The World Cup is all anyone can talk about right now, so we thought – let’s run our own World Cup…and so The World Cup of Travel began. The World Cup of Travel follows the exact same format as the FIFA World Cup, only rather than competing on footballing abilities the qualifying countries will be competing on travel appeal. Who will come out on top and lift the coveted World Cup of Travel trophy? Have a look at our results table below to find out.
So how did the matches work? If you want more info on all the action from each of our World Cup Travel matches read on below for the full lowdown on how it all played out.
Group Stages
Just like the FIFA World Cup, the 32 qualifying teams were split into the same 8 groups. In each match the countries competed against each other in 7 categories. These were:
-Weather
-Cost
-Food
-Culture
-Nightlife
-Nature & Beaches
-Shopping
For each category a country won they were given a goal, where the two countries drew on a category no goal was awarded. Each country within the group played against each other in the same order as the FIFA World Cup group matches. For every match won the country was awarded 3 points, for a draw it was awarded 1 point and for a loss no points were awarded. The two countries in each group with the most points moved on to the next round.
Group A
Group A saw Uruguay, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Russia battle it out, with Uruguay taking top place while Egypt was the runner up. The first match between Russia and Saudi Arabia was a draw, but both teams went on to lose all subsequent matches. Uruguay won all of their games thanks to their low budgets and tasty local cuisine.
Group B
Group B was a battle between Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Iran with Spain winning the group, while Portugal took the runner up position. With its incredible range of UNESCO sites, lively nightlife and delicious tapas – Spain was a tough act to beat.
Group C
Group C was the turn of France, Peru, Australia and Denmark. France was crowned the winner and Peru took the runner up spot. While Australia and Denmark both pulled out their nature card, they couldn’t compete against the likes of France and Peru for culture, while France also held strong on food and nightlife.
Group D
Group D saw Argentina, Croatia, Iceland and Nigeria compete in what appeared to be a tough group. In spite of this Argentina managed to win all games thanks to its lively nightlife and cultural landmarks. Croatia managed two wins while Nigeria sadly lost all its matches.
Group E
Saw Brazil and Switzerland taking on Costa Rica and Serbia, with Brazil winning and Switzerland coming in as the runner up. Brazil won all of its games while Switzerland won 1, drew 1 and lost 1. Costa Rica managed 1 win against Serbia while Serbia lost 2 games and drew against Switzerland.
Group F
Group F was the turn of Mexico, South Korea, Germany and Sweden. In what may have been a surprising result for some, Mexico took the winning spot while South Korea were runners up, meaning Germany and Sweden were eliminated. Mexico came out strong in all 3 of their games thanks to their delectable cuisine, sunny weather and low costs. While South Korea’s nightlife, food and low costs also gave it a good run.
Group G
Group G is the one the Brits will be watching as England took on Belgium, Panama and Tunisia. Much like the FIFA World Cup England came out on top with its cultural sites and traditional food making up for its lack of sunshine. Belgium came second overall after beating Panama and Tunisia in areas including culture and food.
Group H
Group H was the battle between Japan, Poland, Colombia and Senegal. Japan came out on top winning all of its matches thanks to its iconic food, breath-taking natural landmarks and buzzing nightlife. Poland took the runner up spot losing only to Japan.
Round of 16
Just like in the FIFA World Cup, the winner from each group went on to play the runner up from another group. This followed the same order as the World Cup with the winner of Group A playing the Runner up of Group B and so on.
Again in each match the countries competed against each other in the same seven categories as in the group stages.
The winning teams to come out of this round and move on to the quarter finals were Portugal, France, Brazil, England, Spain, Argentina, Mexico and Japan.
The full rundown of quarter final matches can be viewed below.
Portugal v France
Weather: Portugal
Cost: Portugal
Food: France
Culture: France
Nightlife: France
Beaches & Nature: Portugal
Shopping: France
Winner = France
Brazil v England
Weather: Brazil
Cost: Brazil
Food: Brazil
Culture: England
Nightlife: Brazil
Beaches & Nature: Brazil
Shopping: England
Winner = Brazil
Spain v Argentina
Weather: Spain
Cost: Argentina
Food: Spain
Culture: Spain
Nightlife: Spain
Beaches & Nature: Spain
Shopping: Spain
Winner = Spain
Mexico v Japan
Weather: Mexico
Cost: Mexico
Food: Mexico
Culture: Japan
Nightlife: Japan
Beaches & Nature: Japan
Shopping: Japan
Winner = Japan
Semi-Finals
In what was to be a very tough round of semi-finals we saw France come up against Brazil, while Spain took on Japan. It could have been anyone’s game but Brazil came out as the winner in the first match beating France 4-3 thanks to its year-round sunshine, stunning natural landmarks and low travel costs. Spain won the other semi-final match, beating a tough contender in Japan, but ultimately Spain’s cultural scene, nightlife and local cuisine just pipped that of Japan, while its Mediterranean climate was also a large winning factor.
Final
In an incredibly tough final to call, Spain came up against Brazil. Both countries were fantastic contenders with culture, nature, nightlife and sunshine to their name. It was a close game but ultimately Spain’s party scene across both beaches and cities and its impressive list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites gave Spain the edge allowing it to take the World Cup of Travel trophy
Winner – Spain
Spain just got eliminated from the World Cup in Russia after losing against Russia, but they are the big winners of World Cup of Travel according to the guys of Taxi2Airport.com.