Alternate WC : Continental Cups are Qualifiers (1962-?). A Football TL

[Wings]

Long equalizes against England in extra time of the first RO16 match

England's Jaime Vardy scores the winning goal for England against Ireland

Cahill scores his second against New Zealand, sending Australia straight to the Quarter-Finals

Cristiano Ronaldo scores his third goal of the match against Spain

Lionel Messi looks in disbelief as Argentina is eliminated in the Round of 16

Iceland's keeper Hallodorsson saves Luka Modric's penalty, sending Iceland into the Quarter-Finals

Belgian players rejoice as they finally take the game against Peru

France's Pavard celebrates his volley kick goal against Chile

Lozano bursts with joy as he opens up the score against Germany

 

[Wings]

England would give themselves quite a fright against the Wallabies, only managing to get one goal ahead before half-time. However, the English squad held on firm and managed to get a two goal advantage, repealing the australian attacks until it was too late for them to come back.

Iceland wanted to continue on dreaming, and they had a tough road ahead of them while facing Belgium. However, the Icelanders managed to shock the world, pulling ahead by two goals early on. Belgium managed to come back with one goal on a corner kick, but Iceland kept the lead at half-time. However, the Icelanders could not cope with the pressure Hazard and De Bruyne put on their defense, and eventually crumbled later on, leaving Belgium with the road wide open towards the semi-finals. However, the Icelandic road to the Quarters would impress the whole world.

Mexico wouldn't be able to bring home another victory, as they are beaten back by France in their Quarter-Final close to the French border. France would proceed to the semi-finals without too much difficulty, however their next opponent would be quite a surprise.

Portugal wouldn't be at home for their own quarter-final, and maybe that is what they needed to advance, as they were pushed into extra time by South Korea. Incredibly, the asians held the line against all odds, and managed to bring it home with a goal in extra time from Hyun-Seo, and enter their first ever semi-final.

 

[Wings]

The Semi-Finals would feature two games going into overtime, with both the clashes between England and Belgium and France and South Korea going the distance, although the first would be much closer than the second. The first match would take place in the heart of Lisbon, at the Estadio da Luz. Belgium were the first to strike, with Verthongen slamming in a header after only six minutes, quickly followed by Trippier scoring on a free kick. English fans were ecstatic as Ashley Young, transparent in the tournament so far, gave England the lead after a great pass from Lingard. England therefore had the upper hand in the first half, but would quickly see their advantage turn to dust in the second half as Hazard and De Bruyne stepped on the gas, delivering a goal ball to Chadli and Batshuayi, respectively. It was then that came an unlikely hero for England, in the last moments of the game. A last minute free kick sees a stray ball go back into the feet of Ashley Young, who hammers it straight into Courtois' bottom right corner, sealing an overtime. However, although England fought hard during the first half of that overtime, the second half wasn't as convincing, and Lukaku managed to pierce through the English defense and get the winning goal for Belgium.

The second game of the day was much less expected to go to overtime, and yet it eventually did. For a long time, despite dominating, France faced an unbreachable Korean wall. Yet France finally found an opening on a corner kick after 82 minutes, and everyone thought it was over. However, Korea's hero Son came in to save the day yet again, forcing an overtime two minutes before the end. However, South Korea could not keep up with a second overtime in a row, and totally collapsed, leaving France to score two and head into the final against their neighbors and rivals Belgium.

 

[Wings]

English players celebrate after Delle Alli makes it 2-0 against Australia

Belgian players celebrate Lukaku's late goal against Iceland, securing themselves a semi-final ticket against England

Griezmann and Mbappe congratulate themselves after their win over Mexico

South Korean players celebrate with their staff after securing a historic first ever semi-final

Nacer Chadli celebrates his equalizer with teammate Thomas Meunier.

Lukaku scores the winning goal in overtime, sealing England's hopes for a final

French players overjoyed as they get out of a gruelling semi-final against Korea and head towards the WC final

 

[Wings]

England were disappointed with their loss in the semis, but they were not deterred in hunting third place. Indeed, Kane managed to get an adavantage early for England, and the team held firm from then on. However, Pickford's defense would not be enough to hold back Son who leveled the field late into the game. The Tottenham striker would once more keep his team in it, resisting throughout extra time, and heading straight towards a penalty shoot-out. England started off well, but Henderson saw his shot saved by Jo Hyeon-Woo. However, this would not matter as both Trippier and Dier scored, while Woo-Young and Se-Jeong would miss, hitting the post and Henderson's right hand, respectively. England would therefore obtain their best result at a WC since 1998.

It was therefore time for the grand final in Madrid, and what a grand final this would be! Both teams having a strong rivalry going into the game, this was the perfect culmination to the tournament. However, it would not see as many goals as expected, with both teams being evenly matched. Belgium would take over the first half, but thanks to Varane's strong defending and two saves by Lloris, France managed to stay level. The french then kicked into second gear during the second half, quickly taking over the game. Mbappe's runs on the flanks proved to be Belgium's downfall, as right after the start of the second half, Mbappe clears Verthongen, passing to Griezmann who sees his ball saved by Courtois. The Belgian goalkeeper is however unable to save it completely and the ball rolls back towards Pogba who makes it 1-0 for France. Belgium would have a brief moment where they regained control of the game, but this wouldn't last as France kept pressing on once more. On top of another devastating run, Mbappe goes all the way this time, scoring France's second and last goal of the final, as well as the third star on their jersey. A last minute penalty would change nothing for Belgium, and even then, Hazard's shot is saved by Lloris meaning France do not take in a single goal during the final.

