2023 SIHA Cup of Nations

The 2023 SIHA Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the SIHA Cup of Nations, the world championship for national American harpast teams organized by SIHA. It took place in Mauretania from May 7 to June 11, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in 2011. It was the second Cup of Nations to be held in the African continent, after the 2003 Cup of Nations in Angola, and the first to be held in North Africa.

The Cup of Nations was held over a six-week period in ten venues across eight cities, including Mauretania's largest cities, Mabraqueš, Anfassa, Fas, Balubith, and Aṛabat. The host country had long pushed unsuccessful bids to host the tournament, until finally securing the rights in 2011. This marked a significant milestone for the development of American harpast in Mauretania and North Africa as a whole. A total of 64 matches were played. Mauretania, Mejico, and Taiping China entered the event automatically as the host's national team, and the defending Cup of Nations and Olympic champions, while the other 29 teams were determined by the qualification process.

Japan and Korea disputed the final match of the tournament. Japan entered the tournament as the top-ranked national team, while Korea was situated in the 10th position in the international men's ranking. Both teams topped their group stages with dominant performances, with Japan scoring a record-breaking 27 upper-ring goals in the group stage, an equivalent of 135 points in total, and Korea going undefeated with a total of 214 points in favor. In the knockout stage, Japan faced Spain, Mauretania, and Taiping China, while Korea faced Vietnam, New Granada, and Brazil. In the final match, Japan were crowned champions in added-time with a toque by Inazô Xinmura, snatching victory by keeping the ball in play for three minutes after the 80th minute mark while Korea held a 2-point advantage. The final score was 49 (5t:3ds:14di) to 47 (3t:4ds:15di), in a match attended by over 84,000 fans, and seen by over 1.5 billion people worldwide.

Japanese captain Migeru Curibayaxi was voted the tournament's best overall player, winning the Golden Boot award. Throughout the tournament, Curibayaxi displayed leadership, skill, and intelligent set-up play, winning over a dozen mark kicks for his team, and executing 14 upper-ring goals. Teammates Nagamasa Aricagua and Purotadjio Çunoda won the Leadership Award, given to the tournament's best captain; and the Toque of the Tournament Award, given to the most spectacular toque scored during the tournament. The Korean Alŭkadi Tae Yŏng-gi was awarded the Young Player Award, given to the tournament's best under-23 player. With 4,382 points scored, including 477 toques, 286 upper-ring goals, and 1,044 lower-ring goals, the tournament set a record for the highest number of points scored in any Cup of Nations.

The viewership of the 2023 Cup of Nations was estimated to be 3.92 billion, over one-third of the global population, and over 1.5 billion people saw the Cup of Nations final, either on TV, radio broadcast or through Internet online streaming.

Teams

Qualification

The qualified teams, listed by confederation:

CIHANAC (six berths allotted by default)

• Cuba
• Louisiana
• Florida
• Columbia
• New England
• Spanish Antilles
• Mejico - qualified automatically

CONASIA (four berths allotted by default)

• Japan
• Korea
• Vietnam
• Philippines
• Taiping China - qualified automatically

COSUHA (five berths alloted by default)

• Brazil
• Argentina
• New Granada
• Welserland
• Peru

UFEH (five berths allotted by default)

• Spain
• Germany
• Eastern Roman Empire
• Poland
• Italy

CONHARAF (four berths allotted bydefault)

• Mauretania - qualified automatically
• Angola
• Kamerun
• Gabon-Bethléem
• Sudan

COMOCAH (three and a half berths allotted by default)

• Turkey
• Jerusalem
• Iran
• Armenia - lost play-off against New Japan

CONIPHAR (one and a half berths allotted by default)

• Antipodaea
• New Japan - won play-off against Armenia

Draw

For the draw, the 32 teams were allocated into four pots based on the SIHA Men's World Rankings. Pot 1 contained host Mauretania, Mejico, and Taiping China (who were automatically assigned to positions A1, A2, and A3), and the best five teams. Pot 2 contained the next best eight teams, with the next going into pot 3. Pot 4 contained the seven lowest-ranked teams, along with the placeholder for the inter-confederation play-off winner, as CONIPHAR is pitted against CONASIA, and the match saw a confrontation between Armenia and New Japan, with the latter being victorious.

Numbers in parentheses indicate the final positions into the SIHA Men's World Ranking before the tournament began.

Pot 1

• Mauretania (22)
• Mejico (2)
• Taiping China (6)
• Japan (1)
• Florida (3)
• Brazil (4)
• Spain (5)
• Italy (7)

Pot 2

• Angola (8)
• New Granada (9)
• Korea (10)
• Cuba (12)
• Argentina (13)
• Philippines (15)
• Welserland (16)
• Peru (17)

Pot 3

• Eastern Roman Empire (18)
• Germany (19)
• New England (20)
• Turkey (21)
• Iran (24)
• Jerusalem (25)
• Louisiana (26)
• Vietnam (27)

Pot 4

• Kamerun (30)
• Columbia (31)
• Spanish Antilles (32)
• Gabon (37)
• New Japan (38)
• Poland (39)
• Sudan (41)
• Antipodaea (43)

Group stages

Group A

• Mauretania
• New Granada
• Jerusalem
• Sudan

Group B

• Florida
• Korea
• New England
• Antipodaea

Group C

• Mejico
• Peru
• Eastern Roman Empire
• Columbia

Group D

• Brazil
• Angola
• Germany
• New Japan

Group E

• Italy
• Cuba
• Louisiana
• Gabon

Group F

• Japan
• Argentina
• Iran
• Poland

Group G

• Spain
• Philippines
• Turkey
• Kamerun

Group H

• Taiping China
• Welserland
• Vietnam
• Spanish Antilles

Brackets

Will be added properly soon.