The 3rd playoff team was decided this evening as Merchiston FC improved to 3-0-2 in Group D with their 1-1 draw against FC Gimli Vikings. Jenyd Harris hit a volley at the top of the box to give Gimli the early lead and Ante Serioux answered back right before halftime to permanently level the game. With 11 points, Merchiston is guaranteed at least 2nd place in the group and will now be playing for seeding. Who will join them is still up for grabs as Fianna AFC picked up a crucial win after their 2-1 home win against Swamp City Dragons. After a scoreless half, Huntingdon Hinson broke a 1-1 tie with a few minutes remaining to keep the Greens playoff hopes alive. The Dragons find themselves in an unaccustomed position of last place in the group, although they have three more games to play. Fianna must win its last game to have a chance and Gimli would be wise to do the same.

Not Very United staved off elimination and had an excellent afternoon session, winning twice in Group F to complete their play at 2-3-1, as they'll have to see if 7 points will be enough to grab one of the two 3nd Place spots. The first win eliminated Rushmore FC from the playoffs as United won the home game 4-2. Brazilian forward Senon Digao scored twice, including an insurance goal in the 89th minute to seal the deal. Rushmore was completely dominated statistically and will finish last in the group. United then traveled on the road and beat group leader the crutchanators of soccer 4-3, handing the class of the group its first loss of the tournament. United started strong and finished strong, scoring twice in the first 5 minutes and then, after crutchanators scored three unanswered, closing the game out with two goals, Tate Papia's 71st minute shot being the game winner. United has a poor -5 differential but they might squeeze in as the last seed if all goes right.

FC Edinburgh Bullet Birds moved back atop the Group G standings after their 2-0 shutout of FC Not Very Athletic to improve to 3-1. Daylin Plunkett scored both goals and did the feat short-handed, as the Bullet Birds played the 2nd half down an man after Suthley Simms was give an early shower in the 39th. Despite the loss, Athletic is still in very good shape and needs to win one of their last two to clinch. In the final game today, Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia Foci Klub had real chances to be relevant in Group B but lost a close home game 3-2 against group leader SwampDragons United. Jerrad Forko scored twice for Swamp U and Canadian Pierre Jare's header in the 77th won the game as the Dragons and Metropolitan Eagles are a single point away from moving on to the knockouts. Austria-Hungary will need to win out, which probably won't happen...so they'll almost assuredly be headed to the Bums.

Tomorrow is not as busy of a day as more playoff spots will be decided.

The two-time defending Champion Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi becomes the fourth team to advance to the playoffs thanks to their 3-2 win over Bad News in Group A. News was in a tough spot as they needed a positive result in the hardest stadium for a visitor to play in, yet they came within measurable distance of achieving their goal. After falling behind 2-0, consecutive goals by Beecher Powell and Frederic De Palmas drew the game level. The score remained tied all the way to the end, when a corner kick in the 90th minute set up Moss Clem to score the game winner for Cotopaxi and seriously damage the odds News will advance. News avoided elimination outright thanks to Outkast FC holding 2nd place Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V. to a 1-1 draw, as the Billygoats could have clinched a birth with a win and eliminated both Outkast and News from the knockouts. Instead, Cologne was lucky to get the draw as they needed a penalty kick conversion by Stirling Carrillo to account for their lone goal. Outkast and Bad News must win out and Cologne needs to win one in order to move on.

Real TK avoided elimination by beating Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia Foci Klub 2-1, sending Austria-Hungary to the Bums Bracket. Alton Buslingthorpe knocked one in off the fingertips of Dual Monarchy goalie Treveon Coundoul to keep TK's slim playoff hopes alive in Group B. VB Hibernian was another team that had to win and did so when they put together an excellent performance to beat Kobelco United Football Club 3-2 on the road in Japan. Kobelco had tied the game with 5 minutes to go when Tayson Scrope scored unassisted to draw the game level at 2-2 but more last minute heroics were in store as Hibs defender Hampton Kennyon, way out of position because of the offensive press they had implemented after the Scrope goal, got around his defensive counterpart and drilled a winner past a diving Carsten Zobel. Kobelco got a chance in extra time to tie the game but goalie Sonny Miki made a clean save off a corner cross to end the contest. Hibs is now one point behind Kobelco with one game remaining for each team.

