Last but not least, we come to Group C where the group began with Alabama Hotpockets (Ire) versus Sunrisers Madrid (Eng). The English team were mak ng their debut so had a blank canvas upon which to paint their footballing artistry.

Alabama Hotpockets are from the same touring group as Deportivo Dooradoyle (playing in Group B). When Deportivo Dooradoyle have toured with 2 teams that second team is Alabama Hotpockets although they have played under different names too. At the 2013 Barcelona Fives they won the Plate competition as The Depo All Stars. At the 2015 Barcelona Fives, The Alabama Hotpockets were sensational in the group phase with 3 wins and 1 draw to top Group C with 10 points. In the Cup, they defeated Freshers FC (2-1) and then drew with Elcombe Old Boys 1-1. They won 3-2 on penalties against the team who would be champions 12 months later. The Alabama Hotpockets just ran out of steam against Club Esportiu Llefia when they went down 5-0 in the Cup Final.

At the 2018 Gdansk Tournament, Hotpockets secured 1 win, 1 draw and 3 defeats as they finished fifth to qualify for the Trophy. In the Trophy they were in fine form as they defeated Gdanskchester 7-1 in the QF and Audley London 9-1 in the SF. Their form ran out in the Trophy Final as they lost 5-2 to Audley Witney.

The 2022 Mallorca Fives saw a pretty good start for them too as two first half goals from Kieran McMahon & Patrick O'Brien saw them set the pace. The game eventually finished 3-0 with Darragh Enright putting the icing on the cake.

The last two teams to get underway were Ecuador 100% (Ecu) and Lindfield FC B (Eng).

Ecuador 100% were our defending champions and without playing they were already the longest serving holders of the title (due to the pandemic) having lifted the trophy in May 2019. On that occasion, they enjoyed an unbeaten group phase (3 wins, 2 draws) as they qualified for the Cup. An entertaining Quarter-Final saw them defeat Lanky Londoners 6-3 before a 3-1 victory over Hellgarve's Kraken of Portugal in the Semi-Finals. They saved their best to last as they swept to a stunning 6-0 win in the Cup Final against Bar Maruru (who had defeated them in the 2018 final). They will surely be one of the teams to beat in this year's tournament.

Lindfield FC B had seen their sister teams have mixed results. The A team had picked up a good draw in Group A whilst their C team had slipped to defeat in Group B. They had a daunting task for an opening fixture but they acquitted themselves well. They held their illustrious opponents to 0-0 at half-time.

After the break though, Ecuador 100% were able to cut through the Lindfield FC B defence as Jose (18) and Jhon (20) both found the back of the net to secure an opening victory for the defending champions.