The Football Foodie World Cup: Round of 16

Nearly 4000 votes were cast in the first round of the The Football Foodie World Cup, with the United States’ hamburger leading the charge with 374 votes cast in the Group C, followed closely by New Zealand with 338 votes in Group F. (Poor Paraguay netted only 25 votes.)

Six teams moved forward with their cuisine and not their national team (South Africa, Greece, Italy, New Zealand and Switzerland), six countries’ foodie results matched their football results (US, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, England and Portugal), which means only one Football Foodie match-up is exactly what is being playing on the pitch (Germany vs England).

France obviously lost all the way around.

But enough with past, let’s move on to The Football Foodie World Cup Round of 16. We need to wake up in a few hours for the start of knockout play. Time to get a voting!

In the real World Cup, neither one of these teams advanced so this pairing keeps messing with my head. And yet, my stomach is very much intrigued by this battle. On the one hand, bread stuffed with curry. On the other hand, fried cheese.

Both are made of grilled ground meat, a food that unites almost the entire world. This match is about pita versus bun, really.

As much as I love pizza — and I love thin Neopolitan style pizza, as pictured above — my mouth and my vote is going for the garlic and chicken filled gyoza.

Brazilian football food versus Basque bar food.

Proving there is no justice in the world, the choripan is going up against the chivito. Smoky, spicy chorizo topped with chimichurri and mayo (or salsa golf) sauce against grilled steak, topped with ham, bacon, melted cheese, peppers, olives and sauce. They both deserve spots in at least the semi-finals, and it is sad that FUCK YEAH SOUTH AMERICAN SANDWICHES had to meet so soon in the tourney.

Both countries make amazing beer. Both countries make great sausages. But only one of them makes beans on toast. [Ed. note – Which I actually quite like and make often.]

New Zealand should not only be proud of their football showing, but the voters really turned out in their favor for the meat pie. [Ed. note – Yes, England. I know they belong to you too, so stop emailing me about your outrage on your selection.]

Can a meat pie stand up to a giant wheel of cheese?

I have to say that I was rather surprised that fondue not only made it to the round of 16, but that it actually won Group H outright. And while melted cheese is always a good fallback, if I know my readers, booze may hold the edge — barely — in this match up.

Polls close midnight on June 29.