Manage A Team In The Pop World Cup 2014!

So here we are. The 32 qualifiers for the football World Cup have been decided, which means it’s time, once again, to get ready for the POP WORLD CUP.

The point of this post is very simple. If you want to be a manager in the Pop World Cup, put your name in the comments and pick a specific team (first come first served) or choose a random one.

More clarification? But of course!

What is the Pop World Cup? It’s a music competition involving the 32 countries in the “real” World Cup vying to see who is the best at pop music. It will take place in Spring next year, before the football World Cup starts.

What does being a manager involve? It involves taking on one of the countries and finding pop music from it. Your tracks are pitted against tracks from other nations, and people vote on which they like best. Just as in the football World Cup, the idea is to progress to the final (and win it).

What are the 32 qualifying nations I can pick from? Ones in italics are taken: Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Nigeria, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, USA, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland. If you took part in the Pop World Cup in 2006 or 2010, please don’t pick a country you previously managed!

Are there any new rules? YES. We’ve had a look at what worked and what didn’t, and tried to make it more manager- and listener-friendly this time. So:

1. We’re shortening the “Group Stage” so it doesn’t drag on, and we’re simplifying the scoring.
2. It’ll be easier to vote and comment via Facebook, Twitter etc.
3. YouTube links are fine – you don’t need to find MP3s.
4. Only 2010s tracks will be eligible – so this will represent current music.

This will mean less hassle and more fun for managers and listeners alike (I hope!).

Over to you – if you want to join in, put your name in the comments, either with a country, or asking for a random draw. We’ll put up the final managers’ list on Freaky Trigger once we’ve got enough people, and allot the random countries.

And we can finally get rid of that bloody lion mascot in the site header.