Henry Schneiderman
Sports Editor
This past weekend, April 12 and 13, the Wooster World Cup kicked off its third annual competition in a thrilling 2-day series of matches. Students and faculty across campus united into 12 teams representing various countries, each campaigning for the crown: Ivory Coast, East African Federation, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, Ghana, Uruguay, Argentina, United States of America, South Korea, Japan and Vatican City. The tournament was divided into 2 days, with the first serving as a preliminary group stage and the second hosting the competition’s knockout stages and the final.
“It was amazing, you know,” Reese Johnson ’26, a member of Brazil’s team, said. “What’s crazy is the amount of people cheering and hype about the event — everyone wanted to win for their country.”
The first day of play opened with clear skies as teams competed on the rain-dampened field behind Wagner in hopes of collecting enough points to progress through the tournament’s group stage. In this phase of play, teams played 3 20-minute matches and were allotted 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for a loss. The top 2 teams from each group progressed into the knockout stages.
Throughout the day, competition was fierce as an onslaught of passionate performances graced the pitch. By the day’s conclusion, each team had put forth an incredible effort that resulted in numerous teams progressing to the knockout stages.
Sunday’s play resumed competition as teams engaged in the first rounds of the knockout stage. The quarterfinals began at 10 a.m., followed by the semifinals which began at 2 p.m. and ended at 2:30 p.m. Upon the semifinals’ conclusion, East African Federation and Ivory Coast reigned supreme and began preparations for the tournament’s final later in the day. Immediately after the semifinals came the match for third place between Brazil and Italy, both of whom were knocked out in the semis. After Italy withdrew from the competition due to severe injuries, Brazil claimed the bronze.
The competition’s final leg kicked off on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. and included a thrilling display of talent, passion and teamwork as the East African Federation and Ivory Coast duked it out for the gold. Rather than the 10-minute halves throughout the earlier part of the competition, the final boasted 40-minute halves at John P. Papp Stadium and lined the bleachers with fans thrilled to view the tournament’s finale.
The competition was fierce. Ivory Coast ignited the crowd with the game’s opening goal to place them ahead with a 1-0 score that remained stagnant until the half. At halftime, spectators were treated with a halftime show from Chasing International Dance that wowed the crowd while the two teams planned their next move.
The second half began as a narrow competition as each side engaged in an impressive combination of defense and offense — the score was unchanged until a late game strike by East African Federation erupted the crowd once more and placed the game at a level 1-1 in the final 10 minutes. This score remained until the final whistle, forcing the competition into overtime — a 5 minute period of play.
Overtime began, and each team came out firing with multiple shots and defensive stops amassed in the period’s first 3 minutes. The match looked to be heading towards a second period of overtime until a rough challenge in the Ivory Coast goal box granted East African Federation a penalty kick. In this tournament, penalties were conducted in the style of the 1990s Major League Soccer league and saw players running up 1 on 1 with the keeper to shoot. The stadium held its breath as a combination of thrilled cheering and deafening silence made its way across the field before East African Federation’s penalty taker ran up to the goal and took the shot that ricocheted off the Ivory Coast’s goalkeeper’s hand and landed in the back of the net.
The stadium erupted into cheers as East African Federation players crowded the field and celebrated their newfound title of Wooster World Cup champions. Shortly after, East African Federation, Ivory Coast and Brazil took the field for an award ceremony where they were each granted medals, and a trophy for the victors, for their accomplishments in front of a crowd ecstatic from the competition.
With this competition’s conclusion, players have already made plans for continued competition next year. “I would definitely play again next year, it was a great way to just enjoy playing soccer.” Noah McDonald ’26 of team Uruguay said, “Everybody was really chill and supportive throughout the games. I would definitely recommend making a team, if not to win, then just to have some fun playing.” This sentiment was echoed by Johnson who said, “I would be very open to the idea of playing again, it was super fun and the atmosphere was really exciting.”
The Wooster World Cup will return next spring as a new set of players and countries make a bid for the crown. Congratulations to the East African Federation for their victory in the competition and to everyone who competed in this year’s rendition of the event!
