Baptism of Fire 73


 * This article is a work in progress.

The 73rd edition of the Baptism of Fire was a football tournament hosted by Valladares and Chromatika prior to World Cup 86. The competition was open to every unranked team as of the World Cup 86 cycle. This tournament was notable for the return of former Cup of Harmony champions Lovisa to WCC competition. Græntfjall won the tournament in Carloburgo and would end up making the playoff round for the World Cup 86 qualifiers.

Host selection
There was one bid, "Cedars & Checkers", from Valladares and Chromatika.

Draw
Thirty six teams entered the tournament. They were sorted into six groups, with Groups A-C being hosted by Valladares and D-F by Chromatika.

Format
Teams played each other team in their group in a single round-robin format. The top two teams from each group, plus the four third-placed teams with the best record, advanced to the single-elimination round of 16 bracket. Group standings were determined in the following order of precedence:
 * 1) Points
 * 2) Overall goal differential
 * 3) Head-to-head record
 * 4) Drawing of lots