Pop World Cup 2010: Group F – Slovakia 3 Italy 0
There is controversy afoot – controversy about the suspect timekeeping in key matches, controversy about the competence of some of the less prominent PWC administrators. It’s a fractious time. One one...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group F – Paraguay 0 New Zealand 0
Steve M’s New Zealand are through to the next round and coasting. Paraguay, managed by Talia, are very close to qualification, needing just a point to see them through. Is this a good time to play NZ?...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group G – Korea DPR 1 Cote D’Ivoire 1
We return now to Group G, where nothing is decided. Anyone could go through, anyone could go out. Cote d’Ivoire, managed by Wichita Lineman, have been muscular and impressive so far, while Mark S’s...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group G – Portugal 2 Brazil 1
Portugal and Brazil share a language and a complex colonial and post-colonial history. Today, however, they share a pop-football pitch, and both sides are still hoping to qualify for the next round....
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group H – Chile 0 Spain 0
Group H is here, and today’s games mark the end of the popglut which has been this last set of games in the last qualifying round. This game features Alberto’s Spain side, six points out of six and...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group H – Switzerland 0 Honduras 2
It’s tight down here at the very end of the group stages but nothing’s decided yet. Switzerland, managed by Greg F have just one point but a win here could see them through (assuming other results go...
View ArticlePop World Cup – Weekend Update 2 – The Votening
Here’s another chance to catch up on the busiest part of the Pop World Cup, with all the voting for Groups E F G and H in one handy place… And – great news for all our readers in these belt-tightening...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Round of 16 Match 1 – Nigeria 3 France 2
Now the massive popglut of the final group stages is over, we return to a more sedate pace, though the pressure is by no means off the managers. Big beasts are everywhere. There are no easy games at...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Round of 16 Match 2 – South Africa 1 Korea Republic 3
Isabel’s South Africa team stormed through Group A, only dropping points once they’d qualified, and even then to the pop might of France. Chris R steered Korea Republic, to second place in Group B...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Round of 16 Match 3 – United States 0 Germany 2
Pressure. Seasoned PWC-watchers love to see the way the pressure begins to play on the managers as the tournament progresses. Most of the time, the standard of the music doesn’t suffer, but the...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Round of 16 Match 4 – Ghana 3 Slovenia 1
Sometimes in the middle of a long tournament you pause for breath, you think about the time you’re spending on all these games, look at the sun shining outside, consider all the other stuff you could...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Round of 16 Match 5 – Netherlands 3 Paraguay 1
As we move into the second half of the Round of 16, we come across a game which may not have been an obvious highlight but, for PWC followers, has an intrigue all of its own. Iain F’s Netherlands team...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Round of 16 Match 6 – Cameroon 3 New Zealand 1
This is the sixth of the eight matches in the Round of Sixteen – already! Neither Weston Debevec’s Cameroon nor Steve M’s New Zealand would necessarily be high on most lists of favourites for the...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Round of 16 Match 7 – Honduras 2 Portugal 1
On to match seven of the Round of Sixteen! Will it be a lucky seven for Carsmile Steve’s Honduras, making it through the groups stage with a heavy reliance on fine, fine reggaeton? Or will this match...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Round of 16 Match 8 – Spain 1 Cote d’Ivoire 0
It’s been a remarkably strong round of sixteen, and here we are at the end of it! Alberto’s Spain and Wichita Lineman’s Cote d’Ivoire both looked very classy in the group stages and both will be...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: First Quarter Final – Netherlands 1 Honduras 3
If you can’t quite smell the greatest pop football prize of all yet, you can certainly hear it in the distance. For one of our managers, three more songs will take them through to the world...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Second Quarter Final – Germany 4 Korea Republic 3
Quarter Final number two, and things are rattling on apace. Battling for a coveted semi-final spot here are Chris R’s Korea Republic side who seem to have hit a convincing K-pop stride – or was it a...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Third Quarter Final – Nigeria 2 Ghana 0
Three quarters of the way through our four Quarters. The tunes, like our managers’ heartbeats, have been largely uptempo, and no-one wants to go home at this stage, not with glory so close. This match...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Fourth Quarter Final – Cameroon 2 Spain 1
Can it be that this is the last of our Quarter Finals? So Soon? After this, just four games left in the PWC, and one of those is the third place play-off. We are moving so quickly towards the end of...
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Eurosong Derby Playoffs
Kat Stevens, having skillfully managed Slovenia into the Pop World Cup’s Round of 16, will be liveblogging the semifinals of that other, slightly more Swarovski-crystal-laden pop competition, the...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: First Semi Final – Honduras 1 Germany 2
Touching distance, now. It’s the semi-finals and, of all the matches in the Pop World Cup, the semi-finals are the most tense. The stakes feel high: win, and you’ll soon savour the feeling of running...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Second Semi Final – Nigeria 2 Cameroon 0
The big story of this Pop World Cup, it’s been said, has been the exceptional performance of the African teams. Almost half of the quarter finalists, fully half of the semi-finalists, all drawn from...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Third Place Play-off – Honduras 0 Cameroon 3
There are no losers here. Each Pop World Cup manager set off on a crooked path some months ago, and to fall at the penultimate hurdle cannot be counted as shame. Rather, let’s doff our caps at the...
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Pop World Cup 2010: The Final! Nigeria vs Germany
Here we are, at last. Here we stand at the summit of Pop Football achievement, looking back at 63 matches: some wonderful, some perplexing, some illuminating, very few boring. We’ve heard so much pop,...