Traditional playoff team Swamp City Dragons is in serious danger of not qualifying for the knockouts as they got blasted at home in Group D by FC Gimli Vikings 6-1 in Canada. Arley Movsisyan scored for the Dragons but it wasn't nearly enough as Gimli was up 3-0 at that point thanks to a pair of goals by Brodie Hambard. Swamp City probably needs to win their last two and Gimli, sitting with 9 points, is virtually assured of advancing as either a 2nd place or 3rd place team. Wrapping up the morning action was a seeding game in Group F between the crutchanators of soccer and FC Stolpen Steamroller, two teams that had already punched their tickets. crutchanators improved their place with the 2-0 win as Jaquawn Cervantes and Sampo Jarvela scored to delight the 60,000 home fans in attendance. crutchanators will end up as a top 3 seed, depending on how the other groups finish up and is looking like a championship contender.

I'll grab the other games today in the evening update.

Yet another team has made their way through to the knockouts as FC Edinburgh Bullet Birds improves to an impressive 4-1 record in Group G after beating up on Bolton Wanderers 4-1 in Scotland. Both teams were sitting at 9 points and Bolton went into the game undefeated. That quickly changed after a very close score turned into a decisive win in the last few minutes. A 1-1 game got turned inside out as the Bullet Birds fired off three goals in the last five minutes. Evan Ashby's header started the march to victory with his header in the 85th, followed immediately by teammate Sandro Huntelaar with his awkward side-footed effort that squibbed by Bolton goalie Matai Teuermann to put the game out of reach. Losing aside, Bolton is still going to make the playoffs barring a complete collapse.

Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V. has left the door wide open for the 3rd and 4th place teams in Group A after their second consecutive game in which they could have punched their ticket but failed to get the job done. Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi did just enough in Quito, Ecuador to get out of the stadium with a win as their young Dutch midfielder Claus Vlaar picked a great time to score his first international goal in the 76th minute to win the game as he slid the ball by Cologne goalkeeper Aritz García. Improving to 5-0, Cotopaxi has not been dominating their games as this was their 5th consecutive 1-goal victory in the group stage. However, a win is a win and they are one away from possibly being the #1`seed in the playoffs. With the Cologne loss, Outkast FC and Bad News are still alive.

To wrap things up tonight, FC Trojans of SC avoided elimination by picking up a road win against the team directly above them in the Group E standings. Wolfsburg Dynamit could have put the Trojans away with a victory but was unable to deliver, in large part to Natanael Nabarro being kicked out of the game in the 18th minute with a straight red card after sliding with his cleats up into a Trojans player. The boys from southern Cal took advantage and broke a 1-1 tie when Hamza Anderson controlled a crossing pass and painted the corner to give them three critical stage points. The result essentially guarantees FC Stratford-Upon-Avon King's Men will grab a transfer spot and the other three clubs in the group are now separated by a single point, with FC Kingston having a ton of games remaining.

Things start to wind down from here on out as we hit crunch time. See you all tomorrow.

A light morning schedule produced the 6th team to make it through to the playoffs as Bolton Wanderers took care of business in an entertaining 5-4 home win against FC Not Very Athletic in Group G. Both teams were in a position to win and be in and they played like it. The game saw five lead chances as one team would score to gain an advantage followed by the other answering right back. Athletic struck first when Javian Simmons dove forward to head a ball in a few minutes after the opening whistle. .Prince Pinter tied the game five minutes later, which led to Simmons' 2nd goal to put Athletic up 2-1. The game went back and forth throughout the entire match with Bolton taking the lead in the 76th after Kagetoki Inoue beat Athletic goalie Derrick Richardson to the near post. Despite pushing everyone forward, Athletic couldn't manage another shot before the contest ended. Bolton now sits with 12 points and tied for the group lead while Athletic, who has lost three games in a row, now finds itself in a must win situation for their final game.

