1968 Terraconservan Cup

1968 Terraconservan Cup
1968 Montcrabe
	1968 Terraconservan Cup Logo
Tournament details
Host country	Montcrabe
Dates	1968
Teams	12 (from 3 confederations)
Venue(s)	8 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Montcrabe (2nd title)
Runners-up	Creeperopolis
Third place	Paleocacher
Fourth place	Quebecshire
	← 1964 1972 →

The 1968 Terraconservan Cup was the eight edition of the Terraconservan Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was played in Montcrabe from 31 May to 29 June 1968. Creeperopolis had been originally chosen to host the competition but, largely due to the San Salvador earthquake in 1966, was not able to do so, and resigned. Montcrabe was selected as the new host in May 1967, in their first hosting of the tournament. El Salvador and Baltanla made their debut appearances at the Terraconservan Cup.

The Terraconservan Cup was won by hosts Montcrabe (their 2nd title). Montcrabe beat Creeperopolis 2-0 in the final at Montcrabe City's Montcrabe Cite Stade, as captained by Maxence Colbert. Total attendance for the tournament was recorded to be around 1.2 million, an average per match of 60,000. The competition saw the introduction of various new Montcrabin stadiums, including the Nacionale Stade and Stade Francois Jude.

Mascot

The official mascot of the 1968 Terraconservan Cup was Pique, a green crab, characteristic of Montcrabin caricature and media, with a moustache, and Montcrabe football team colors. Its name comes from the Crabin word meaning "pinch", in reference to crab's pincers, and was also a pun on the "PK" abbreviation of the football term penalty kick.

The character caused a degree of controversy within Montcrabe for its alleged use in government propaganda aimed at children.

Venues

Four cities in Montcrabe hosted the tournament, featuring eight stadiums total (two per city). The Montcrabe Cite Stade, largest used in the tournament and home of the Montcrabe national team (at the time, it was also shared by clubs Real Parante and Reguecos), also featured in the final. The 1968 Terraconservan Cup was widely praised for the security and quality of its venues, following massive investments from Montcrabe once the country had been picked as host for the international tournament.

Montcrabe City	Montcrabe City	Perelocusta	Perelocusta
Montcrabe Cite Stade	Moinsel Coppa Stade	Campe Sou	Stade Francois Jude
Capacity: 80,000	Capacity: 70,000	Capacity: 77,000	Capacity: 55,000


Sinatre	Sinatre	Torosa	Torosa
Nacionale Stade	Stade Tres Monumental	Torosa Cite Stade	Soldade' Grounde
Capacity: 56,000	Capacity: 47,000	Capacity: 39,000	Capacity: 35,000

Qualified teams

CONFUSUR (4)

LFE (6)

OFL (2)

Countries qualified for Terraconservan Cup

Country did not qualify

Countries that did not enter Terraconservan Cup

Final draw

Seeding

Pot 1
Team	Qualification result
Tirol	LFE 1st
Reykanes	LFE 2nd
Salisford	CONFUSUR 2nd
Montcrabe	Host

Pot 2
Team	Qualification result
Creeperopolis	CONFUSUR 3rd
Groffenord	LFE 3rd
Quebecshire	LFE 4th
Paleocacher	OFL 2nd

Pot 3
Team	Qualification result
El Salvador	CONFUSUR 4th
Terranihil	Inter 1st
Andaluzia	LFE 5th
Baltanla	OFL 3rd

Draw results

Group A
Pos	Team
A1	Montcrabe
A2	Groffenord
A3	Baltanla

Group B
Pos	Team
B1	Salisford
B2	Creeperopolis
B3	El Salvador

Group C
Pos	Team
C1	Reykanes
C2	Paleocacher
C3	Andaluzia

Group D
Pos	Team
D1	Tirol
D2	Quebecshire
D3	Terranihil

Group stage schedule
Matchdays	Dates	Matches
Matchday 1	31 May 1968	1 v 3
Matchday 2	4 June 1968	2 v 3
Matchday 3	8 June 1968	1 v 2

Summary

Group stages

Group stage game between Montcrabe and Groffenord

The first game played in the 1968 Terraconservan Cup began in Group A, where tournament hosts Montcrabe beat international debutants Baltanla 4-0. The second match of the group saw Baltanla pull off a shock, and late 2-1 win over Groffenord, who then went on to lose 2-1 against group favorites Montcrabe. Baltanla's success in the group stages was considered by many as a highly impressive feat, as they were originally predicted to be one of the worst teams in the tournament.

