>>>>>>> HUNGARY 510* : 150 CURAÇAO
<<<<<<<

Duration: 4h 40mins

Venue: Bodmin Moor,
Cornwall, England

  The Hungarians came into this World
Cup as the reigning champions from four years ago, having regained the crown
after a wait of over 100 years. Everyone had them down as favourites, and
unsurprisingly so, after not coming close to defeat in the last tournament. The
nation’s club sides were flying high in European competition and the team’s
beater pairing of stalwart captain Vidor Bozsér and European Player of the Year
Krisztán Váczi had recently become the most capped beating partnership in
Hungarian history. Known at home as “The Vizsla”, the team dominated in
qualifying as in previous campaigns and were undefeated and were the first
nation to qualify for the knockout stage.

   Curaçao, by comparison, had next to no
international pedigree. The small Caribbean island had never reached the
knockout stages of a World Cup before but an injection of funding from the
Dutch Quidditch Association 20 years previously saw a quick rise in standards,
with a number of Curaçaoan players earning lucrative deals with South American
club sides. They won their group to qualify, beating many stronger nations
among the way, including Ireland & local neighbours Venezuela.

  In the match everything went to plan
for the overwhelming favourites. The Hungarian’s strength and experience was
too great for the fledglings in sapphire, outscoring their island opponents by
more than two to one before catching the snitch before the five hour mark,
without ever looking troubled. The Curaçaoans could go home with heads held
high however, having won a great many fans in their attempts to upset the odds.

>>>>>>> YUGOSLAVIA 180 : 210* NEW
CALEDONIA <<<<<<<

Duration: 2h 27mins

Venue: Exmoor, Devon, England

  Yugoslavia were ranked second coming
into the tournament after topping hot favourites Spain in qualifying. Another
eastern European nation famed for grit and determination, but a new found focus
saw them qualify for the first time in four attempts.

  New Caledonia were another small
island nation to upset the big boys and qualify, although not for the first
time – this would be their third foray into the knockout rounds, the previous
two ending in drubbings at this stage. The New Caledonian’s star and only real
hope was their enigmatic (and now ancient) Seeker, Cyril Goussé. The islanders
most capped player; Goussé was by now playing in back at home but had
previously warmed the bench with much success for the Quiberon Quafflepunchers
in France.

  The match began in drab conditions,
which clearly upset the islanders who almost instantly leaked five goals. And
then the sun came out. The Yugoslavians were playing facing it and didn’t
manage to score for another hour. Both teams were making hard work of things
but Yugoslavia were starting to pull away before out of nowhere, the Snitch
appeared on a plate for Goussé who seized his chance as he had many a time in
qualifying (New Caledonia won more games from losing positions than any other
qualifying nation). History for the small Pacific nation and disappointment
again for the Yugoslavian team who would go no further in the tournament or
indeed in Quidditch – the whole side was dropped from the national side and
never recalled.

>>>>>>> ENGLAND 270* : 80 CEYLON <<<<<<<

Duration: 1h 47mins

Venue: Ilkley Moor, Yorkshire, England

  The joint-hosts did well to qualify
as highly as they did. Indeed, no-one had them down as favourites to take the
championship but the side came in quietly confident after it was announced that
they would be playing the tournament at home. The inventers of the game had
never won a World Cup outside their green and pleasant land, but they had won a
number of the ones on home soil, as it were.

  It seemed fitting that the draw
matched Ceylon with England – the country was still part of the British
Commonwealth and a main source of the empires tea. In fact, many of the most
successful teams in the country were founded by English witches & wizards –
the Teldeniya Tea-Drinkers being the oldest and most successful of these. This
Ceylonese team were gentle giant-killers having taken down Bulgaria &
Argentina in qualifying and weren’t scared of anyone.

  The match wasn’t one to remember, in
fact the tea party after will live longer in the memory. England didn’t need to
reach top gear to beat their opponents and the only player to score for Ceylon
was their captain Chandrasiri Ranatunga who had played for the Appleby Arrows
for a season 10 years previously. England caught the Snitch but most of the
spectators had hit the pub by then to get out of the drizzle.

>>>>>>> AUSTRALIA 400* : 270 GHANA <<<<<<<

Duration: 5h 44mins

Venue: Lake District, Cumbria, England

  The Kangaroos were one of a new
breed of team who favoured extravagant moves, team play & collaboration
over individual strength brute force. Foremost amongst them was their captain
Royston Idlewind who had suffered due to his talent, having missed the last
three games of qualifying recovering from a jinx received from an opposing fan
during a Warriors-Thunderers match. Nobody denied their skill and everyone
enjoyed watching them play but many suspected they lacked the substance to be
serious threat in the later rounds.

  The word Ghana means “Warrior King”
and the nation had certainly lived up to that tag in the years building up to
the tournament. The Eagles of Ejura were the reigning All-Africa champions at
club level and the national team were the only non-European Quarter-finalists
at the last World Cup in 1962. Many saw this match-up as one of the harder to
call with most of the bets seeing it decided by the Snitch catch.

