World Cup IV

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This was the fourth and final cup in which the qualification was not group-based. This system allowed the cup to be held over the span of one season, instead of two. The Qualification rounds were based on the top 40 teams in the rankings table. Of those teams, the top eight in rankings qualified directly. The remaining thirty-two teams played for the final eight spots in the cup.

In the pre-qualification round the biggest surprises were when #40 Malaysia flattened #9 España 6-1 and #36 South Africa held an early lead to beat #13 Oceania 1-0. Other memorable moments were #15 México's 2-1 win in a penalty shoot out that saw 10 missed penalties before the 6th shot taker for México finally put home the goal, and when #20 Magyarország scored two consecutive goals in the 81st and 87th minutes to win 4-3 over #29 Česká republika.

In the qualification round México won yet again in penalties. This time the 3rd shooter for México put home the 2-1 goal to win over #33 Indonesia. Also #23 France held off a 2nd half comeback by Magyarország to win 2-1.

Semi-finals saw a thriller when Norge beat România 2-1 with a 92nd minute goal. Sverige won their semi 2-0 as expected putting the nail into Danmark's coffin just after halftime. This set up the grounds for one of the most exciting matches in World Cup history. In the final Norge used two Offensive Central Defenders to boost their midfield. They won the midfield and thus took the gold home. So far this is the only World Cup that Sverige didn't win.

Direct Qualification

• Template:SWEnf
• Template:CANnf
• Template:ENGnf
• Template:ROUnf
• Template:USAnf
• Template:NEDnf
• Template:GERnf
• Template:FINnf

Pre-Qualification

This round started on 2004-01-16 20:00:00 and was played in USA.

ID		Match Result
(13677190)	Template:ESPnf	1 - 6	Template:MASnf
(13677191)	Template:NORnf	3 - 1	Template:SUInf
(13677192)	Template:POLnf	1 - 0	Template:ISRnf
(13677193)	Template:ITAnf	0 - 1	Template:TURnf
(13677194)	Template:OCEnf	0 - 1	Template:RSAnf
(13677195)	Template:DENnf	3 - 1	Template:LVAnf
(13677196)	Template:MEXnf	2 - 1	Template:CROnf
(13677198)	Template:BELnf	0 - 1	Template:IDNnf
(13677199)	Template:AUTnf	3 - 0	Template:VENnf
(13677200)	Template:SCOnf	3 - 0	Template:GREnf
(13677201)	Template:PORnf	0 - 2	Template:IRLnf
(13677202)	Template:HUNnf	4 - 3	Template:CZEnf
(13677203)	Template:BRAnf	2 - 0	Template:ARGnf
(13677204)	Template:RUSnf	3 - 1	Template:SCGnf
(13677205)	Template:FRAnf	2 - 0	Template:INDnf
(13677206)	Template:CHNnf	3 - 2	Template:CHInf

Qualification

This round started on 2004-01-23 20:00:00 and was played in USA.

ID		Match Result
(13743435)	Template:NORnf	3 - 0	Template:MASnf
(13743436)	Template:POLnf	2 - 1	Template:TURnf
(13743437)	Template:DENnf	1 - 0	Template:RSAnf
(13743438)	Template:MEXnf	2 - 1	Template:IDNnf
(13743439)	Template:AUTnf	4 - 0	Template:IRLnf
(13743440)	Template:SCOnf	2 - 0	Template:CHNnf
(13743441)	Template:HUNnf	1 - 2	Template:FRAnf
(13743442)	Template:BRAnf	3 - 0	Template:RUSnf

Round II

This round started on 2004-01-30 20:00:00 and was played in USA.

Round III

This round started on 2004-02-16 20:00:00 and was played in USA.

Semi-Finals

This round started on 2004-02-27 20:00:00 and was played in USA.

ID		Match Result
(14140868)	Template:ROUnf	1 - 2	Template:NORnf
(14140869)	Template:DENnf	0 - 2	Template:SWEnf

Final

This round started on 2004-02-29 20:00:00 and was played in USA.

ID		Match Result
(14287675)	Template:SWEnf	2 - 4	Template:NORnf

Tactics and Ratings

Sverige: 3-5-2 Normal Midfield: magical (very low) Right Defence: outstanding (very low) Central Defence: titanic (very high) Left Defence: extra-terrestrial (very high) Right Attack: extra-terrestrial (low) Central Attack: magnificent (low) Left Attack: solid (low) Indirect Set Pieces: Attack: {{{isp_attack}}} Defence: {{{isp_defence}}}

Norge: 3-5-2 Normal Midfield: diving (very high) Right Defence: passable (very low) Central Defence: inadequate (very high) Left Defence: inadequate (very high) Right Attack: supernatural (very low) Central Attack: outstanding (very high) Left Attack: passable (very high) Indirect Set Pieces: Attack: {{{isp_attack}}} Defence: {{{isp_defence}}}