In Group B, Salisford beat favorites Creeperopolis 4-2 in the Campe Sou, following it up with another 4-1 win over El Salvador. Creeperopolis took second spot in the group after beating El Salvador 3-1.

Group C saw Reykanes narrowly win against both Paleocacher and Andaluzia in 1-0 encounters. Paleocacher advanced to the knockout stages after themselves beating Andaluzia 2-1, in what was described as a defensive and extremely boring group. The last match in Group C was reportedly the game with the least attendance in the entire tournament, managing to fill only 32 thousand seats in the 56 thousand capacity Nacionale Stade.

Group D pitted a strong Tirol side against Quebecshire and Terranihil. A shocking 2-1 win in injury time for Quebecshire saw them beat Tirol in Torosa. The group favorites then took out their frustrations with a rampant 5-0 win over Terranihil, who were eliminated from the group after another goal-ridden 4-0 loss to top-of-the-group Quebecshire.

Quarter finals

In the quarterfinals, tournament hosts Montcrabe were set to face an underperforming Tirol in Montcrabe City. An early goal for Tirol, and Montcrabe equalizer a few minutes later, paved way for what would be a very close match. Constant risky counter-attacks by Montcrabe's dynamic attack forced Tirol into playing defensively, pushing the game to extra time. In the 112th minute, Montcrabin captain Maxence Colbert scored the winner for his country after dribbling past the opposing backline.

Reykanes were pit against Baltanla, the former as heavy favorites to go through. A dominant display by Reykanes saw itself stamped out by an astonishing display by Baltanla's keeper, who kept his team in the game. A lapse in focus led to a Baltanla goal in the 23rd minute, completely against the flow of play, before a 55th minute equalizer rewarded Reykanes' dominance. In the 85th minute, Baltanla capitalized off of a corner and pulled off a shocking win to move onto the semi finals.

Salisford and Palocacher was a far more straightforward affair, with three second-half goals sending a very dominant Salisfordian side through over a defensively shaky Paleocacher.

Quebecshire and Creeperopolis made for a far tighter game, a 75th minute winner for Creeperopolis found after a pacey counter-attack from a badly-taken corner by Quebecshire. The rest of the remaining 15 minutes saw a desperate Quebecshire failing to break down a firmly parked Creeperopolis side.

Semi finals

The semi-finals were kicked off in the Montcrabe Cite Stade, venue for the eventual final. Tournament dark horses Baltanla were expectedly demolished by a far superior Montcrabe, the scoreline, even still, going against the run of play thanks to another world class display by Baltanla's goalkeeper - who nonetheless was helplesss to four goals slipped right past his defense and posts. Parades were held around the city to celebrate the win, as Montcrabe stood a genuine chance to win the Terraconservan Cup at home.

Campe Sou, on the other hand, laid witness to 4 extra time goals in a thrilling 5-3 encounter that saw Creeperopolis go through to the final. End-to-end football rewarded both sides with a conservative 2-2 draw after the 90, before an early extra time goal by Salisford saw itself stamped out by three Creeperopolis ones right after. The encounter was described as one of the most tense matches in the entire tournament, with 3 red cards and 7 yellows handed out total.

Final

The 1968 Terraconservan Cup final in the Montcrabe Cite Stade, Montcrabe vs. Creeperopolis

The Terraconservan Cup's next destination was confirmed to be Sur, but Montcrabe Cite Stade would be the place for a winner to be decided. Creeperopolis walked into the encounter with a weakened side, after two of their players had been suspended from the final for their direct red cards in the semi-final against Salisford (rule changes would eventually make this impossible in future competitions, giving players a clean record in finals). A thrilling, but goalless first half was eventually rewarded with a 55th minute goal by Maxence Colbert to put the tournament hosts ahead in their own home stadium. A good game by Creeperopolis saw itself overshadowed by incredible performances from Montcrabe's attackers, who were able to seal the affair and tournament with a 73rd minute goal. 12 years after their first Terraconservan Cup win, Montcrabe City celebrated the country's second international football title.

Montcrabe captain Maxence Colbert was the Golden Ball winner as the best player of the tournament, while Geronimo Fabro of Salisford won the Golden Boot as the leading scorer of the Terraconservan Cup with six goals.