Swamp City Dragons also faced a must win and did so emphatically after a 5-0 blasting of Fianna AFC in Group D. Lyle Lensky scored twice and Tre Ackworth added a goal off a penalty kick as the Dragons, who are still in a must win situation for their last game, greatly helped out their differential. Fianna, who was needing to win and then hope for some help, has been eliminated from the knockouts and will be sent to the Bums if they choose to participate.

There are several more games this afternoon and evening which I'll grab after 7pm.

There were seven pm games and every one of them impacted the playoff picture. It'll take me a few minutes to update the standings.

Not sure where to begin since so much happened. Two games out of Group A eliminated one and sent another to the knockouts without having to lace up their boots. Outkast FC and Bad News were playing for their survival in front of a tiny crowd of less than 9,000. The Outkast faithful that did show up got their money's worth as the home team stayed alive with a 2-0 win. Danish midfielder Clement Gaarde scored what ended up as the deciding goal in the 35th when his header to the far corner brushed off the fingertips of Gionatha Palombo and into the netting. The result sent News packing and set up a potential win-and-in for Outkast against group leader Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi in Ecuador. Once again, the Champs played well but didn't exactly dominate as a 1st half goal by Cotopaxi's Heraldo Paulo Canineu spoiled the Outkast double. Eyou Barenfeld tied the game early in the 2nd half but they were denied the winning goal despite numerous chances. The draw locks Outkast into 6 points with a 1-2-3 record and it will be a miracle if that holds up for one of the two 3rd Place slots. It also sends Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., who was lot looking all that impressive, through as they have 7 points and are guaranteed the 2nd transfer spot in the group.

SwampDragons Unted also played a pair of games and won their way into the playoff in Group B. Their ticket was punched when they defeated 2nd place Metropolitan Eagles 2-1 in Canada as the Eagles drop their 2nd straight game in which they could have clinched. Vance Hatcher opened up the 2nd half with a goal to break a 1-1 tie and give the Dragons the points they needed to advance. The Screaming Eagles are still looking good thanks to their differential but now have Real TK on their heels after they whipped up on a tired Dragons team 4-1 in their part of the double-header. TK played their best game of the tournament as French midfielder Mevlut Lepiller scored twice to power his side on the road. With the win, TK remains alive and can possibly grab a playoff spot if they win their last game. They better do it convincingly because it is looking like a bunch of teams will finish with 9 points and TK's differential is not good.

Kobelco United Football Club won their way into the knockouts thanks to their 3-1 road win over North Polar Dragons FC in Group C action. After Daavid Kaurismäki put North Polar up 1-0 early, it was all Kobelco as the Japanese squad ran the Dragons out of the stadium with three straight. Waldmunt Marmaduke got the game winner midway through the second half and Kobelco finishes with 10 points, one ahead of North Polar, although the Dragons have two more games to play. Both of those games will be elimination games for VB Hibernian and Brighton AFC, who not only need to win but need North Polar to lose both, especially Brighton.

The final two games in this busy evening finished up Group G as FC Edinburgh Bullet Birds closed strong and FC Not Very Athletic closed their playoff hopes as they were eliminated from the top half of the bracket. The Bullet Birds routed Bolton Wanderers in a seeding game as both teams had clinched their spots. Regardless, a 6-1 loss is not the kind of form Bolton was wanting to show...and at home...as they prepare for the knockouts. Edinburgh, on the other hand, is looking fantastic. Daylin Plunkett and Sandro Huntelaar each scored twice as the Scottish side will be awarded a very high seed. Athletic will be awarded a trip to the Bums when they failed to clinch a playoff spot after losing 2-1 to FC Cackalacky, who finally got in the win column. Adriel Rowley broke a 1-1 tie in the 80th when Athletic goalie Derrick Richardson was shielded from getting a clean look at the shot through the forest of bodies in front of him. With only 6 points and 7 away goals, Athletic has been shut out of a 3rd Place transfer spot since both Outkast FC and Not Very United, are already ahead of them..