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Pop World Cup 2010: Nigeria Crowned Champions!
Nigeria 3 Germany 1 The Pop City Stadium in Johannesburg is awash in white and green tickertape; the team jog around the perimeter bearing manager Matt DC aloft upon their shoulders; a continent...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group C – England 2 Algeria 1
The first round in Group C left pop-soccer heavyweights England disappointed by a loss and in need of a good result in round 2. Conversely, Algeria won their opening game and are looking to press on to...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group D – Ghana 4 Australia 3
(due to technical issues we’re swapping the two group d games round, Germany vs Serbia tomorrow hopefully) And welcome back to Group D where the current leaders Ghana take on Australia, who’ll be...
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FREE A3 Pop World Cup WALLCHART for ALL OUR READERS
A PDF file worth 500K!!!!! (bytes) when clicked… Update: Chart with groups info filled in
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group D – Germany 1 Serbia 0
Sorry about the slight problem there, but here’s the fourth match in Group D, which sees Germany trying to end plucky Serbia‘s PWC dreams and send them home. But will it be that straightforward? Voting...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group E – Netherlands 2 Japan 0
Crossing the mid-point of the second group round, if the Netherlands can get a win here a place in the last sixteen is within their grasp whilst Japan will hoping to build on their first game to push...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group E – Cameroon 1 Denmark 1
A must-win match for Denmark here, although given the popularity of all of the African teams so far, they may be facing an uphill battle against a Cameroon side looking to enhance their chances of...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group F – Slovakia 0 Paraguay 3
This match could be transformative for one of these teams. Slovakia emerged from their first game with nothing, after hoping to win, while Paraguay were utterly befuddled by Italy’s revolutionary...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group F – Italy 1 New Zealand 3
New Zealand enter this game with their tails up, this group’s only holder of three points after round one. If the Italians play as they did in the last game, they might chew those Kiwi tails right off....
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group G – Portugal 2 Korea DPR 1
The Portuguese left the pitch after their disappointing first match with a look of steely determination in their eyes. they knew what was coming next, which was that they didn’t know what was coming...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group G – Brazil 1 Cote D’Ivoire 1
Brazil are one of the giants of pop football but got off to a shaky start in their first game – they’ll be looking to pick up points to stay in touch with this group. The Cote D’Ivoire are full of...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group H – Chile 1 Switzerland 1
One of the secrets of the Pop World Cup, like it’s recently-invented footballing cousin, is that very often matches between unfancied outsiders generate the most exciting moments. Chile ans...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group H – Honduras 0 Spain 2
The two winners from the first set of games in Group H meet here, three points in hand and ready to see who will really make the pace in this group. A win here will put either side within touching...
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Pop World Cup: The Story So Far II
We’re halfway through the Pop World Cup 2010 (in terms of the total number of tracks), and here’s an opportunity to select your favourites from our 32 competing nations’ second selections. Choose your...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group A – Mexico 2 Uruguay 2
Here we go then, this is where it all gets hectic, and the calculators come out to decide who goes through to the round of 16 and who gets sent home. We’ll be doing TWO matches per day, so that, as in...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group A – France 1 South Africa 1
Real Actual Crunch Time here, in the first real decider of the tournament. South Africa only need a point to be sure of qualification but France are in a mathematical nightmare. They could win and...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group B – Nigeria 3 Korea Republic 2
A draw, Gary. It’s the hardest result to play for in Association Pop – who can judge how to gain somewhere between 42 and 58% of the votes in a game? No-one, that’s who. It’s a result which would...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group B – Greece 0 Argentina 4
Both of these sides have a single point to show for their first two games, and both are staring an early exit from the competition square in the face. Either side could still qualify but to do so they...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group C – England 0 Slovenia 3
Slovenia have made a lot of friends so far in this tournament but have not secured many points: they need a win to have any chance of progressing. England are developing a reputation for versatility,...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group C – USA vs Algeria
This group’s as tight as anything. Any of the four could go through, any of the four could go out. This is not time for letting up or blooding the weaker squad members. This is a time for giving it...
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How To Win A Pop World Cup
You may be loving the Pop World Cup (we hope you are!). You may be thoroughly sick of it (in which case – sorry! But we’re more than halfway through now). But I hope you’d agree that the basic...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group D – Ghana 3 Germany 1
Ghana have qualified for the next round with a very impressive 100% record, and we are all already sick of the press jokes about their manager living the high life. Andrew H’s Germany need to beat Ben...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group D – Serbia 1 Australia 1
Serbia have nothing to play for but pride, but Serbia is a proud nation and manager Tim E is a proud fellow, so their hearts will be on their sleeves. Australia still have a slim chance of...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group Stage Catch-up 1 (Groups A, B, C and D)
Now, we know the Pop World Cup is the most fascinating thing in the world just now, but we are very aware that these final rounds present a flurry of activity even by our standards. We have therefore...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group E – Cameroon 1 Netherlands 0
With Ian F’s Netherlands already safely through as group winners this is little more than a run out to keep their eye in, maybe let some of the fringe players have a go. It means a lot more for...
View ArticlePop World Cup 2010: Group E – Denmark 0 Japan 3
Onwards, ever onwards the Pop World Cup marches, with barely time to draw breath! Both Rob H’s Denmark and Dasal’s Japan need a win here, but even that won’t be enough if the other result goes against...
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