|

|
|
|
|
|

Fabio Fichera (Italy)
Rank:01
|
A
sensational performance by Fabio, who appears to be in
the best shape of his Kick Off 2 career. After
comfortably winning the Italian Champs (with several
very strong international guests) in May, he also won
the World Cup with only one defeat in 21 matches. As he
said himself in his winning speech, England suits him
just fine as this is where he got both of his titles.
His unique style of play with frequent tactic changes
and all-around shooting and passing can rarely be
matched, as proven by the ten (!) games where he scored
double figures in Nottingham.
|

Gianni Torchio (Italy)
Rank:02
|
The Pater Familias of the
Kick Off Association, who leads almost every single
statistical category worth leading, yet again finds
himself in the right step of the podium. He seems to
have no pity towards the poor workers who suffer in the
mines in Mexico, who have been working overtime to
satisfy the needs for his nine silver medals. Although
he managed to put an end to his negative tradition
against Thor by eliminating him in the quarter finals,
his new headache answers to the name of Fabio, against
whom he only had one win in five official matches in
2024.
|

Blazej Urbanek (Poland)
Rank:03
|
In the land of Robin Hood, Blazej did
an admirable job of stealing ranking points from the
rich, but for some reason did not fully grasp the
concept of giving them back to the poor. If the world
was surprised when George Kakaletris reached 6th place
in 2009 while playing with keys, this year they were
shocked to witness a performance not dissimilar to the
one Dagh Nielsen had in his rookie year, by a Pole who
favoured the same controller type. Especially when they
heard that he was born two years after Kick Off 2 was
released.
|

Andy Gregoris (England)
Rank:04
|
Second year in row in 4th place for
Andy, who has made it to the semi-finals 9 times but
only managed to win a medal in four of them. In fact,
the 2015 World Champion was 4th in four out of his last
five appearances. He had the fifth best attack of the
competition, and he is now 6th in the world in total
world cup points earned.
|

Mario Fichera (Italy)
Rank:05
|
Another player who maintained his position, Mario was
very close to missing the quarter finals but managed to
go through thanks to an injury time equaliser against
Alkis in the last game of the second round. He
maintained his cool and won both close matches in the
Playouts versus Alkis and Lorenzo.
|

Lorenzo Lozito (Italy)
Rank:06
|
The
2022 World Cup finalist has not managed to return to the
semi-finals yet, but he has established himself among
the elite. His defense often suffocates even the
strongest of his opponents, and yet it failed him in the
first quarter final against Blazej, where he conceded 10
goals for the first time since 2019.
|

Thor Egil Skaug (Norway)
Rank:07
|
Thor's
annual position line chart continues to resemble the
mountains that we used to draw as children, elevating to
the heights of a gold medal only to drop out of the
semi-finals the next year, before they return to Olympus
again. He had the fourth best goal average of the
competition.
|

Alkis Polyrakis (Greece)
Rank:08
|
After three barren years of venturing
in the 9-10 positions, Alkis survived his Round 2 group
of death to return to the quarter finals, a feat thought
impossible before the world cup began, as the top 8
seeded players seemed untouchable. Those who had thought
him finished eventually succumbed to the acquired taste
that is Alkis Polyrakis.
|

Christopher Durrans (Norway)
Rank:09
|
A very unlucky tournament for Chris, who drew the short
straw and was eliminated in his Round 2 group after
losing no less than three matches by a single goal,
where at least one draw would have sufficed. He was the
only player who conceded less than three goals per game,
hence the best defense trophy he carried back home.
|

Frederic Giuliano (Belgium)
Rank:10
|
A
definite improvement compared to his rookie year in
Spain for Frederic, who is a frequent Online Kick Off 2
player and it showed. He qualified rather comfortably
from a very strong Round 1 group, and gained a
respectable place in the World's Top 10.
|

Lee Whiting (England)
Rank:11
|
After making to the quarter finals
twice in 2018 and 2019, the reigning UK champion
returned to a much more difficult competition and
certainly left his mark. Particularly when he beat
Blazej 7-5, one of the only three players in the
competition who managed to draw blood from the Pole.
|

Steve
Camber (England)
Rank:12
|
The
man who leads the Kick Off 2 World Cups in competitions
and matches played, Steve comfortably made it to the 2nd
round as he always does. If Kick Off 2 was expressed as
a function on a four dimensional Cartesian coordinate
system, Steve at the moment he joined the KOA would be
(0,0,0,0).
|

Jacob Kofoed (Sweden)
Rank:13
|
After missing the competitions in Athens and
Torremolinos, Jacob gave an impressive performance in
Nottingham. He was one of the three people who managed
to beat Thor, and had several close results against
other top players.
|

Alessandro Verrani (Italy)
Rank:14
|
Alessandro is one of the defining KOA players, and in
Nottingham he managed to climb to the 9th place of the
table of most points earned in a World Cup. He also
finds himself in the top 10 of games played, wins, draws
and goals scored.
|

Mark Williams (England)
Rank:15
|
After a relatively poor performance for his skills in
Spain, Mark returned to the Top 16, mostly thanks to his
decisive victory against Robert. He was outplayed there,
and as a result only five players finished the world cup
with a lower goal average than him.
|

