Challengers Cup 26 final

Challengers Cup 26 final

Event	Challengers Cup 26
Saint-Rémy Chromatik 2 0
Venue	National Stadium, Olastaryn, Olastor
Player of the Match	Artemios Ostend (St-Rémy)
Weather	Clear night 20 °C (68 °F) 51% humidity

The Challengers Cup 26 final was the final match of the 26th edition of the IFCF Challengers Cup, the secondary international club football tournament.

Venue

This was the first IFCF final held at the National Stadium in Olastaryn, which had a capacity of 72,000.

Background

CS Saint-Rémy

Saint-Rémy qualified for the Champions League group stage as Kelssek Championship winners. After placing third in their group, they advanced to the Challengers Cup round of 32. Coming into the final, they had successfully defended their league title becoming the first Kelssek club in 14 years to do so. This would be their second international final, with their previous appearance in the Cup Winners' Cup 72 final having ended in a 1–0 loss against Montreal Koreana.

Chromatik

Chromatik qualified for the Challengers Cup group stage after placing eighth in Chromatika's Red League and winning the playoff tournament, beating derby rivals Anomalies in the final, to earn an IFCF berth. Prior to the final, they had finished third in the league. This was their second appearance in the Challengers Cup final, and sixth IFCF final overall when including four losses in the Champions League final.

Road to the final

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

CS Saint-Rémy (KSK)				Round	Chromatik (CMT)
Champions League					Challengers Cup
Opponent	Result			Group stage (CL, ChC)	Opponent	Result
Martin Luther (SSF)	1–2 (H)			Matchday 1	Vogsphere United (SRS)	1–3 (H)
Algolia AC (SRS)	0–0 (A)			Matchday 2	MESD Fidelissimae Plebes QCF (QDT)	4–2 (A)
CA Paulinthal (PAS)	0–2 (H)			Matchday 3	Istria City FC (BNJ)	1–0 (H)
CA Paulinthal (PAS)	0–2 (A)			Matchday 4	Istria City FC (BNJ)	2–2 (A)
Algolia AC (SRS)	1–2 (H)			Matchday 5	MESD Fidelissimae Plebes QCF (QDT)	1–2 (H)
Martin Luther (SSF)	2–1 (A)			Matchday 6	Vogsphere United (SRS)	2–0 (A)
Group H third place Pos Team GD Pts 1  CA Paulinthal (PAS) 13 16 2  Algolia AC (SRS) -1 9 3  CS Saint-Rémy (KSK) -5 4† 4  Martin Luther (SSF) -7 4† † Tie broken by goal difference				Final standings	Group C runners-up Pos Team Pld Pts 1  Vogsphere United (SRS) 4 13 2  Chromatik (CMT) 2 10 3  Istria City FC (BNJ) 0 6 4  MESD Fidelissimae Plebes QCF (QDT) -6 4
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Knockout phase	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
New Hind City FC (INS)	5–1 (4–2 p)	3–1 (H)	2–0 (A)	Round of 32	René Skaé (FFD)	3–2 (5–4 p)	2–3 (H)	1–0 (a.e.t.) (A)
VLC FC (EFL)	2–2 (3–2 p)	1–1 (H)	1–1 (a.e.t.) (A)	Round of 16	Rockies International FC (INS)	5–3	2–2 (A)	3–1 (H)
Z'ai'ai (CMT)	2–1	0–0 (H)	2–1 (a.e.t.) (A)	Quarter-finals	Port Tacassam FC (TKT)	4–4 (5–4 p)	2–2 (A)	2–2 (a.e.t.) (H)
Inverhaven Ironworks (KAT)	3–2	1–1 (H)	2–1 (a.e.t.) (A)	Semi-finals	FC Teussen Stelburg (STL)	5–3	3–3 (H)	2–0 (A)

Match

Summary

CS Saint-Rémy	2–0	Chromatik
Lalande  47' Ostend  58'

National Stadium, Olastaryn

Attendance: 70,157

Napoléon Lalande opened the scoring with a volley from a wide free kick delivered into the penalty box by Artemios Ostend. The second goal came as Romy Métisser intercepted a long pass and passed the ball to Pascal Murg, who held it up before turning around his defender and passing a through ball to Artemios Ostend, who scored with a shot just inside the far post.

Details

Saint-Rémy

Chromatik

GK 14 Carolanne Navice  90+1 '​ RB 2 Marco Santoro CB 3 Napoleón Lalande (c)  56 '​ CB 4 Remigio Suescun LB 25 Werner Wittler  78 '​ CM 7 Romy Métisser  71 '​ CM 12 Hazmar Roger  83 '​ CM 17 Maria Hadjipavlou  77 '​ LW 16 Artemios Ostend  71 '​ FW 9 Pascal Murg  83 '​ FW 10 Martinius Enge Substitutes: GK 1 Li Lindholm CB 15 Olivier Sansouci CB 21 Prospierre Aregnac-Tignon LB 20 Sarafine Latendresse  78 '​ CM 8 Milan Linden LM 13 Darwin James CM 24 Madison Longstaff CM 14 René Esposito  71 '​ CM 23 Neil Hallett  71 '​ CM 22 Terence de Landa  83 '​ CM 27 Carrie Boilyle RW 11 Anastasia Cederbergh FW 28 Lily Witte  83 '​ Manager: Jonathan Dubois		GK Ronan Pharlan RB Éspéráns rue Cazade CB Paul Amos CB Rynropeka-pyt LB Eero-Severi Aurvinen DM John Fletcher  44 '​  83 '​ DM Ngjunei Meigun  76 '​ CM Martin Seer  76 '​ RW Eric Forsberg  61 '​ LW Quarto Bevilacqua  54 '​ ST Huberdeau Audac Substitutes: GK Valerie Moreau RB Rilas Sandoval  34 '​ CB Omar Cinne CB Vilhelmi Hudson LB Léon Barthélemy CM Einar Bråthen  61 '​ AM Chloe McGregor  79 '​  54 '​ AM Gheorghe Birca AM Daniela Bergquist  76 '​ RW Mars Stoven  83 '​ LW Fredo Bärfuss ST Ladia Porrin  76 '​ Manager: Viktor Arjlensi
	Player of the Match: Artemios Ostend	Match rules 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra time if necessary Penalty shoot-out if scores still level Twelve named substitutes Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time

Post-match

As winners of the Challengers Cup, CS Saint-Rémy earned qualification for the 26th IFCF Super Cup and were guaranteed a place in the group stage of the 27th IFCF Champions League.