The Tie-Breaker at the FIFA World Cup 2018
The FIFA World Cup saw a couple of nerve-racking matches in Group H with both Japan and Senegal tied on points after losing their respective matches. Which brings us to the tie-breaker!!
How does the FIFA decide who goes ahead if teams are tied on points, after all their group matches are finished. Senegal found it out the hard way yesterday, as they were knocked out and Japan moved ahead into the knockout stages.
If you want to find it out the easy way, read on 😃
There is a 2-step process to decide the winner in case there is a tie.
The following criteria are checked in sequential order to decide the winner.
STEP 1
A) Greatest number of points obtained in all group matches
As you can see in the table below, Japan and Senegal both had 4 points each after the group stage matches.
B) Goal difference in all group matches
The next criteria that is checked is which team had a better goal difference (calculated as "Goals For - Goals Against").
Again, both teams had a goal difference of 0.
C) