The World Cup never ceases to inspire companies! Lidl, the hard discount retailer, also wanted to take advantage of the event to launch an incredible marketing stunt. Called the "Lidl Fan Cup," the project involves pitting players from around the world against each other on real foosball tables. Yes, so far, it's pretty standard. But what sets the event apart from EVERYTHING that's been done so far is that participants won't have to touch the handles of the foosball tables.
What?
And yes, for the occasion, a Facebook app has been specially developed and will allow participants to kick the ball via their smartphone. This crossover between the real world and the online digital world is known by the nickname "physical digital." Did you say brilliant?
Players from all over the world will be able to pit their talents against one of the 50 automated table football tables custom-designed for this very special World Cup. Let's talk numbers. The 50 tables in the competition (not unlike Roberto Sport table football tables) have all been brought together in a large room in Frankfurt, Germany, and will accommodate 480 players, whose shots will be filmed by a network of 302 webcams. 
This feat was masterfully carried out by the digital agency MRM/McCann and by The project, which involved 180 IT specialists, required more than 5,000 hours of work over a period of 10 months.
And the competition has already begun! June will be devoted to the qualifiers. France is currently ranked 21st... It's time to fly your flag!
But before you start trying to get France up the rankings, you have the opportunity to practice with friendly matches. Launch the application, wait for a player somewhere on the planet to join the match, choose your trajectory, load your shot and cross your fingers!
The selection of players is completely random, luck is involved, we always make mistakes at the beginning in the dosage of the shot but who cares! What a joy to be able to remotely control a foosball player on a real table, to see him hit the ball with a shot of your choice, and to be able to observe this physical action from three camera angles.
At Mister Babyfoot, we're already at two wins and one loss (against a very talented little Belgian!). Do you think you can do better?
While waiting for the final between the 16 remaining countries, you'll have to practice. On a Bonzini B60 table football, for example! This coin-operated table football remains a classic, a legend.
