Welcome to the 2010 Pop World Cup
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CONGRATULATIONS TO NIGERIA - 2010 POP WORLD CUP CHAMPIONS!!!
Group standings at a glance
| Group A | Pts | Group B | Pts | Group C | Pts | Group D | Pts | ||||
| 1 |  SAF |
7 |  NGA |
7 |  USA |
5 |  GHA |
9 | |||
| 2 |  FRA |
4 |  KOR |
4 |  SVN |
4 |  GER |
4 | |||
| 3 |  URU |
4 |  ARG |
4 |  ALG |
4 |  AUS |
2 | |||
| 4 |  MEX |
1 |  GRE |
1 |  ENG |
3 |  SRB |
1 | |||
| Group E | Pts | Group F | Pts | Group G | Pts | Group H | Pts | ||||
| 1 |  NED |
6 |  NZL |
7 |  POR |
6 |  ESP |
7 | |||
| 2 |  CMR |
5 |  PAR |
5 |  CIV |
5 |  HON |
6 | |||
| 3 |  JPN |
4 |  SVK |
3 |  PRK |
4 |  CHI |
2 | |||
| 4 |  DEN |
1 |  ITA |
1 |  BRA |
1 |  SUI |
1 | |||
The rules
Tracks from participating countries go head to head in a tournament to decide which country is the champion of pop. 32 pop pickers are assigned a country to 'manage'. They pick a song by an artist from that country for each match they play. The Pop World Cup resembles the actual World Cup (the qualifying teams and draw also matching) with group stages leading to a knockout system but there are no penalty shootouts (although there will be a tie-breaker for when two teams get the same number of votes each). Match winners are determined by whichever country/song receives the most public votes. To win a match a team has to secure at least a 58% majority of votes, otherwise the match is declared a draw. Anyone can vote and matches last a few days so there is plenty of time to listen to the songs, cast your votes and post your thoughts in the comments box for each game.
When managers pick songs they must be by artists from or at least based in the country they're managing. An act can only appear once in the tournament. Selected acts can feature members from different countries as long as one is from the appropriate country (whether born there or having since moved there). Voters are free to decide whether the "authenticity" of selected artists are sufficient!
There is no age limit on selected songs and they can be from any point in history. They do not even have to have been released anywhere as long as the act credited is from the appropriate country and this is proveable.
Cover versions, well known hits, remixes (both where the appropriate act is the remixer OR the remixed) are all eligible. Again voter discretion may dictate whether these are factors in whether a song will win or fail against it's rival song.
The players
| Country | Manager | Country | Manager | |
| Algeria |
Martin Skidmore | Korea DPR |
Mark Sinker | |
| Argentina |
Jonathan Bogart | Korea Republic |
Chris Randle | |
| Australia |
Chris Burlingame | Mexico |
Tom Schaller | |
| Brazil |
Chris Ambrose | Netherlands |
Iain Forrester | |
| Cameroon |
Weston Debevec | New Zealand |
Steve Mannion | |
| Chile |
James E L | Nigeria |
Matt D'Cruz | |
| Côte d'Ivoire |
Wichita Lineman | Paraguay |
Talia | |
| Denmark |
Rob Hakimian | Portugal |
Job De Wit | |
| England |
Rebecca Brown | Serbia |
Tim Emanuel | |
| France |
Alex Macpherson | Slovakia |
Julio DeSouza | |
| Germany |
Andrew Hickey | Slovenia |
Kat Stevens | |
| Ghana |
Ben Graham | South Africa |
The Ewings | |
| Greece |
Johan Palme | Spain |
Alberto | |
| Honduras |
Steve Hewitt | Switzerland* |
Greg Fanoe | |
| Italy |
Marna | United States |
Pete Baran | |
| Japan |
Dasal Abayratne | Uruguay |
Jim Derwent | |
| *Switzerland are the current European Champions. 2006 World Champions Czech Republic failed to qualify. | ||||
The prize
The winner will receive an actual Pop World Cup of some kind, that's all we can reveal for now!
The artists
Acts featuring in the 2010 Pop World Cup (with links to their myspace, facebook, last.fm pages or official sites).
*Act won their match. Acts in italics also appeared in the 2006 Pop World Cup.