The 2002

Australian Football International Cup The Australian Football International Cup (also known as the AFL International Cup or simply the IC) was an triennial international tournament in Australian rules football. It was the biggest international tournament in the sport that is open t ...

was the inaugural international

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

tournament held in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 2002. 11 nations participated from around the world and the tournament was officiated by the International Australian Football Council.

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

won the tournament, finishing undefeated and victorious over

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

in the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Synonymous with a championship game in North Ameri ...

on 23 August at the

Melbourne Cricket Ground The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the Lis ...

(MCG).

Pool A

Pool B

Group Stage

Round 1

*PNG 13.11 (89) d. Great Britain 2.2 (14) – Warrawee Park, Oakleigh *Nauru 17.17 (119) d. Japan 1.8 (14) – Warrawee Park, Oakleigh *USA 7.10 (52) d. Samoa 4.7 (31) – TEAC Oval,

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the Cities of City of Melbourne, Melbourne and City of Port Phillip, Port Phillip Local government ...

*New Zealand 25.13 (163) d. South Africa 0.1 (1) – Trevor Barker Beach Oval,

Sandringham Sandringham can refer to: Places Australia * Sandringham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Sandringham, Queensland, a rural locality * Sandringham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne **Sandringham railway line **Sandringham railway station * ...

*Ireland 7.14 (56) d. Canada 4.7 (31) – Trevor Barker Beach Oval,

Round 2

*PNG 9.15 (69) d. Denmark 3.5 (23) *Great Britain 9.11 (65) d. Nauru 8.11 (59) – Elsternwick Park,

Elsternwick Elsternwick is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 9 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government areas of Victoria ...

*Canada 4.11 (38) d. South Africa 1.5 (11) *Ireland 5.6 (36) d. Samoa 4.5 (29) *New Zealand 11.12 (78) d. USA 4.1 (25)

Round 3

*Great Britain 7.3 (45) d. Japan 4.6 (30) –

Whitten Oval Whitten Oval (also known as Mission Whitten Oval under a naming rights agreement) is a stadium in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Barkly Street, Footscray. It is the training and administrative headquart ...

, Footscray *Denmark 5.10 (40) d. Nauru 3.9 (27) *Samoa 12.15 (87) d. South Africa 1.4 (10) *New Zealand 10.8 (68) d. Canada 2.6 (18) *Ireland 7.7 (49) d. USA 6.3 (39)

Round 4

*Denmark 12.9 (81) d. Great Britain 4.2 (26) *PNG 23.9 (147) d. Japan 0.0 (0) *Ireland 15.8 (98) d. South Africa 3.3 (21) *USA 8.4 (52) d. Canada 1.1 (7) *New Zealand 10.10 (70) d. Samoa 5.8 (38)

Round 5

*Denmark 10.6 (66) d. Japan 4.7 (32) *PNG 13.13 (91) d. Nauru 6.8 (44) *USA 20.12 (132) d. South Africa 0.4 (4) *Samoa 9.15 (69) d. Canada 0.5 (5) *Ireland 4.10 (34) d. New Zealand 3.2 (20)

Standings

Group A

Group B

Playoffs

Minor Placing deciders

*New Zealand 3.7 (25) d. Denmark 2.4 (16) *Samoa 5.7 (37) d. Nauru 2.8 (20) *Canada 6.5 (41) d. Japan 5.2 (32) *USA 13.15 (93) d. Great Britain 2.3 (15) –

Junction Oval Junction Oval (also known as the St Kilda Cricket Ground, or the CitiPower Centre due to sponsorship reasons) is a historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The oval's location near the St Kilda Jun ...

, St Kilda

Grand final

Friday 23 August 2002 Grand Final was played as a curtain raiser to the round 21 AFL match between Hawthorn vs

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government ar ...

, so this figure is the total crowd for the match, although not all spectators were inside the stadium at the start or conclusion of the curtain raiser event.
Team Lists

Final standings

# Ireland # Papua New Guinea # New Zealand # Denmark # USA # Great Britain # Samoa # Nauru # Canada # Japan # South Africa

All-International Team

A 22 player All-International squad was named, however names were unplaced and not allocated to any specific field position.

References

External links

* http://www.aussierulesinternational.com
Australian Football International Cup, 2002 – World Footy News review
{{Aussie Rules Playing Nations links Australian Football International Cup Australian Football International Cup, 2002