ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Kurdistan is out of the Conifa World Football Cup, losing to Padania in penalties in the quarterfinals. Kurdistan took on Padania, the top ranked team in the tournament, on Thursday afternoon. After regulation play, the match was tied at 2 – 2 and went into penalties where, sadly, Kurdistan lost 6 – 7. The Kurdistan national team has yet to make it past the quarterfinals of the Conifa World Football Cup. In the inaugural tournament in 2014, Kurdistan lost to Ellan Vannin, the Manx name for the Isle of Man, in the quarterfinals, again in penalties. Kurdistan did not participate in the 2015 cup. Conifa represents millions of people around the world who are passionate about football but do not feel represented by any of the 209 teams that are members of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), which are selected on the basis of membership in the United Nations. The teams playing in this year’s World Football Cup are a mix of unrecognized states, stateless peoples, disputed territories, and distinct cultural regions. “[A]ll of them play the beautiful game and use it to get together and keep their culture, history and community alive,” said Conifa on their website.
