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 BLANK (their X title). BLANK beat BLANK2 X–X in the final at Montcrabe City'sMontcrabe Cite Stade, as captained by PERSON. Total attendance for the tournament was recorded to be around 2.4 million, an average per match of X. The competition saw the introduction of various new Montcrabin stadiums, including the BLANK, BLANK and BLANK.
The 1968 Terraconservan Cup final in the Montcrabe Cite Stade, Montcrabe vs. Creeperopolis
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.
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 Uulgadzar 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.
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;
Montcrabe
Baltanla (A)
Groffenord (Q)
66', 84'
Salisford (A)
Creeperopolis (A)
El Salvador (E)
Uulgadzar (A)
Paleocacher (A)
Andaluzia (E)
Quebecshire (A)
Tirol (A)
Terranihil (E)
Castilliano
Karimun
Rakeo
Cospania
Yourtanad
Morova
