AFTN’s World Cup Draft: Battle of the podcasters edition

Earlier today we brought you the AFTN World Cup draft that we did with the TSS Rovers players. Now it’s time for a little bit of a more self indulgent one, so please bear with us, it’s the battle of the AFTN podcasters.

We’ve pitched the AFTN Soccer Show Sunday’s crew (Michael, Steve, and Zach) against the AFTN preview podcast crew (Joe, Gideon, and Nick) in a battle to the death, or at least to the end of the World Cup in Russia.

Teams were drafted and the battle lines were drawn for both an every man for himself competition, plus podcast team v podcast team (3 versus 3).

Each participant picked a card to determine a picking order and then proceeded to select their four teams. The picks went from player 1 to 6 in the first round, then player 6 to 1 in the second, and then back around again for rounds three, four, and five, with those picking in the last two spots getting an extra team at the end..

Here’s how the draft played out:

PLAYER 1: JOE DEASY

SPAIN
ENGLAND
SWITZERLAND
NIGERIA
JAPAN

PLAYER 2: ZACHARY MEISENHEIMER

GERMANY
POLAND
COSTA RICA
ICELAND
PANAMA

PLAYER 3: NICOLAAS RUPPRECHT

BRAZIL
COLOMBIA
MEXICO
RUSSIA
AUSTRALIA

PLAYER 4: STEVE PANDHER

FRANCE
URUGUAY
SENEGAL
EGYPT
MOROCCO

PLAYER 5: MICHAEL MCCOLL

BELGIUM
CROATIA
SWEDEN
DENMARK
TUNISIA
SAUDI ARABIA

PLAYER 6: GIDEON HILL

PORTUGAL
ARGENTINA
SERBIA
PERU
SOUTH KOREA
IRAN

SCORING:

In the group stages, teams get three points for a win and one for a draw. Group winners will get a bonus of five points.

In the Round of 16, teams get five points for a win in 90 minutes, four for a win in extra time, and three for a win on penalties. One point will go to teams losing in extra time or penalties in that round.

In the quarter-finals, teams get six points for a win in 90 minutes, five for a win in extra time, and four for a win on penalties. Two points will go to quarter-finalists who lose in extra time or on penalties.

In the semi-finals and the 3rd/4th place match, teams get eight points for a win in 90 minutes, seven for a win in extra time, and six for a win on penalties. Any team losing in extra time or penalties will score three points.

The team that wins the whole World Cup will score 10 points for their win in the final. The runners-up will score five points.

So after all that, which player are you backing to win our tournament? Let us know! We’ll bring you regular score updates on the site, podcast, and twitter.