Spoiler

 

[Wings]

Pickford instructs Maguire how to position during the first half of extra time against South Korea

English players erupt as Se-Jeon's shot is saved by Pickford

Griezmann in trouble against two Belgian defenders

Hazard is handed a yellow as he loses his cool after a duel with Varane (right)

Mbappe scores France's second in the WC final

France lift their third trophy in their history

 

[Wings]

Top Goalscorers :
1. Mbappe (FRA) - 7 goals
2. Son Heung-Min (KOR) & Lukaku (BEL) - 6 goals
3. Griezmann (FRA) & Cristiano Ronaldo (POR) - 5 goals

Best Attacks :
1. France - 23 goals scored
2. Belgium - 19 goals scored
3. England - 14 goals scored

Best Defenses :
1. Germany - 1 goal conceded
2. France, Northern Ireland, Italy & Senegal - 4 goals conceded
3. Iran, Egypt, Poland, Australia, Colombia, Argentina, USA & Mexico - 5 goals conceded

Worst Attacks :
1. UAE - 0 goals scored
2. Northern Ireland - 1 goal scored
3. Wales, Cameroon, Ghana, Italy, Iran & Egypt - 2 goals scored

Worst Defenses :
1. Belgium - 13 goals conceded
2. England - 11 goals conceded
3. UAE - 10 goals conceded

All-Time Goalscorers as of 1994 :
1. Fontaine (FRA) - 21 goals - 2 WC (1958, 1962)
2. Klose (GER) - 20 goals - 4 WC (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014) & Cristiano Ronaldo - 20 goals - 4 WC (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
4. Pelé (BRA) - 19 goals - 4 WC (1958, 1962, 1966, 1974)

 

[Wings]

Australia (9th appearance - hosts) are qualified automatically

Via Euro 2020:
First - Italy (16th Appearance)
Second- England (17th Appearance)
3/4 - Spain (16th Appearance)
3/4 - Denmark (9th Appearance)
5/8 - Switzerland (9th Appearance)
5/8 - Belgium (11th Appearance)
5/8 - Czech Republic (13th Appearance)
5/8 - Ukraine (2nd Appearance)
9/16 - France (19th Appearance)
9/16 - Croatia (defeated Finland in the European playoffs - 5th Appearance)
9/16 - Sweden (defeated Wales in the European playoffs - 13th Appearance)
9/16 - Austria (defeated the Netherlands in the European playoffs - 7th Appearance)
9/16 - Portugal (defeated Germany in the European playoffs - 10th Appearance)

Via Copa America 2020:
1st - Argentina (15th Appearance)
2nd - Brazil (18th Appearance)
3rd - Colombia (5th Appearance)

Via Gold Cup 2021:
1st - United States (13th Appearance)
2nd - Mexico (11th Appearance)
3rd - Canada (3rd Appearance)

Via Asian Cup 2019:
1st - Qatar (1st Appearance)
2nd - Japan (6th Appearance)
3/4 - Iran (6th Appearance)
3/4 - United Arab Emirates (3rd Appearance)

Via Oceania Cup 2021:
1st - New Zealand (6th Appearance)

Via Africa Cup 2021:
1st - Senegal (4th Appearance)
2nd - Egypt (7th Appearance)
3rd - Cameroon (5th Appearance)
4th - Burkina Faso (3rd Appearance)
Winner of RR for 5/8 teams - Morocco (2nd Appearance)

Via Intercontinental Playoffs (Two of Four of the following) :
Peru (6th) or Vietnam (1st)
Solomon Islands (2nd) or El Salvador (2nd)

 

[Wings]

Well here it is, we are done till 2022. Some stats will come in the following days though, notably for every nation's history up to this point, while waiting for 2022.

 

[Wings]

 

[Wings]

 

[Wings]

 

[QTXAdsy]

So the TL goes to sleep for now...

Got to get my TL up to date soon.

 

[Pragmatic Progressive]

Well here it is, we are done till 2022. Some stats will come in the following days though, notably for every nation's history up to this point, while waiting for 2022.

I love this timeline! Will you post the 2022 World Cup in OTL 2022 only? Or do you plan to wait a few weeks or months?

 

[Wings]

I love this timeline! Will you post the 2022 World Cup in OTL 2022 only? Or do you plan to wait a few weeks or months?

I'll most likely post it in 2022. I'll do updates for qualifiers or interesting statistics in the meantime though, to keep the TL alive until then.
But fear not football lovers, another Football TL is coming soon...

 

[New Britain Mapping]

I have read all of this - England not winning 1966 but 4 years later they do it (England vs Scotland reminds me of Football War between El Salvador and Honduras).

I would love to do my alternate world cups on this.

Do you have anything that you could have so I can use it?

 

[Wings]

I have read all of this - England not winning 1966 but 4 years later they do it (England vs Scotland reminds me of Football War between El Salvador and Honduras).

I would love to do my alternate world cups on this.

Do you have anything that you could have so I can use it?

Thanks! I'm doing all of my editing directly on the wiki so I don't have any templates ready, but I do have the template for the final rounds and the venues template if you want. As for sources, I mainly refer to my own sources (books and such), so I can't really help you there either, what would you need exactly ?

 

[JDF_01]

What now??, Alternate UCL winners??, maybe Teams like Spartak Moskva, Mónaco and Valencia winning or Benfica avoiding that curse

 

[Wings]

What now??, Alternate UCL winners??, maybe Teams like Spartak Moskva, Mónaco and Valencia winning or Benfica avoiding that curse

Close, very very close, but I’m staying with National teams for now.That should give you a big hint.
But I do plan to make a UCL timeline next year when I’ll have learnt more about European squads from the 60s to the 80s that’s for sure.

 

[NotA_Potato]

Close, very very close, but I’m staying with National teams for now.That should give you a big hint.
But I do plan to make a UCL timeline next year when I’ll have learnt more about European squads from the 60s to the 80s that’s for sure.

Alternate UEFA Euro timeline?