Rabastor Unity Trophy 2306
| Rabastor Trophy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Callistea |
| Teams | 8 |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 4 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | File:South Newlandia flag.png South Newlandia (1st title) |
| Runners-up | File:Saltstead flag.png Saltstead |
| Third place | File:Græntfjall flag.png Græntfjall |
| Fourth place |  Cobrio |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 23 |
| Goals scored | 54 (2.35 per match) |
The 2306 Rabastor Unity Trophy was the fifty-fourth edition of the Rabastor Unity Trophy, the biennial friendly international football tournament held in Callistea to promote good diplomatic relations between nations. As is typical for the tournament, matches were played in multiple cities within Callistea. The tournament began on 22 July 2306 (Osarian calendar) and finished on 9 August. This edition marked the first time a non-national team was permitted to enter, as a Rabastorian Representative XI was formed, comprising players from Eristicea, as well as the territories of Kryosis, Akach, and Xiaolin.
The 2306 tournament was also the largest to date in terms of number of entrants, with eight. This edition saw the introduction of a new format, with the eight participating teams competing in a triple elimination knockout bracket. Ultimately, South Newlandia would emerge victorious, beating Saltstead 1-0 in the final match.
Invited teams
As a neighbour state in Atlantian Oceania, Saltstead were afforded an invite alongside the three core member nations of the Rabastorian Union: Osarius, Cobrio, and Aquillian. As none of the other four nations forming part of the RBU were able to field independent sides, the Rabastor Sports Council (RSC) granted special dispensation to create a unified team of the remaining member states. The final three invites went to Græntfjall, Sylestone and South Newlandia, as they responded quickest to the RSC's invitation.
The full list of participating nations was as follows:
Venues
The cities of Paphos, Dendera and Cythera were selected to host tournament matches, along with Tahira – site of the recently built Queen Tahira Memorial Park – marking the first time in over forty editions that a new stadium has been added to the host venue pool.
  Paphos Cythera Dendera Rabastor Unity Trophy 2306 (Callistea) |
Great Swan Park | Silver Arrow Meadow | Golden Orchard |
|---|---|---|---|
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| Paphos | Dendera | Cythera | |
| Capacity: 20,000 | Capacity: 14,500 | Capacity: 12,500 | |
| Surface: Grass | Surface: Grass | Surface: Grass |
Note: Seating capacities as configured for these games.
Squads
Each team's squad for the 2306 Rabastor Unity Trophy consisted of 23 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers). Each participating national association was required to confirm its final 23-player squad no later than 3 working days before the start of the tournament. Replacement of seriously injured players was permitted until the listed kickoff time of the team in question's first game.
Osarius, as in recent editions of the tournament, opted to send an full-strength squad – a trend since the fiftieth edition at the turn of the 24th century. South Newlandia opted to send a squad of under-23s.
Match officials
A total of 6 referees, 3 support referees, and 18 assistant referees were selected for the tournament, all of whom were Callistean. The RSC opted to forego the use of Video Assistant Referees for the tournament, owing to the additional cost, which the Callistean Ministry for Sport were not willing to accomodate.
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Draw
The draw was held on 15 July 2220 at 12:00 local time at the Royal Court of Callistea in Paphos, Callistea. There was no seeding of teams based on rank, but instead, teams were assigned an entry number. These entry numbers were used to configure the initial bracket, with no further draws required, as the bracket was fixed.
| ## | Team |
|---|---|
| 1 | File:South Newlandia flag.png South Newlandia |
| 2 |  Aquillian
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| 3 | File:Græntfjall flag.png Græntfjall |
| 4 | File:RBU Flag.svg Rabastor XI |
| 5 | Cobrio
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| 6 | File:Saltstead flag.png Saltstead |
| 7 |  Osarius
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| 8 | File:Sylestone flag.png Sylestone |
Bracket
Matches
The provisional match schedule for the tournament was released on 3 July 2220, once the Callistean Ministry for Sport had confirmed all participating nations. However, some matches were later rescheduled due to some errors in the initial planning.
The first round saw all eight teams feature, with the losers dropping into a second bracket. Teams losing in the second bracket then dropped into the "elimination bracket". Upon suffering their third defeat, a team was eliminated from the competition.
All matches were played to ninety minutes, with extra time and penalty shootouts implemented where necessary to decide a winner.
Round One
22 July 2220
16:00 |
| South Newlandia File:South Newlandia flag.png | 1-0 | File:Sylestone flag.png Sylestone |
|---|---|---|
Referee: Cicereia (Callistea) |
Goalscorers
Tournament ranking
In statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-out are counted as draws. For the purposes of this tournament, penalty shoot-out victories are counted as wins, and a defeat on penalties is counted as a draw. An extra time defeat also counts as a draw.