Champions League 4

IFCF Champions League 4

Tournament details
Dates	Qualifying: 13–17 October 2020 Competition proper:
Teams	Competition proper: 32 Total: 133 (from 84 associations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	125

IFCF Champions League 4 was the 4th season of the world club football championship organized by the IFCF. The final was played at Stadium of the Restoration in Busukuma, Banija. Directus (Eura) were the defending champions.

Association team allocation

The association ranking based on the IFCF country coefficients was used to determine the number of participating teams for each association:

• Associations 1–4 each had four teams qualify.
• Associations 5–8 each had three teams qualify.
• Associations 9–32 each had two teams qualify.
• Associations 33 and below, including unranked associations, each had one team qualify.
• Both the winners of IFCF Champions League 3 and Challengers Cup 3 qualified via their domestic league. This made unnecessary the additional entry each would have been awarded if they had not qualified by the normal route.

Distribution

The following was the access list for this season:

Access list for IFCF Champions' League 4

		Teams entering in this round	Teams advancing from previous round
First preliminary round (36 teams)		26 champions from association 70-153 10 champions from unranked associations
Second preliminary round	Champions path (40 teams)	22 champions from associations 34–66	18 winners from the first qualifying round
	Non-champions path (18 teams)	10 runners-up from associations 20–32 5 third-placed teams from associations 5–8 & 10 3 fourth-placed teams from associations 1, 2 & 4
Third qualifying round	Champions path (32 teams)	12 champions from associations 16-32	20 winners from the second qualifying round (Champions path)
	Non-champions path (24 teams)	11 runners-up from associations 5–16 4 third-placed teams from associations 1–4	9 winners from the second qualifying round (Non-champions path)
Play-off round	Champions path (16 teams)		16 winners from the third qualifying round (Champions path)
	Non-champions path (12 teams)		12 winners from the third qualifying round (Non-champions Path)
Group stage (32 teams)		14 champions from associations 1–15 4 runners-up from associations 1–4	8 winners from the play-off round (Champions path) 6 winners from the play-off round (Non-champions path)
Knockout phase (16 teams)			8 group winners from the group stage 8 group runners-up from the group stage

Teams

League positions of the previous season shown in parentheses (TH: Champions League title holders; CC: Challenger's Cup title holders).

Qualified teams for IFCF Champions' League 4 (by entry round)
Group stage

DirectusTH (1st)	Tropicorp FC (1st)	CA Paulinthal (1st)
Arlington CityCC (1st)	Cednia Beach AFC (2nd)	Jungle Strike FC (1st)
AFC Treason (1st)	Revolutionaries (2nd)	Hoima Warriors (1st)
Brinemouth (2nd)	Rozelle (1st)	Tannenberg FC (1st)
1830 Cathair FC (1st)	Olympia FC (1st)	FC Teussen Stelburg (1st)
Shamrock Cathair (2nd)	Raynor City United (1st)	Mierton Manatees (1st)

Play-off round

Champions path		Non-champions path
No teams entering at this round		No teams entering at this round

Third preliminary round

Champions path		Non-champions path
Rülândéá Kôstä (1st)	Freeport United (1st)	Crisisbless (3rd)	AC Izotz Zubia (3rd)
Sporting Ceneisis (1st)	Schemerdrecht SVV (1st)	Mliona-Lpaka (3rd)	Spartangrad (3rd)
Crystal Fair HC (1st)	Libertas Bergheim (1st)	Northern Union (2nd)	RGS Athletic (2nd)
MTK Kingsville (1st)	Maal Angels (1st)	Canbix Muses (2nd)	Ibini FC (2nd)
Blue Strike Zoloroni (1st)	Anomalies (1st)	Tanrısal (2nd)	Eastal Lunar (2nd)
Megabrantid SC (1st)	Dalaris City (1st)	Istria City FC (2nd)	Metropolis Alligators (2nd)
		FC Felsenkirchen 1879 (2nd)	Capetown Crocs (2nd)
		René Skaé (2nd)