More games tomorrow.

Have a followup doctor appointment this afternoon so I'll grab all 5 games today in the evening update after 7pm.

OK, we now have 11 of the 16 spots spoken for and a handful of others are right on the edge. North Polar Dragons FC joined Kobelco United Football Club in representing Group C after they beat and eliminated VB Hibernian in a 2-1 home win. Hibs dominated the stats line, scored early to gain momentum and even got a man advantage after Dragons midfielder Kenian Lorentsen was booted with about 20 minutes to go...and it still wasn't enough. Shai Gerschenbaum took a very long shot from outside the arc and scored a short-handed goal with 5 minutes remaining to put the final dagger in the English side's hopes. who was needing to win and by a large margin.

Also grabbing a golden ticket was FC Gimli Vikings out of Group D as they simply needed Swamp City Dragons to not win their game by 8 goals. Swamp City ended up winning their match against Merchiston FC but only by a score of 2-1, which gave Gimli the 2nd place tiebreaker on differential. The Dragons, who did what they needed to do by winning their final two, is looking good but has not clinched one of the 3rd Place spots.

The other 3rd Place spot is currently held by Real TK, after their 1-0 win over Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia Foci Klub. Xever Mariano Andrés scored the game's only goal in the 9th minute and that was enough to allow his team to come back from an 0-3 start to finish 3-3 in Group B. Metropolitan Eagles have a +7 advantage with one final game remaining and, assuming they don't get routed, will finish in 2nd place. If they do get trounced, they could fall all the way out of the knockouts.

That possible scenario is because FC Kingston won their second straight in Group E as they beat and eliminated FC Trojans of SC 4-1 at home. Alvaro Bownell went off on the Trojans defense, scoring a hat trick before halftime. The Trojans had tons of chances but were only able to net Mohamed Burch's 23rd minute shot. With the Trojans eliminated, Wolfsburg Dynamit can win their way into the knockouts by winning their final two, as that would give them 10 points. The home and away between Wolfsburg and Kingston will determine the fate of all of the other playoff hopefuls...with teams like TK and Swamp City rooting for Kingston to win one of the two.

In the last game of the day, Bad News ran out the string and kicked Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V. when they were down, beating the German side with ease by a score of 4-1. The entire Group A standings has a differential spread of only 7 goals, showing just how close all four teams really were. News picked up its sole win after Mexican midfielder Calvino Zavala scored twice late in the 2nd half to put the game away. Cologne, who finished with a losing 2-3-1 record, will be the lowest 2nd place team in the seedings.

There are three games tomorrow but the first Wolfsburg/Kingston game isn't until the 29th, so we're going to be waiting to see who is advancing.

I was about to turn in for the evening until I thought...wait, feels like I'm forgetting something...

Metropolitan Eagles finally clinched their playoff spot in Group B after drawing at home against SwampDragons United 2-2 in Stockholm. The game was as even as the scoreboard as neither club gained much of an advantage. Both teams scored within the first 10 minutes before Swamp U took the halftime lead off a pretty goal by Gerald Dodson, who flicked a shot over the head of Eagles goalie Dusa Malis, who got hands on it but couldn't stop it from going in. Before the home fans could get too restless, Waldmunt Dohm scored immediately out of the break to tie the game and both teams took it easy after that, since the Metro Eagles had the point they needed to advance and the Dragons improved their seeding with the result.

Brighton AFC finished their Group C play with an impressive 5-3 road win against the group winner North Polar Dragons FC. As a matter of fact, Brighton looked good in every game but lost three one goal affairs, which was the margin of error between advancing and qualifying for the consolations. Tyler Akin scored a hat trick to pace Brighton and Shai Gerschenbaum scored a pair of goals for North Polar. While the boxscore ended up looking OK, what the score doesn't show was that they were down 5-0 before getting three in garbage time after AFC had shut it down. Brighton ends up as the only team with a losing record that finished with a plus goal differential.

