The FIFA World Cup is on right now, and at Ready Steady Slope HQ we've done the only sensible thing: swapped our ski boots for football boots and started watching the whole tournament through ski goggles. ๐ฟ
Here's why we can't help it. All sixteen of the real-world resorts in our card game sit in just five of the nations at this World Cup - France, Austria, Switzerland, Canada, and Scotland. Every card in the box, every piste you'll play, belongs to a country with a squad at the tournament. So for us this isn't 48 teams. It's our five mountain nations, and each one is playing for its slopes.
The squads
๐ซ๐ท France โ Alpe d'Huez, Avoriaz, Chamonix, Courchevel, La Plagne, Les Arcs, Les Trois Vallรฉes, Mรฉribel, Tignes, Val d'Isรจre, Val Thorens (eleven resorts ... basically half the Alps)
- ๐ฆ๐น Austria โ Mayrhofen, St. Anton
- ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland โ Verbier
- ๐จ๐ฆ Canada โ Whistler
- ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Scotland โ Aviemore (the Cairngorms)
The Mountain Nations League ๐๏ธ
Standard rules โ 3 for a win, 1 for a draw, 0 for a loss โ group games only, tracking goals for (GF), against (GA) and goal difference (GD) too. Here's where our mountains stand after the opening round.
- 1 ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Scotland โ 3 pts ยท P1 W1 D0 L0 ยท GF1 GA0 GD +1
- 2= ๐จ๐ฆ Canada โ 1 pt ยท P1 W0 D1 L0 ยท GF1 GA1 GD 0
- 2= ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland โ 1 pt ยท P1 W0 D1 L0 ยท GF1 GA1 GD 0
- 4= ๐ฆ๐น Austria โ 0 pts ยท P0 W0 D0 L0 ยท GF0 GA0 GD 0
- 4= ๐ซ๐ท France โ 0 pts ยท P0 W0 D0 L0 ยท GF0 GA0 GD 0
Early days, but Scotland leads the table. Just like the world famous Tartan Army, Scotland is punching above it's weight, โ a 1โ0 win over Haiti is the only three points any of our nations has banked so far, and it's enough to put the Cairngorms top of the pack. No Scotland, No Party - as they say ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ
Canada and Switzerland are locked together on a point apiece, each having drawn their opener โ fitting, because Whistler and Verbier are two of the most serious mountains in the whole box. Something tells us that one gets settled head-to-head later.
And then there's France. Eleven resorts, and they haven't kicked a ball yet. The biggest mountain nation in the game starts its tournament this week, with Austria's two heavyweights right behind. The table's about to get interesting.
Fixtures for the group stages below:
Played
- 12 Jun โ ๐จ๐ฆ Canada 1โ1 Bosnia & Herzegovina
- 13 Jun โ ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland 1โ1 Qatar
- 13 Jun โ ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Scotland 1โ0 Haiti
Coming up
- 16 Jun โ ๐ซ๐ท France vs Senegal (les Bleus finally kick off)
- 16 Jun โ ๐ฆ๐น Austria vs Jordan
- 18 Jun โ ๐จ๐ฆ Canada vs Qatar
- 18 Jun โ ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland vs Bosnia & Herzegovina
- 19 Jun โ ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Scotland vs Morocco
- 22 Jun โ ๐ซ๐ท France vs Iraq
- 22 Jun โ Argentina vs ๐ฆ๐น Austria
- โญ 24 Jun โ ๐จ๐ญ Switzerland vs ๐จ๐ฆ Canada โ i.e. Verbier vs Whistler. Two of the most iconic resorts in the world
- 24 Jun โ ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Scotland vs Brazil
- 26 Jun โ Norway vs ๐ซ๐ทFrance
- 27 Jun โ Algeria vs ๐ฆ๐นAustria
We'll update the table as the group games roll in. For now we're just enjoying the fact that a game born on a snowy day in L'Alpe d'Huez has this much riding on a summer of football. โ๏ธ โฝ๏ธ
Whichever of our mountain nations you're backing, you can bring all sixteen of their resorts to your table with Ready Steady Slope โ pack the cards for the next match night. ๐ ๐ฟ ๐
Pistes are always close to our heart, but they are taking a back seat this week while we watch the pitch! Who's your mountain nation? Let us know.
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