Second preliminary round

Champions path		Non-champions path
Cyrene Bay (1st)	Racing de Terranova (1st)	Sabrefell Moths (4th)	KT Itzalovalle (4th)
CSKA Tiraspol (1st)	Cloudsdale Flyers (1st)	Ulsa (4th)	Southern Star (3rd)
Lumineers (1st)	Dalton Town FC (1st)	Norrion Rovers (3rd)	Sporting Esper (3rd)
Letson Town (1st)	United Philibiscostal (1st)	Hondo FC (3rd)	Colonial Sile (3rd)
CF Outineau (1st)	Austin City (1st)	Ludogorets Markovsky (2nd)	Maethoru SC (2nd)
Sporting Grandeville (1st)	Langmere Green Rovers FC (1st)	Crystopolis City (2nd)	Admiral Storevik (2nd)
Dynapolis United (1st)	Bondstad Treason (1st)	Scott City FC (2nd)	Bruul Skewers (2nd)
OF Académica (1st)	Nomadik (1st)	Zoloroni City (2nd)	Myana (2nd)
Hastmead Diamante (1st)	Aleiusia Capital (1st)	FC Yassaca (2nd)	Trimidau Rukiya (2nd)
Montreal Koreana (1st)	Urbizania Wanderers (1st)
Royal Puncakpura (1st)	Royal Standard AFC (1st)

First preliminary round

Chrilsia FC (1st)	Bartholomew FC (1st)	Stanton Town (1st)	Tieflings (1st)
Brooks AC (1st)	Ballina FC (1st)	Ōtachi Audfort (1st)	Stomford 1904 (1st)
FC Squidroidia Squidbreak (1st)	Florentino (1st)	Dai Hoa (1st)	Sanctuary FC (1st)
Pesfield Trees FC (1st)	KKS Wlokniarz 1925 Krzczonow (1st)	Barnley FC (1st)	South Winbridge FC (1st)
Fligsive FC (1st)	Blue Strike Cosuulsta (1st)	Altendalur (1st)	Yincheng Capitals (1st)
AFC Lighthouse (1st)	RG Heyzle FC (1st)	Kota Damai (1st)	Eendracht Garifunya (1st)
Perlabuhan Suasapura (1st)	Southbay Riveria FC (1st)	Villa (1st)	Port Rhovanyon AFC (1st)
Savusavu AFC (1st)	USY (1st)	Walstreim Lions (1st)	Manclester United (1st)
AC Acqui Bollente (1st)	FC Zuridge (1st)	A.V.N.A.F. (1st)	Rockstar (1st)

Preliminary rounds

In the preliminary rounds and the play-off round, teams were divided into seeded and unseeded teams based on their IFCF club coefficients, and then drawn into two-legged home-and-away ties.

First preliminary round

Team 1 played the first leg at home. The losers entered the IFCF Challenger's Cup second preliminary round.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
AFC Lighthouse	5–1	Yincheng Capitals	2–1	3–0
FC Zuridge	3–1	Dai Hoa	1–0	2–1 (a.e.t.)
Walstreim Lions	2–0	Chrilsia FC	1–0	1–0
Pesfield Trees FC	2–3	Barnley FC	0–3	2–0
Perlabuhan Suasapura	1–4	Eendracht Garifunya	1–1	0–3
RG Heyzle FC	0–1	Sanctuary FC	0–0	0–1
AC Acqui Bollente	1–0	Florentino	1–0	0–0
Port Rhovanyon AFC	4–0	FC Squidroidia Squidbreak	2–0	2–0
Altendalur	4–1	South Winbridge FC	2–0	2–1
Southbay Riveria FC	4–2	Brooks AC	1–1	3–1 (a.e.t.)
KKS Wlokniarz 1925 Krzczonow	1–4	Tieflings	0–3	1–1
Blue Strike Cosuulsta	4–1	Kota Damai	2–0	2–1
A.V.N.A.F.	3–4	Stanton Town	2–2	1–2
Villa	(a) 2–2	Ōtachi Audfort	1–0	1–2
USY	0–3	Fligsive FC	0–1	0–2
Savusavu AFC	3–5	Bartholomew FC	3–4	0–1
Rockstar	0–5	Stomford 1904	0–4	0–1
Manclester United	1–3	Ballina FC	1–2	0–1

Second preliminary round

The second qualifying round was split into two separate sections: Champions' path (for league champions) and Non-champions' path (for league non-champions). The losers entered the IFCF Challenger's Cup third preliminary round. Team 1 played the first leg at home.

