Thor Egil Skaug (Norway)

Rank:01

This is the third time that Thor manages to reach a Kick Off 2 World Cup final, and also the third time that he wins the title. If you think that this is a small feat, know that no other player has ever managed to get to more than one final without losing at least one of them: Gianni has 5/13, Gianluca 3/4, Dagh 3/4, Alkis 2/4, Spyros 2/3, Andy 1/3, and Fabio 1/2. Like all top players, he has exceptional attacking skills, but unlike most, they are effective against practically everyone, as he doesn't appear to have an opponent against whom he regularly struggles. He was the 3rd best goal average in the history of World Cups, with 7.14 goals per game   


Gianni Torchio (Italy)

Rank:02

Silver medal number 8 for Gianni, who is starting to develop something of a negative tradition against Thor, as this is the third competition in a row that the Norwegian has better results against him, and let's not forget that he had also defeated him in the 2016 title match in Milan. His two goals in the first leg against Thor was the lowest he's scored in a final since 2010. Of course, as usual, he had little to no trouble besting basically everyone else during the World Cup weekend. He leads the KOA in World Cup wins and goals.


Fabio Fichera (Italy)

Rank:03

In the last 7 competitions that Fabio attended, his journey ended with either Gianni or Andy. The only time this story had a happy ending for him was when he beat his fellow townsman with an epic comeback in the Bournemouth final. Apart from that, he counts two disqualifications to Andy and four to Gianni, with the last one being in Torremolinos. He brought home the top scorer trophy for the third time in his career, and he was also the best defender out of the Top-16 players (3rd overall), while becoming the 5th player to reach 200 World Cup wins.


Andy Gregoris (England)

Rank:04

Andy missed the Athens World Cup, which means that if we include the two lost years due to the pandemic, he had a total of three years of inactivity, yet that didn't seem to affect his performance much. He was the one who gave the champion the hardest time, in an epic semi-final, where the two players changed tactics a total of 250 times over the two legs, that was decided by a goal on the 34th second of stoppage time - that's the football equivalent of disqualification on the 95th minute!  


Mario Fichera (Italy)

Rank:05

With the exception of a silver medal in the distant 2009, the 5th place is the highest that Mario has achieved, in fact it's the third time he arrives there. A graduate of the Milanese school of attack, he had the 5th best goal average of the competition. He was responsible for three out of Christopher's five defeats in Torremolinos.


Christopher Durrans (Norway)

Rank:06

Chris must be slowly but surely developing this writer's dislike for Italians, as it's now three times in a row that he gets disqualified by one, and a different one each year. Fabio in Bremen, Lorenzo in Athens, Gianni in Spain although for a couple of minutes when he took a 9-2 lead against him in the rematch of 3-9, it looked like he could turn it around. He had the fourth best attack of the World Cup.


Oliver Stender (Germany)

Rank:07

This is the 6th consecutive presence in the quarter-finals for Oliver, and the 9th in the last 13 World Cups that he's attended. Impressive consistency from the German, who eventually aspires to return to the top 4 where he was in 2015 and 2016. He has the 4th most points gained in a competition among 212 players, he became the 4th player to reach 2000 goals in World Cups and he received the KOA Lifetime Achievement Award this year.


Lorenzo Lozito (Italy) 

Rank:08

Lorenzo could not repeat the amazing achievement of reaching the final like the year before, but that does not mean that his game has not improved. In fact, he was undefeated in the 14 matches of the first two rounds, before he gave in to the superiority of Fabio. He had the second best defense out of the Top-16 players (6th overall).


Alkis Polyrakis (Greece)

Rank:09

Although he tried to mix things up by playing 4-2-4 for long periods of time, Alkis had the absolute 'on par' performance in the 21st Kick Off 2 World Cup. He was seeded 9th and finished 9th, beating every player who was seeded below him and losing to every player who was seeded above him. Almost as boring as his speeches.


Steve Baker (England)

Rank:10

This was a great tournament for Steve, who could have made it to the quarter finals had he not lost the crucial match to Oliver. Results such as a 6-6 against Andy or an 8-8 against Thor cannot be achieved by just anyone, and neither can the sixth best goal average of the competition.


Steve Camber (England)

Rank:11

The ever present Englishman came very close to ending his perfect 20/20 Round 2 record after drawing to Mick and Frederic beat Frank, but his experience allowed him to beat the Belgian and advance to the Top 16 once again. As always, the quality of the World Cup wouldn't have been as high without his software contributions.


Frank Fuhrmann (Germany)

Rank:12

This is Frank's fifth consecutive presence in the 9-16 group. His main strength lies in defense, as he had the best defensive average of that group, even better that some of the quarter finalists such as Mario and Oliver. What cost him was that his 2.59 goal average was the lowest of the top 21 players.


Alessandro Verrani (Italy)

Rank:13

Alessandro is another 9-16 regular, in fact he feels right at home there as that's where he's been in 11 out of his 14 World Cups. And yet, he has reasons to feel very content to be there in Torremolinos, as he had to escape from a very tough group and beat Nikos to do it.


Fran Sendra (Spain)

Rank:14

Fran had a terrific first day in the 21st Kick Off 2 World Cup, securing 3rd place above KOA veterans Alessandro and Nikos. Apparently, the organizer syndrome kicked in on Sunday as he seemed to run out of steam. It has to be said, though, that some of the defeats that cost him were by a single goal, namely against Oliver, Steve Baker and Alessandro.