  Played in glorious sunshine the
match had it all – speed, skill and ingenuity. It was as tight as everyone had
thought with neither side taking a lead of more than 30 points at any stage. An
intense battle between the two Seekers had lasted almost 20 minutes before
Ashleigh Echunga wrapped her fingers around the Snitch to come from behind to
win the match for her team.

>>>>>>> BRAZIL 1720 : 1390* JAPAN <<<<<<<

Duration:23h 3mins

Venue: Peak District, Derbyshire, England

  The Brazilians were another
up-and-coming nation who based their game on flare. With bronze-bodied players
brought up playing Quidditch on the beach, this team was the one everyone
wanted to see. The mantra of the nation’s players was to play attractive
Quidditch, whether that meant winning or losing. Attacking with style was all
that mattered, with even their Keeper joining in – something which had never
been seen before in Europe.

  Japan had a brand all of its own and
were frequent quarter- and semi-finalists in the early 20^th century.
Much loved by European fans, the side of ’66 weren’t expected to reach the
heights their grandfathers achieved but had exceeded expectations to reach the
knockout stage.

  The weather was a dreary affair but
the play was anything but, with two very distinct styles of play making for an
interesting encounter. The Brazilian Seeker Lourenço missed a number of great
chances to end the match in the first 6 hours but the Snitch evaded capture for
nearly a full day. By the time it was spotted again it was the Brazilians who
had stretched to a healthy lead, forcing Toyahashi Tengu Seeker Shinji Miyazaki
to take the suicide Snitch.

>>>>>>> TANZANIA 420* : 170 HAWAII
<<<<<<<

Duration: 3h 45mins

Venue: Dartmoor, Devon,
England

  Tanzania
was playing in its very first World Cup but their inclusion in the knockout
stages had caused quite the stir in the build-up to the tournament. The country
had only existed two years with the merging of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964,
half way through qualification. Both nations were fairing well but weren’t
excelling until the two merged to become one. The best players from Tanganyika
and Zanzibar formed the first national team of Tanzania and went unbeaten
throughout the rest of the campaign to gain qualification. Many in the magical
community expected foul play on the part of the ministries of the two countries
in coercing the non-magical governments into the merger. An investigation was
considered but never took place.

  In
stark contrast to their opponents, Hawaii was a nation fighting to stay
independent. The non-magical community had seceded more power than ever before
to the USA by becoming a state in 1959, but the magical folk had other ideas. This
passion to show what they thought of that decision was shown most brightly of
all by their national team leading to the teams qualification to the knockout
rounds.

  The
Hawaiians dominated possession at first but tired due to their intense play and
the unbeaten Tanzanian team pulled the score back and took the lead before
snatching an uncontested Snitch.

>>>>>>> PORTUGAL 210* : 110 WALES
<<<<<<<

Duration: 1h 37mins

Venue: Snowdonia, Gwynedd,
Wales

  The
Portuguese was the European nation doing the most to move the game towards
speed & skill and away from aggression & brute force. Their three young
Chasers had helped bring their respective clubs to the top of the European club
scene, especially Adriana Gonçalves’ Braga Broomfleet. Whilst not favourites to
win the crown, many in the know had this team as quiet outsiders to take the
title.

  The
other joint-hosts were even more confident than their neighbours. The funding
gained by the Caerphilly Catapult’s European Cup victory exactly ten years
earlier had been put towards national team success and this was seen as Wales’
best chance in a century to win the cup. Despite being handed a tough draw in
qualifying they scraped through but the whole nation believed the team could
step it up a gear in the knockout stages.

  Allowed
a pick of home venue, The Welsh opted for the beautiful backdrop of Snowdonia
for the match. The biggest turn-out of this round of the competition watched as
Wales raced to a 50 point lead in an hour and a half only for celebrations to
be cut short and as the Portuguese Seeker stole the win from right under the
Welsh Seeker Anwen Griffiths’ nose.  

>>>>>>> MEXICO 490 : 690* MADAGASCAR
<<<<<<<

Duration: 10h 39mins

Venue: Brecon Beacons, Powys,
Wales

  Mexico
had quite the pedigree in international Quidditch, being the most successful
nation in North America for quite some time and regularly featured in the
knockout stages of World Cups. No-one was surprised when they qualified for
this one but like-wise no-one expected them to reach a first final since the
abandonment of 1809 (when they were called New Spain). Having no concrete style
of their own, they were known for using an opponent’s weaknesses against them,
and going about it in an aggressive manner.

  The
Malagasy team were a side with an average age of 21 and a great deal of talent
who, by their own admission, were at the tournament to gain experience in the
hope of future success. A famous Scottish warlock said before Scotland’s
qualifying match with the team, “You can’t win anything with kids”, but he
could not have been more wrong in this instance. Madagascar ended Scotland’s
hopes of reaching the knockout rounds early on and continued to breeze through
themselves.

   This was a hard-fought match from the off and
difficult to call for a long time. Youthful innocence won the day with the Malagasy
youngsters refusing to be drawn into the Mexican’s underhand tactics. By the
end they ran out comfortable winners, with the Malagasy Seeker leaping 20 foot
from his broomstick to snatch the Snitch to send the island nation through.