As football (known in North America as soccer) is the world's most popular sport, it would be logical to assume that it would be the first international sports event to be revived in the post-Event world.

Please keep in mind that during a game, the two goalkeepers are the only players who can use their hands. Therefore, those returnee ponies and natural born ponies could play all other team positions without any problems.

Also, could goalkeeper griffons and other winged species use their wings as an extra set of hands? What about using their tails as Fluttershy did during the episode “Buckball Season”?

In addition, putting the FIFA World Cup into our stories could bring in new readers to our shared universe. Moreover, some student game designer could become inspired to create a fantasy football game based on our shared universe.

Why am I the only person here who is thinking about the future of the FIFA World Cup; when I have only a slight interest in these events?

Why am I the only person here who is thinking about the future of the FIFA World Cup; when I have only a slight interest in these events?

A safe assumption would be that even slight interest is greater than zero.
Also, I highly doubt ponies would have much interest in football as it exists today. It's a sport designed for bipedal bald apes, it's not well suited for the ponies. And since the only periods when the Refugees are a significant part of the population are immediately following some kind of major world-shattering catastrophe (BAD time for sports), any kind of world cup worthy sport would be decided by ponies who never were bipedal bald apes and, probably, never heard about football.

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Also, I highly doubt ponies would have much interest in football as it exists today. It's a sport designed for bipedal bald apes, it's not well suited for the ponies.

Even excluding the quadrupeds from practicing football, that still leaves a handful of bipedal species able to play it, meaning the sport could survive in certain parts of the world among communities that hold a significant number of say, minotaurs and diamond dogs. Sure it would never get to be as popular or as widespread as it used to be, but it has its niche with certain species.

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Sure, but the initial question was about a very massive tournament.
And I have my doubts about the minotaurs taking interest in such a sport. They look more like heavy lifter type.

A better question is did any sporting organizations/sports get established after the event?

I'm sure that sports continue, even if not right away. We know that ponies like various sporting events, and we know that refugees do too, so it's only a matter of time.
As far as internationally, though, I could see the NAU kicking off a multinational sporting event once they get reasonably well established after the events in Earth Without Us...

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Quadrupeds playing with balls in more common that you might think. Are you aware that you can buy exercise balls for horses?

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