Unofficial Football World Championships

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2021-06-21 03:00:05

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 and published by English journalist Paul Brown in 2003.[2]

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".[3][4][5]

In 2003 freelance journalist Paul Brown defined the rules of the UFWC, traced its lineage and wrote an article in football magazine FourFourTwo.[2] In 2011 Brown authored a book on the subject.[6] Brown also created the championship's website which tracks its progression.

The Unofficial Football World Championships is not sanctioned by FIFA, nor does it have any sort of official backing. The winner is awarded a virtual trophy—the C.W. Alcock Cup, named after him as he was a major instigator in the development of international football in his role as FA secretary.[7]