Unofficial Football World Championships: Book". UFWC. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  9. ^ Brown, Paul. "Trophy". UFWC. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  10. ^ Hesse-Lichtenberger, Uli (4 November 2008). "Undisputed champions of the world". ESPN. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  11. ^ Brown, Paul (16 October 2013). "Uruguay defeat Argentina to become UFWC champions". UFWC. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  12. ^ Results, UFWC.co.uk
  13. ^ Brown, Paul (1 January 2007). "Scotland vs England 1872". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  14. ^ Brown, Paul (11 May 2009). "England vs Scotland 1873". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  15. ^ Brown, Paul (3 November 2009). "Hungary vs England 1909". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  16. ^ Brown, Paul (15 January 2010). "Austria vs Scotland 1931". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  17. ^ Brown, Paul (22 January 2010). "England vs Austria 1932". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  18. ^ Brown, Paul (1 January 2007). "England vs USA 1950". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  19. ^ Brown, Paul; Holden, David (18 February 2011). "Netherlands Antilles, we hardly knew ye". In Bed With Maradona. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  20. ^ Brown, Paul (1 January 2007). "England vs West Germany 1966". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  21. ^ Brown, Paul (1 January 2007). "England vs Scotland 1967". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  22. ^ "1982 FIFA World Cup Spain – Poland 5:1 Peru". FIFA Official Website. 22 June 1982. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  23. ^ Brown, Paul (21 November 2012). "USA vs Australia 1992". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  24. ^ "Carlsberg Cup 1995". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  25. ^ Brown, Paul (8 March 2011). "Brazil vs France 1998". UFWC. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  26. ^ a b c Gledhill, Ben (14 November 2011). "England aren't the 'Unofficial World Champions', Japan are – and North Korea could be next". The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 November 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  27. ^ Brown, Paul (14 June 2009). "England vs Germany 2000". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  28. ^ "UEFA Euro 2004 – History – Czech Republic-Netherlands". UEFA Official Website. 11 September 2003. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  29. ^ Brown, Paul (31 March 2004). "Republic of Ireland 2–1 Czech Republic". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  30. ^ Ogden, Mark (1 April 2004). "Czech record scratched by Keane". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  31. ^ Mitchell, Kevin (30 May 2004). "Nigeria turn on style to leave Ireland red-faced". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  32. ^ Brown, Paul (27 March 2005). "Zimbabwe 2–0 Angola". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  33. ^ Brown, Paul (1 January 2007). "Romania vs Nigeria 2005". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  34. ^ "Uruguay Defeats Romania 2–0". The Washington Post. 24 May 2006. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  35. ^ Bandini, Paolo; Dart, James (8 June 2006). "The Unofficial World Champions Reprise". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  36. ^ Brown, Paul (15 November 2006). "Georgia 2–0 Uruguay". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  37. ^ Brown, Paul (24 March 2007). "Scotland end 40-year UFWC title drought". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  38. ^ Moffat, Colin (28 March 2007). "Italy 2–0 Scotland". BBC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  39. ^ Murray, Scott (28 March 2007). "Italy 2 – 0 Scotland". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  40. ^ Brown, Paul (19 November 2008). "Netherlands 3–1 Sweden". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  41. ^ Ashdown, John (2 June 2010). "The real world champions". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  42. ^ Brown, Paul (11 July 2010). "Netherlands 0–1 Spain (AET)". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  43. ^ Markham, Rob (3 February 2011). "Unofficial Football World Champions". ESPN. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  44. ^ Raynor, Dominic (19 November 2011). "Irish ball bag blag, Korea conquer world". ESPN. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  45. ^ Gledhill, Ben (15 November 2011). "North Korea claim Unofficial World Champions title". The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 November 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  46. ^ Brown, Paul (9 March 2012). "North Korea 2–0 Philippines". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  47. ^ Brown, Paul (11 March 2012). "Tajikistan 0–2 North Korea". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  48. ^ Brown, Paul (13 March 2012). "North Korea 4–0 India". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  49. ^ Brown, Paul (16 March 2012). "North Korea 2–0 Palestine". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  50. ^ Brown, Paul (19 March 2012). "Turkmenistan vs North Korea: AFC Challenge Cup Final". UFWC. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  51. ^ "World Football – North Korea win AFC Challenge Cup". Yahoo Sports. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  52. ^ Brown, Paul (17 February 2012). "North Korea 1–1 Kuwait". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  53. ^ Brown, Paul (10 September 2012). "Indonesia 0–2 North Korea". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  54. ^ Brown, Paul (1 December 2012). "Chinese Taipei 1–6 North Korea". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  55. ^ Brown, Paul (3 December 2012). "North Korea 5–0 Guam". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  56. ^ Brown, Paul (9 December 2012). "Hong Kong 0–4 North Korea". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  57. ^ Brown, Paul (23 January 2012). "North Korea 1–1 Sweden (1–4 on penalties)". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  58. ^ Brown, Paul (6 February 2012). "Sweden 2–3 Argentina". UFWC. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  59. ^ Media discussions of England's World Cup 2014 UFWC challenge:
  60. ^ "UFWC on Twitter". Twitter. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  61. ^ "Rankings". UFWC. 12 July 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  62. ^ UFWC FAQ, UFWC.co.uk
  63. ^ "Unofficial Football World Champions". Superelastic. Retrieved 21 November 2013.
  64. ^ Brown, Paul (8 March 2018). "New UFWC book updated for 2018". Unofficial Football World Championships. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  65. ^ Waring, Peter (14 January 2013). "UFWC spin-offs update 2013". UFWC. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  66. ^ "Unofficial Football World Championships – Forum – WOMENS UFWC". Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  67. ^ Nasazzi.com(in French)
  68. ^ Le bâton de Netto(in French)
  69. ^ "Virtual World Championship". RSSSF. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  70. ^ "Virtual World Championship". Twitter.
  71. ^ "Pound for Pound World Championships". Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  72. ^ "Pound For Pound World Championship". RSSSF. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
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