Champions path

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Aleiusia Capital	5–2	Bondstad Treason	3–2	2–0
Urbizania Wanderers	5–1	Nomadik	2–0	3–1
Eendracht Garifunya	3–2	Cyrene Bay	1–1	2–1
Southbay Riveria FC	2–0	Racing de Terranova	1–0	1–0
FC Zuridge	2–4	Sporting Grandeville	1–2	1–2
Blue Strike Cosuulsta	3–2	Royal Puncakpura	1–2	2–0
Stanton Town	2–3	Langmere Green Rovers FC	1–1	1–2
Sanctuary FC	(a) 3–3	Austin City	0–1	3–2
Fligsive FC	1–5	Letson Town	1–4	0–1
Walstreim Lions	5–1	Dalton Town FC	2–0	3–1
OF Académica	3–4	CF Outineau	2–2	1–2
Royal Standard AFC	1–2	Hastmead Diamante	1–2	0–0
AFC Lighthouse	2–6	Lumineers	2–4	0–2
Villa	0–4	Dynapolis United	0–3	0–1
AC Acqui Bollente	0–4	CSKA Tiraspol	0–3	0–1
Tieflings	0–0 (5–6 p)	United Philibiscostal	0–0	0–0 (a.e.t.)
Altendalur	4–0	Cloudsdale Flyers	2–0	2–0
Barnley FC	8–4	Bartholomew FC	4–2	4–2
Stomford 1904	2–4	Montreal Koreana	0–4	2–0
Port Rhovanyon AFC	3–2	Ballina FC	1–2	2–0

Non-champions path

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Bruul Skewers	0–6	Myana	0–4	0–2
Trimidau Rukiya	4–4 (a)	Sporting Esper	2–3	2–1
Colonial Sile	1–5	Sabrefell Moths	1–3	0–2
Southern Star	5–4	Ulsa	3–2	2–2
Scott City FC	0–4	Zoloroni City	0–3	0–1
Maethoru SC	4–1	KT Itzalovalle	2–0	2–1
Ludogorets Markovsky	2–5	Norrion Rovers	1–2	1–3
FC Yassaca	5–2	Hondo FC	3–2	2–0
Crystopolis City	2–4	Admiral Storevik	2–0	0–4

Third preliminary round

The second qualifying round was split into two separate sections: Champions' path (for league champions) and Non-champions' path (for league non-champions). The losers entered the IFCF Challenger's Cup play-off round. Team 1 played the first leg at home.

Champions path

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Urbizania Wanderers	2–2 (a)	CF Outineau	1–2	1–0
Walstreim Lions	6–3	Montreal Koreana	5–2	1–1
Barnley FC	1–6	Anomalies	1–3	0–3
Schemerdrecht SVV	5–1	Hastmead Diamante	1–0	4–1
Blue Strike Cosuulsta	2–2 (a)	Lumineers	1–2	1–0
Aleiusia Capital	0–1	United Philibiscostal	0–1	0–0
Sanctuary FC	3–5	Megabrantid SC	2–4	1–1
Eendracht Garifunya	(a) 3–3	Dynapolis United	1–0	2–3
Langmere Green Rovers FC	3–4	Dalaris City	2–3	1–1
Sporting Ceneisis	2–4	Maal Angels	1–2	1–2
Libertas Bergheim	3–1	Blue Strike Zoloroni	2–1	1–0
Southbay Riveria FC	2–5	MTK Kingsville	0–3	2–2
CSKA Tiraspol	3–5	Crystal Fair HC	3–3	0–2
Port Rhovanyon AFC	1–4	Letson Town	0–3	1–1
Altendalur	2–4	Rülândéá Kôstä	1–4	1–0
Sporting Grandeville	4–4 (a)	Freeport United	3–2	1–2

Non-champions path

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Southern Star	2–9	AC Izotz Zubia	0–5	2–4
Canbix Muses	2–1	Spartangrad	0–1	2–0
Mliona-Lpaka	3–2	Tanrısal	2–1	1–1
René Skaé	3–3 (a)	Northern Union	3–2	0–1
Maethoru SC	6–5	Eastal Lunar	4–4	2–1
FC Yassaca	6–1	Norrion Rovers	5–1	1–0
FC Felsenkirchen 1879	2–4	Admiral Storevik	2–2	0–2
Myana	4–4 (a)	Crisisbless	3–3	1–1
Istria City FC	3–4	RGS Athletic	2–4	1–0
Ibini FC	3–3 (6–5 p)	Sabrefell Moths	0–3	3–0 (a.e.t.)
Zoloroni City	0–2	Sporting Esper	0–1	0–1
Capetown Crocs	5–2	Metropolis Alligators	1–0	4–2

Play-off round

The play-off round was split into two separate sections: Champions' path (for league champions) and Non-champions' path (for league non-champions). The losers from the champions' path entered the IFCF Challenger's Cup group stage, while the losers from the non-champions' path entered the IFCF Challenger's Cup qualifying stage. Team 1 played the first leg at home.