Vasilis Kafiris (Greece)
Rank:16
|
Vasilis played very well in the first round of the
competition, where his five wins helped him qualify for
the first time since 2007. Although he suffered his
biggest defeat in more than 500 KOA matches in the hands
of Gianni (1-13), he should be content with his
performance.
|

Steve Baker (England)
Rank:17
|
A step
back in Steve's rapidly improving Kick Off 2 career, who
started in 33rd place in 2018 and found himself in 10th
position last year, but one sweetened by the Silver Cup
trophy. He had to fight his way through the
Aegean Sea for it, first losing to George Kakaletris, then beating Ektoras to top his Sunday
group, before he bested Ilker in an epic final.
|

Ilker Canvarol (Turkey)
Rank:18
|
Another student of the ersatz Kick Off 2 that is its
online version, Ilker would easily be named the
revelation of the year had it not been for Blazej. It
took him some time to get used to all eyes being on him
during the Silver Cup final, but he almost came back
from trailing 0-4. We just know he will aim higher next
year.
|

Ektoras Kapsoulis (Greece)
Rank:19
|
Ektoras was one of the favourites to make it to the
Silver Cup final after being eliminated from the first
round, but he lost the decisive match against Steve
Baker. He had the 6th best goal average of the
competition.
|

Paolo Sotgiu (Italy)
Rank:20
|
A very
good World Cup for Paolo as well, who managed to beat
Ilker but could not make it to the top of his Sunday
group because he dropped points against the last two
players: Bruno and Mick. He had the fourth best attack
out of the Silver Cup players.
|

George Kakaletris (Greece)
Rank:21
|
George
had some excellent results on Sunday, when he defeated
Steve Baker, Robert and Frank. However, a shocking
defeat to Mandhir dropped him to the third place in his
group.
|

George Mexis (Greece)
Rank:22
|
Another newcomer, George became the 18th Greek to join a
Kick Off 2 World Cup and displayed a respectable
performance. He had some good results against
experienced players and showed promise for a more
competent future.
|

Frank Fuhrmann (Germany)
Rank:23
|
Frank
underperformed in the 22nd Kick Off 2 World Cup, losing
to players he'd normally expect to beat. He climbed to
the 16th place of the most points earned in a World Cup
table.
|

Ian Kay (England)
Rank:24
|
Looking at Ian's games, I see several draws and close
defeats, where one goal could have shifted his destiny
in the competition towards a different direction. Draws
against players such as Robert and Rodolfo, and he ended
up finishing higher than both of them.
|

Robert Swift (England)
Rank:25
|
The
organizer of the 2024 Kick Off 2 World Cup was close to
qualifying to the next round, especially after beating
Alessandro, but a draw against the last player of the
group Ian cost him. He is in the Top 10 of most
competition matches and goals.
|

Rodolfo Martin (Spain)
Rank:26
|
The
veteran who has won four Silver Cups found himself
positioned far from the 17th place this year, as the
continued stream of online players increases the
competition's difficulty. Only Steve Camber and Gianni
have played in more World Cups than him.
|

Jorn Flagtvedt (Norway)
Rank:27
|
With
the exception of Ian, Jorn did not beat any of the
players who finished above him, and therefore his final
position seems fair. He is in the Top 10 of most matches
played in World Cups.
|

Kostas Kakaletris (Greece)
Rank:28
|
Another player who uses a keyboard controller in Kick
Off 2 World Cups, Kostas traditionally has difficulty
scoring. This year was no exception, as he had the
second lowest goal average in Nottingham.
|

James Lockerbie (England)
Rank:29
|
Some of the things that happened during the year when
James last played in a Kick Off 2 World Cup: I purchased
goods by paying in drachmas. Lifehouse released 'Hanging
by a Moment'. The World Trade Center was still in
existence. Even his last KOA game was in 2009, therefore
he was understandably rusty.
|

Mandhir Sidhu (England)
Rank:30
|
Although Mandhir has more than 600 KOA matches, he
hadn't competed in a tournament since 2013. A victory
against George Kakaletris was his top achievement in
Nottingham.
|

Mark Bishop (England)
Rank:31
|
Another English player who used to play very frequently
but came back from a long absence, Mark's last
tournament dated back to 2008. He found himself in the
Game of Shame, but his skills returned during the
crucial moment.
|

Mark Vella (England)
Rank:32
|
Mark had some nightmare moments in this competition,
such as the 1-19 defeat to Fabio. He will however
remember his win against Paolo.
|

Bruno Carricaburu (France)
Rank:33
|
The 5th French player to compete in a Kick Off 2 World
Cup, Bruno gave a spectacularly uneven performance: A
first round with 4 wins that could have landed him to
the Top 16, and a second round where he would lose to
Mark Bishop but also beat Rodolfo. He had the second
best defense in the competition.
|

Taner Goren (Turkey)
Rank:34
|
Taner
wore the time-honoured badge of masculinity that is the
Shirt of Shame with pride. He never let a weekend full
of defeats falter his smile.
|

Mick Creevy (England)
Rank:35
|
Seeing
Mick in last place - even due to the bad luck of being
in the 9-player group, and therefore unfairly below
Taner- is certainly a surprise. But I read somewhere
that the Mick shall inherit the earth, so he should be
OK.
|
|
|
|