Sunville World Cup Sweepstake 2018

Sunville World Cup Sweepstake 2018

Even if you’re not a die-hard football fan, there’s no better motivation for getting into a tournament than the opportunity to win a prize in the company World Cup sweepstake! Which means you have no choice but to immediately adopt your randomly selected nation as your newly beloved motherland. With all the teams and staff names drawn and announced by Gary and Kieron the most exciting World Cup tournament in years kicked off on 14th June 2018. But, now that all the nail-biting excitement of the 2018 World Cup is over – we have the final results in…… 

4th Place – ENGLAND was drawn to Larry O’Connell prize £40 

With England doing a lot better than expected at starting odds of 16/1. A win in the opening game saw England battering inferior opponents, winning their first penalty shoot-out victory in 22 years and making comfortable progress from the quarter-finals. Conquering Sweden and progressing to the Semi-finals against Croatia, England were in the last four for the first time since 1990. The country was gripped with excitement and anticipation, but sadly it was not to be for England as they lost 2-1 to Croatia after extra time to miss out on reaching the World Cup final. 

3rd Place – BELGIUM was drawn to Sarah Barker prize £75 

England and Belgium have been two of the most entertaining teams in the World Cup tournament this summer with both sides scoring freely and staging major upsets on their way to the semi-finals. A final chance to play for their country on the grandest stage of them all was all the encouragement any side would need, but there was also the matter of who gets the bronze medal and this was undisputedly the most talented Belgium team in generations, with a young squad led by manager Martinez. The game to determine 3rd and 4th place against England got off to a flier with Belgium taking the lead through a stunning combination of interplay ending with Tomas Munier opening the scoring. Belgium struck early, around the same time that England had scored against Croatia to gain the upper hand and they could then play the waiting game with the onus now on England to attack. However, where England failed in the quarterfinals - pressing home the advantage - Belgium succeeded on the night as they held off the opposition and then doubled the advantage with a second goal when Eden Hazard slotted the ball into the near post and a final score of 2-0 to Belgium saw them take the bronze medal. 

2nd Place – CROATIA drawn to Paul Hayes prize £150 

With starting odds of 33/1 Croatia were the lowest ranked team to ever reach a world cup final. This being the furthest Croatia have ever advanced in the competition, bettering their third-place finish some 20 years ago. Led by manager Zlatko Dalic the Croatian team having knocked the host team Russia out of the competition, put up a bold challenge against France in the world cup final. Although they started the game a much better side, France still celebrated the opening goal in the 18th minute after the ball deflected off a Croatian rather than a French player. Croatia went on to equalise with Ivan Perisic’s left foot finish but France restored their lead before half-time through penalty. In the second half a further 2 strikes in six minutes put France firmly ahead, however, Mandzukic pulled a goal back for Croatia but France closed out the game with yet another goal. Croatia’s Luka Modric was awarded player of the tournament. 

1st Place – FRANCE drawn to Lee Hyde prize £300 

Fourth place favourites at the beginning of the competition France tipped at odds of 13/2 went all the way to 1st place victory in a final that had everything. This was the highest scoring final and most entertaining since 1966. France lifted their second World Cup at the Luzhniki stadium in Russia with a 4-2 victory against Croatia. France were worthy champions, no doubt about that. With eleven goals in four knockout games and now a second World Cup victory tucked under their belts. Manager Didier Deschamps who won the trophy as a player in 1998 also celebrated being Frances longest serving manager during the competition. 

Congratulations to the sweepstake winners!