Champions path

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Anomalies	4–3	Megabrantid SC	3–0	1–3 (a.e.t.)
CF Outineau	3–1	Maal Angels	3–0	0–1
Eendracht Garifunya	3–8	Dalaris City	2–5	1–3
Walstreim Lions	3–2	Letson Town	1–1	2–1
Libertas Bergheim	(a) 2–2	MTK Kingsville	0–1	2–1
Rülândeá Kôstä	2–3	Freeport United	2–0	0–3
United Philibiscostal	2–2 (a)	Crystal Fair HC	1–2	1–0
Schemerdrecht SVV	5–2	Lumineers	2–1	3–1

Non-champions path

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Mliona-Lpaka	0–6	Crisisbless	0–5	0–1
Maethoru SC	3–2	RGS Athletic	2–1	1–1
Ibini FC	(a) 3–3	Northern Union	2–0	1–3 (a.e.t.)
FC Yassaca	1–2	AC Izotz Zubia	1–1	0–1
Canbix Muses	2–3	Admiral Storevik	2–2	0–1
Capetown Crocs	(a) 4–4	Sporting Esper	2–1	2–3

Group stage

The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four, with the restriction that teams from the same association could not be drawn against each other. For the draw, the teams were seeded into four pots based on the following principles:

• Pot 1 contained the Champions League and Challengers Cup title holders, and the champions of the top six associations based on their IFCF nation coefficients. If one or both title holders were one of the champions of the top six associations, the champions of the next highest ranked association(s) would also be seeded into Pot 1.
• Pot 2, 3 and 4 contained the remaining teams, seeded based on their IFCF club coefficients.

In each group, teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The group winners and runners-up advanced to the Round of 16, while the third-placed teams entered the IFCF Challenger's Cup round of 32.

The youth teams of the clubs that qualified for the group stage also participated in Rising Stars Cup 4 on the same matchdays, where they competed in the IFCF Champions League Path (the youth domestic champions of associations entering that competition other than those already qualified for the Champions League group stage competed in a separate Youth Champions Path until the play-offs).

Tiebreakers

In the group stage, the ranking of teams in each group was based on the following criteria:

1. Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss);
2. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
5. Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
6. If more than two teams are tied, and after applying all head-to-head criteria above, a subset of teams are still tied, all head-to-head criteria above are reapplied exclusively to this subset of teams;
7. Goal difference in all group matches;
8. Goals scored in all group matches;
9. Away goals scored in all group matches;
10. Wins in all group matches;
11. Away wins in all group matches;
12. Disciplinary points (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
13. IFCF club coefficient.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		(TAE)	(EFL)	(CRY)	(PAS)
1	Capetown Crocs (TAE)	6	4	0	2	14	10	+4	12	Advance to knockout phase		—	5–0	0–2	2–1
2	Olympia FC (EFL)	6	3	2	1	13	13	0	11			3–1	—	2–2	2–2
3	Crystal Fair HC (CRY)	6	2	1	3	8	11	−3	7	Transfer to Challenger's Cup		1–2	2–4	—	1–0
4	CA Paulinthal (PAS)	6	1	1	4	10	11	−1	4			3–4	1–2	3–0	—

Source: IFCF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		(VLD)	(SVJ)	(BRE)	(TUR)
1	Tannenberg FC (VLD)	6	2	4	0	8	3	+5	10	Advance to knockout phase		—	2–0	3–0	1–1
2	Admiral Storevik (SVJ)	6	2	2	2	9	7	+2	8			1–1	—	4–0	1–2
3	Rozelle (BRE)	6	1	3	2	6	12	−6	6	Transfer to Challenger's Cup		0–0	1–1	—	2–2
4	Cednia Beach AFC (TUR)	6	1	3	2	9	10	−1	6			1–1	1–2	2–3	—

Source: IFCF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		(PFA)	(VAL)	(EUR)	(KOR)
1	Dalaris City (PFA)	6	5	1	0	12	6	+6	16	Advance to knockout phase		—	2–1	3–2	2–1
2	Raynor City United (VAL)	6	3	0	3	12	8	+4	9			0–2	—	4–3	0–1
3	Revolutionaries (EUR)	6	2	1	3	10	13	−3	7	Transfer to Challenger's Cup		1–1	0–4	—	2–0
4	Maethoru SC (KOR)	6	1	0	5	4	11	−7	3			1–2	0–3	1–2	—

Source: IFCF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		(KOR)	(AUD)	(NPH)	(BNJ)
1	Schemerdrecht SVV (KOR)	6	3	1	2	17	13	+4	10	Advance to knockout phase		—	4–1	2–2	4–3
2	Shamrock Cathair (AUD)	6	3	1	2	10	10	0	10			2–1	—	1–0	2–2
3	AFC Treason (NPH)	6	3	1	2	13	13	0	10	Transfer to Challenger's Cup		2–4	3–2	—	2–1
4	Hoima Warriors (BNJ)	6	1	1	4	12	16	−4	4			3–2	0–2	3–4	—