Tournament

Group stage

Tiebreakers

The following criteria were issued by the Terraconservan Cup for breaking ties:

Points obtained in all group matches (two points for a win, one for a draw, none for a defeat);
Goal difference in all group matches;
Number of goals scored in all group matches;
Goal difference in the match played between the teams in question;
Drawing of lots

Group A

Pos.	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1.	Montcrabe (H, A)	2	2	0	6	1	+5	4	Advances to knockout stage
2.	Baltanla (A)	2	1	1	2	4	-2	2	Advances to knockout stage
3.	Groffenord (Q)	2	0	2	2	4	–2	0

(A) Advances to further round; (E) Eliminated

30 May 1968

17:00

Montcrabe	4–0	Baltanla
16', 21', 32', 33'

Montcrabe Cite Stade, Montcrabe City, Montcrabe

4 June 1968

17:00

Baltanla	2–1	Groffenord
66', 84'		19'

Moinsel Coppa Stade, Montcrabe City, Montcrabe

8 June 1968

17:00

Groffenord	1-2	Montcrabe
72'		3', 61'

Montcrabe Cite Stade, Montcrabe City, Montcrabe

Group B

Pos.	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1.	Salisford (A)	2	2	0	8	3	+5	4	Advances to knockout stage
2.	Creeperopolis (A)	2	1	1	3	3	0	2	Advances to knockout stage
3.	El Salvador (E)	2	0	2	2	7	–5	0

(A) Advances to further round; (E) Eliminated

31 May 1968

20:00

Salisford	4-2	Creeperopolis
2', 51', 76', 86'		35', 81'

Campe Sou, Perelocusta, Montcrabe

4 June 1968

20:00

El Salvador	1-4	Salisford
8'		12', 33', 51', 57'

Stade Francois Jude, Perelocusta, Montcrabe

8 June 1968

20:00

Creeperopolis	3-1	El Salvador
31', 69', 77'		41'

Campe Sou, Perelocusta, Montcrabe

Group C

Pos.	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1.	Reykanes (A)	2	2	0	2	0	+2	4	Advances to knockout stage
2.	Paleocacher (A)	2	1	1	2	2	0	2	Advances to knockout stage
3.	Andaluzia (E)	2	0	2	1	3	–2	0

(A) Advances to further round; (E) Eliminated

31 May 1968

17:00

Reykanes	1-0	Paleocacher
45+1'

Nacionale Stade, Sinatre, Montcrabe

4 June 1968

17:00

Andaluzia	0-1	Reykanes
		62'

Stade Tres Monumental, Sinatre, Montcrabe

8 June 1948

17:00

Paleocacher	2-1	Andaluzia
29', 71'		21'

Nacionale Stade, Sinatre, Montcrabe

Group D

Pos.	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1.	Quebecshire (A)	2	2	0	6	1	+5	4	Advances to knockout stage
2.	Tirol (A)	2	1	1	6	2	+4	2	Advances to knockout stage
3.	Terranihil (E)	2	0	2	0	7	–7	0

(A) Advances to further round; (E) Eliminated

31 May 1968

20:00

Tirol	1–2	Quebecshire
47'		19', 90+2'

Torosa Cite Stade, Torosa, Montcrabe

4 June 1968

20:00

Terranihil	0-5	Tirol
		3', 10', 39', 67', 79'

Soldade' Grounde, Torosa, Montcrabe

8 June 1968

20:00

Quebecshire	4-0	Terranihil
21', 23', 45+1', 90+2'

Torosa Cite Stade, Torosa, Montcrabe

Knockout stage

Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final

15 June – Montcrabe City

Montcrabe (a.e.t.)	2
		20 June – Montcrabe City
Tirol	1
		Montcrabe	4
15 June – Sinatre
		Baltanla	0
Reykanes	1
				27 June – Montcrabe City
Baltanla	2
				Montcrabe	2
16 June – Perelocusta
				Creeperopolis	0
Salisford	3
		22 June – Perelocusta
Paleocacher	0
		Salisford	3
16 June – Torosa
		Creeperopolis (a.e.t.)	5	Third Place
Quebecshire	0
				29 June – Sinatre
Creeperopolis	1
				Baltanla	1

				Salisford	2

Quarterfinals

15 June 1968