The countdown to the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup is getting nearer as only three days are left before the tournament begins. Russia will be hosting the tournament and competing in the tournament for the very first time.
Euro 2016 Champions Portugal will also be making their debut in the competition and so will Copa America champions Chile. Cameroon returned to the tournament after 14 years by winning the 2017 African Cup of Nations.
Over the years, several top teams have taken part in the Confederations Cup. However, there are a few teams who have taken part in the tournament but you may not know about. Here are five such teams who you may not know that took part in the FIFA Confederations Cup.
#5 The United Arab Emirates in 1997
The 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup was the first edition of the tournament that was organised by FIFA as well as the first tournament that featured teams from all Confederations. Saudi Arabia were the hosts and had thus automatically qualified for the competition. However, Saudi Arabia had also won the 1996 AFC Asian Cup but since they had already qualified for the tournament by virtue of being the hosts, the runners-up of the Asian Cup, the United Arab Emirates were given a berth in the tournament.
The UAE were potted in a group alongside Czech Republic, South Africa, and Uruguay and were expected to be the rag dolls of the group. They began their tournament on an expected note, going down 0-2 to Uruguay thanks to two injury-time goals at the end of both halves.
However, in their following game, UAE surprisingly defeated South Africa 1-0 thanks to an early goal from Hassan Mubarak. This win meant that UAE just needed to draw their final group game against Czech Republic (who had only 1 point from two games) in order to qualify for the semi-finals.
However, Czech Republic thrashed them 6-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Vladimir Smicer and a brace from Pavel Nedved to advance to the semi-finals and UAE were out. This remains to be their only appearance in the tournament.
#4 Canada in 2001
Canada had qualified for the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup through a qualification play-off group but stunned everybody by winning the tournament – defeating Colombia 2-0 in the final. This victory was Canada’s ticket to the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup that was held in Japan and South Korea, thus making it the first tournament where the hosts of the following World Cup would be hosting the competition.
Canada were heavy underdogs at the tournament and were in a group alongside Brazil, Japan, and Cameroon. The North Americas began their tournament with a 0-3 defeat against Japan which was followed by a 0-0 draw against a second-string Brazilian side.
Thus, they still had some hope of qualifying for the semi-finals if they beat Cameroon (who had already been eliminated) by a good margin in their final group game and hope that Japan defeated Brazil.
However, it was not to be as Canada were beaten 0-2 by Cameroon while Japan drew 0-0 against Brazil.
#3 Ivory Coast in 1992
Yes! Ivory Coast did qualify for the FIFA Confederations Cup but not during the days of Didier Drogba but in the inaugural edition of the competition in 1992 when it was known as the King Fahd Cup. Ivory Coast qualified by virtue of winning their first African Cup of Nations that very year.
The tournament featured only four nations and was a knockout tournament with Ivory Coast facing Argentina in their first game. Ivory Coast were thrashed 4-0 by Argentina thanks to Gabriel Batistuta’s brace in addition to goals from Ricardo Altamirano and Alberto Acosta and would thus have to play in the third-place play-off.
There they were up against the United States who had been beaten 3-0 by hosts Saudi Arabia. The African champions would eventually finish last as USA comprehensively defeated them 5-2 to take third place in the competition.
#2 Bolivia in 1999
There’s a lot of twist to how Bolivia qualified for their first and till date, only FIFA Confederations Cup. Bolivia were the runners-up of the 1997 Copa America, losing 3-1 to Brazil in the final. However, before the competition, France, the winners of the 1998 World Cup declined to participate which gave the World Cup berth to Brazil (who were runners-up in the 1998 World Cup) and left the CONMEBOL berth open. Hence, Bolivia qualified for the tournament by virtue of being the runners-up of the Copa America.
Bolivia were pitted in a group alongside tournament hosts Mexico (who they had beaten in the semi-finals of the 1997 Copa America), Saudi Arabia, and Egypt and their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals looked good.
The Bolivians began their tournament with a 2-2 draw against Egypt which was followed by a goalless draw against Saudi Arabia. Thus, in order to qualify, Bolivia had to defeat or at least get draw against Mexico in their final group game.
However, a 52nd minute goal from Francisco Palencia gave Mexico the victory and eliminated Bolivia from the tournament as they ended third in their group behind Mexico and Saudi Arabia.
#1 Czech Republic in 1997
The Czech Republic produced a huge surprise in their maiden tournament as an independent nation as they reached the final of Euro 1996 by defeating the likes of Portugal and France in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively before losing to Germany via a golden goal from Oliver Bierhoff in the final.
With Germany declining to participate in the tournament, the UEFA seat at the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup was taken by the Czech Republic who had the likes of Pavel Nedved, Karel Poborsky and Vladimir Smicer in their ranks.
The Czechs were pooled alongside Uruguay, South Africa, and United Arab Emirates and were expected to qualify for the semi-finals comfortably. However, the Czechs began their tournament with a disappointing 2-2 draw against South Africa which was followed by a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Uruguay. The European side were in deep trouble and needed to defeat the United Arab Emirates in their final group game if they had any chance to qualify for the semi-finals.
The last game of the group stage saw the Czechs at the ruthless best as they went on to thrash UAE 6-1 thanks to a hat-trick from Vladimir Smicer and a brace from Pavel Nedved in addition to an own goal from UAE.
Thus, the Czechs qualified for the semi-finals where they were up against Brazil. The Czechs were no match for the Samba flair in the semis, going down 2-0 thanks to goals from Romario and Ronaldo.
In the third place play-off, they were again up against Uruguay and managed to avenge their group stage loss by defeating them 1-0 thanks to a 63rd minute winner from Edvard Lasota. Vladimir Smicer received the Silver Shoe for the second highest goal-scorer of the tournament with 5 goals behind Romario’s 7 and was also voted the third best player of the tournament.