Source: IFCF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		(SNL)	(TUR)	(FPT)	(NPH)
1	Walstreim Lions (SNL)	6	4	2	0	12	6	+6	14	Advance to knockout phase		—	0–0	1–0	1–0
2	Tropicorp FC (TUR)	6	3	2	1	9	6	+3	11			1–1	—	0–1	2–1
3	Freeport United (FPT)	6	2	1	3	6	8	−2	7	Transfer to Challenger's Cup		1–4	1–3	—	3–0
4	Brinemouth (NPH)	6	0	1	5	7	14	−7	1			4–5	2–3	0–0	—

Source: IFCF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		(AUD)	(TAE)	(VIL)	(SVJ)
1	1830 Cathair FC (AUD)	6	5	0	1	13	7	+6	15	Advance to knockout phase		—	3–1	2–0	2–1
2	Mierton Manatees (TAE)	6	3	1	2	12	11	+1	10			3–0	—	0–2	1–1
3	Jungle Strike FC (VIL)	6	3	0	3	11	10	+1	9	Transfer to Challenger's Cup		1–3	3–4	—	3–0
4	Libertas Bergheim (SVJ)	6	0	1	5	6	14	−8	1			1–3	2–3	1–2	—

Source: IFCF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		(ZWZ)	(AUD)	(STL)	(CMT)
1	Arlington City (ZWZ)	6	3	1	2	11	12	−1	10	Advance to knockout phase		—	2–0	2–1	1–5
2	AC Izotz Zubia (AUD)	6	3	1	2	11	11	0	10			4–2	—	0–0	5–4
3	FC Teussen Stelburg (STL)	6	2	2	2	11	6	+5	8	Transfer to Challenger's Cup		0–0	0–1	—	5–1
4	Anomalies (CMT)	6	2	0	4	17	21	−4	6			2–4	3–1	2–5	—

Source: IFCF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
Notes:

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		(KSK)	(EUR)	(NPH)	(VAL)
1	CF Outineau (KSK)	6	3	2	1	8	4	+4	11	Advance to knockout phase		—	1–1	3–1	0–0
2	Directus (EUR)	6	2	3	1	8	6	+2	9			1–2	—	0–0	3–1
3	Crisisbless (NPH)	6	2	2	2	7	6	+1	8	Transfer to Challenger's Cup		0–2	1–1	—	4–0
4	Ibini FC (VAL)	6	1	1	4	3	10	−7	4			1–0	1–2	0–1	—

Source: IFCF
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

Knockout stages

In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:

• In the draw for the round of 16, the eight group winners were seeded, and the eight group runners-up are unseeded. The seeded teams were drawn against the unseeded teams, with the seeded teams hosting the second leg. Teams from the same group or the same association could not be drawn against each other.
• In the draws for the quarter-finals and semi-finals, there were no seedings, and teams from the same group or the same association could be drawn against each other.

Round of 16

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Directus (EUR)	8–2	Walstreim Lions (SNL)	6–2	2–0
Mierton Manatees (TAE)	4–1	Schemerdrecht SVV (KOR)	3–1	1–0
Shamrock Cathair (AUD)	2–2 (9–8 p)	Tannenberg FC (VLD)	1–1	1–1 (a.e.t.)
Admiral Storevik (SVJ)	1–3	Arlington City (ZWZ)	0–1	1–2
Olympia FC (EFL)	6–1	CF Outineau (KSK)	4–1	2–0
Raynor City United (VAL)	(a) 2–2	Capetown Crocs (TAE)	0–1	2–1
Tropicorp FC (TUR)	1–1 (a)	1830 Cathair FC (AUD)	1–1	0–0
AC Izotz Zubia (AUD)	2–3	Dalaris City (PFA)	1–1	1–2

Quarterfinals

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Arlington City (ZWZ)	2–4	Raynor City United (VAL)	2–3	0–1
Directus (EUR)	3–2	1830 Cathair FC (AUD)	1–0	2–2
Dalaris City (PFA)	1–3	Olympia FC (EFL)	0–2	1–1
Mierton Manatees (TAE)	1–2	Shamrock Cathair (AUD)	0–0	1–2

Semifinals

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Olympia FC (EFL)	0–5	Directus (EUR)	0–3	0–2
Raynor City United (VAL)	1–1 (a)	Shamrock Cathair (AUD)	1–1	0–0

Final

Main article: Champions League 4 final

Having defeated 1830 Cathair in the final last season, Directus became the first club in the IFCF era to defend their title, seeing off another Audioslavian club from Cathair once again.

Shamrock Cathair (AUD)	1-2	Directus (EUR)

Stadium of the Restoration, Busukuma, Banija