Group E, being the only one left still with games to play, saw FC Kingston move into 1st place after beating FC Stratford-Upon-Avon King's Men 3-2 to remain undefeated. Portuguese midfielder Andre Reis scored the game winner in the 71st off a corner kick and it just held up as Stratford scored right as regular time expired off an unassisted play by Igotz Lavand. Now that Kingston has reached 9 points, there are now four teams sitting at that point total, with a fifth able to get to 10. Of course, the problem is that only four playoff spots remain among those five teams.

There are no games tomorrow, so I'm going to sleep in. See you on Friday.

We finally ended our long drought of not making it past the group stage in this tournament. I just hope the boys can keep their focus and not celebrate too hard, (although our locker room looks like we just won the whole shooting match with all of the champagne all over everything.)

Posted by KSBeachBums on 6/25/2025 9:26:00 PM (view original):
We finally ended our long drought of not making it past the group stage in this tournament. I just hope the boys can keep their focus and not celebrate too hard, (although our locker room looks like we just won the whole shooting match with all of the champagne all over everything.)

congrats and welcome to the club - now the fun begins

FC Stratford-Upon-Avon King's Men becomes the 13th team to clinch their spot as they win their final Group E game over FC Kingston 2-4 at home in East London. Kinsgton, who had been undefeated up to this point, was looking to extend their perfection after Andre Reis hit a header that snuck in underneath the crossbar. But, Leon Cortina tied the game 13 minutes later and Romao Byington broke a 2-2 tie with only minutes remaining to give the English side all the points and clinch a knockout round bid in their 1st Cup entry. Thanks to this result, Swamp City Dragons also advance as a 3rd Place team, keeping their knockout qualification streak alive...just barely. Since the Dragons have the tiebreaker over Real TK, they are guaranteed one of the two 3rd Place spots.

The final two games between Kingston and Wolfsburg Dynamit will decide the remaining two spots among three teams. Simply put, if Wolfsburg wins both games, they will finish in 2nd Place in the group and will advance with 10 points. If they lose or draw one of the games, they are eliminated and both Kingston and Real TK move on.. If Kingston does lose both, it will come down to goal differential between them and TK as they currently sit at +3 and TK is at -3. Therefore, TK is praying Wolfsburg not only wins both games but wins by +7 or more.

There is a possibility that Kingston and TK could be in an absolute tie after all tiebreakers are calculated. If that is the case, there would be the dreaded coin flip for the 16th seed. Tomorrow is another off day and then the first one between Kingston/Wolfsburg is played.

The opening leg of the final group stage series between Wolfsburg Dynamit and FC Kingston out of Group E has gone final as the playoff picture is still muddied but now is down to only two scenarios. As far as the game was concerned, Wolfsburg was in a must-win situation and played like it in front of the home fans. Garet Bernard broke a scoreless 1st half when he took a shot from the corner of the penalty area and bent one around Kingston goalie Hilario Serpa to give Dymanit the 1-0 lead going into the break. After Ronaldo Franco tied the game early into the 2nd stanza, Dynamit was awarded a corner kick in the 56th minute and Videl Skeffington delivered a perfect cross to the head of Altmann Edwin, as he drove home the winning goal to give Wolfsburg the 2-1 win and keep their tournament alive. The goal by Kingston may prove to be critical as it locks them into winning the away goal tiebreaker against Real TK, since they now have 7 and TK ended group play with 6.

The return game between these two clubs is on July 1 with the fate of three teams in the balance. If Kingston wins or draws, Kingston advances, takes TK with them as the 16th seed and Wolfsburg is eliminated. However, if Wolfsburg wins by 5 or less goals, they advance and Kingston moves to the knockouts based on differential and/or away goal tiebreakers. If the margin of victory is 6 or more, TK advances based on differential.

Tomorrow is the final off day. I'll be posting a reminder for any club that has not verbally stated that they want to join the Bums Bracket to do so. I'll post details as to the signup deadline sometime in the late morning.

Bring on the Bums Bracket for the FC Trojans.