Rodolfo Martin (Spain)

Rank:15

Rodolfo returned to the Top 16, a feat he has only achieved in 3 out of his 17 World Cup appearances - only Steve Camber and Gianni have been in more. He did it by keeping a clean sheet against Mark, something only he and Fabio managed to do in Spain. He was the chief organizer of the competition.


Samu Gómez (Spain)

Rank:16

Three players in the second round can certainly be considered a success for the Spanish team. Although Samu ended at the same spot as the year before, it would be incorrect to claim that he did not show any progress, as he was responsible for the elimination of Robert.


Robert Swift (England)

Rank:17

Only five players have played in more World Cup matches than Robert, and yet apart from a well deserved Lifetime Achievement Award, he did not have any trophies to show for them. All that changed in Spain, as he overcame his disappointment of missing the Top-16 by narrowly defeating Nikos to top his Silver group, and Frederic in the Silver Cup trophy game, which was his first ever big screen match. He had the 4th best defense of the competition.


Frederic Giuliano (Belgium)

Rank:18

Frederic came very close to repeating Gabriele's achievement in Athens, winning the Silver Cup in his first World Cup appearance. Although he took a 3-0 lead against Robert, he ended up conceding four unanswered goals and losing on overtime. Just like Gabriele, he brought the best defense trophy back home as only Gianni managed to score more than four goals against him.


Nikos Andreou (Greece)

Rank:19

Nikos was the original Silver Cup winner in 2002 (back when it was called the Playouts), and he'd never missed the top 16 in his next 8 appearances. He was the favourite to win it again, but a draw against Luis (whom he had beaten 6-2 the day before) cost him his presence in the final. He's one of the only 7 players who have a lower than 3.0 defensive average after having played in at least 5 World Cups.


Jorn Meinertz (Norway)

Rank:20

The hyperborean traveller won the Silver Cup in 2019 in Bremen, and this year he came very close to making it to another final. He needed to win the decisive match against Frederic to get there, but the Belgian equalized seconds before the final whistle. That draw should come at no surprise, as only two people have more draws than Jorn in Kick Off 2 World Cups.


Mick Creevy (England)

Rank:21

This was Mick's second World Cup appearance. Many people did not realize how close to the Silver Cup final he was, as in a group that had Robert and Nikos in it he finished but a single point below them. Among the Silver Cup players, only Nikos and Frederic had a better goal average than him.


Michael Gebler (Germany)

Rank:22

With 5 World Cups under his belt, Michael can now be considered an experienced player, although he didn't manage to capitalize on the 16th place he gained in Bremen. Despite his defeats to Klaus and Jaume, he did well to beat Jorn to remain in the top half players of the competition.


Ian Kay (England)

Rank:23

Ian scored consistently in Spain, as his 3.19 average was the third best among the Silver Cup players - he even scored 4 goals against the likes of Gianni and Mario. He also had some impressive draws against seasoned players like Steve Camber, Robert and Nikos.


Fabien Sans (France)

Rank:24

A very respectable first World Cup appearance for Fabien. Sometimes he blacked out in matches like the 1-0 defeat to Klaus or the 2-1 defeat to Michele, but he was generally a tough nut to crack who drew against Jorn and lost to Frederic by a single goal.


Peter Klimaschefski (Germany)

Rank:25

Peter's attack struggled in Torremolinos - a 1.56 average, whereas in Bremen he had managed 2.53 goals per game. This was his 7th World Cup competition.


Mark Williams (England)

Rank:26

I have written before that Mark tends to underperform when seeded high and overperform when seeded low. Spain was not an exception, as he was the only player from the top four seeds who did not qualify. He still had the 7th best defensive average of all.


Jaume Perello (Spain)

Rank:27

We can expect much greater things from Jaume as soon as he manages to put some standard goals in his quiver. After all, he had the second best defense of the tournament even after facing opponents such as Andy, Lorenzo and Alessandro.


Luis Astorri (Spain)

Rank:28

Luis returned for his second World Cup after Milan 2016, and this time he fortunately decided to stay for both days. A draw against Nikos was his most impressive result. He was the main hardware provider of the competition.


Cornelius Henze (Germany)

Rank:29

Cornelius is one of the most recognizable faces in the KOA, having competed in dozens of tournaments, including 9 World Cups. He rarely strays far from positions 25-30, and this year was no exception.


Michele Lorenzetti (Italy)

Rank:30

Michele's streak of 10 consecutive World Cups is alive! He used that experience to beat some of the newcomers, as well as Mark with the impressive score 4-1.


Klaus Lederer (Austria)

Rank:31

Klaus won half of his 18 matches, which would normally have landed him much higher. However, four of his wins were in the first round, and he needed more of them on Sunday to finish in a better position!


David Cornejo (Spain)

Rank:32

Although David was among the first few dozens of KOA members, it's been too many years since they held regular tournaments in Jerez, and his inactivity was evident. He shaped up and managed to get a couple of wins in the Silver Cup, but not before he proudly wore the Shirt of Shame on Saturday.


Stephane Lanne (France)

Rank:33

Stephane had several close defeats, and an impressive victory against Robert in his first World Cup appearance. He seems to have the potential to do better.


Grzegorz Patola (Poland)

Rank:34

Like many before him, Grzegorz found out the hard way that there is a world of players able to overperform him at his beloved game. He managed to win the Game of Shame, but he could not avoid last place.