The second Semi-Final saw Deportivo Dooradoyle take on World Pinteur as 4th place from Group A would take on 5th Place from Group B.

World Pinteur were new to Plate competition having reached a Cup Final and a Cup Quarter-Final on their two previous appearances. They were fighting on two fronts here in Budapest (also playing in the Veterans) which may have had an effect on their stamina in this even. They started off well going unbeaten in their first 4 games. At that stage they were unbeaten in 12 group games in our tournaments and had only lost in 15 eurofootballfives.com games in total. Since then, they had lost two in a row (1-0 v Mamarre FC, 1-0 v Shaolin Badgers). Could World Pinteur stop this run of form and get back to winning ways?

It did not start well for the French team as it was Ireland's Deportivo Dooradoyle who went 1-0 ahead thanks to Kevin Shine – a lead they retained until half-time. After the break World Pinteur hit back to equalize thanks to a goal credited to Bruno Perez. Full time, 1-1, a penalty shoot-out was required.

In our tournaments, World Pinteur had played 1, lost 1 penalty shoot-out. Deportivo Dooradoyle had a superb record with an 80% win ratio on penalties.

2013 Barcelona Fives, Trophy Final: Won 2-1 v Drunk Perfect.

2014 Berlin Fives, Plate Final: Lost 2-0 v Scandittack.

2015 Algarve Open, Wooden Spoon Final: Won 6-5 v Whiteley FC

2015 Barcelona Fives, Cup Semi-Final: Won 3-2 v Elcombe Old Boys

2018 Gdansk Tournament, Plate QF: Won 6-5 v FC Maroon

It was maybe no surprise then that Deportivo Dooradoyle won this shoot-out too (2-1). The Irish were through, the French were out.

The third Quarter-Final on Pitch D was between 3 Lions Touching Cloth and Fail Madrid.

Fail Madrid came into the game having finished a place lower in the group phase than 3 Lions Touching Cloth but with a higher points tally (9 compared to 7), more goals scored (5 compared to 4) and less goals conceded (6 compared to 7). However, Fail Madrid had experienced a torrid time in the knock-out phase of our tournaments. You had to go back to the 2015 Berlin Fives for their last win, a 1-0 victory over Coverton Road. Since then they had gone out in the Quarter-Finals in each of the last 3 years. Could this be their year to put that run to an end?

The first half came and went with the two teams locked together at 0-0. The second half was a repeat of the first and so we finished all square. A penalty shoot-out would be required to settle this one.

Fail Madrid had previously played in two penalty shoot-outs in our events, lost both. Amazingly, this was 3 Lions (Touching Cloth) first penalty shoot-out in 9 tournaments – unchartered territory. Goalkeepers were in charge during the shoot-out as they had been during the game. Just one man was able to hit the back of the net in the shoot out. That man was Josh Williams – congratulations to him for firing his team into the Semi-Finals.

Fail Madrid would exit the competition. It was great as ever to see them on tour and rumours are they could be joining us in Lisbon next year.

Three Quarter-Finals down, one to go as John Lewis FC would play Budapest Celtic Lions. This game promised to be the tie of the round with two in form teams.

John Lewis FC hit a late surge in Group C that saw them finish in fourth position. They won 3 of their last 4 games to qualify for the Plate but that doesn't really tell the whole story as their final win was a sensational 1-0 win over Budapest Vikings who had a 100% record from their previous 5 games. In their first game of the day, John Lewis FC had lost 1-0 to Budapest Celtic Tigers, could they do better against the Lions squad?

Budapest Celtic Lions also started slowly as they took 0 points from a possible 6 before embarking on a four game unbeaten run. They lost 2, then won 2, then drew 2.

It was Budapest Celtic Lions who took the early initiative with goal machine Dani Harasztos opening the scoring with his sixth of the tournament. Before the half-time whistle blew it was to get even better for the Hungarian side. Vadim Malyi added to his personal tally.

At the change of ends the pressure was on John Lewis FC. They faced an uphill battle but that became a mountain to climb when Dani Harasztos made it 3-0. Dani Harasztos was now leading the top goalscorer charts with 7 goals on the day.

There was no way back for John Lewis FC. They were competitive throughout and had some big wins in Group C but may rue some missed opportunities against the lower teams in the group. The wins v Budapest Vikings and Budasesh showed there was more to come from John Lewis FC.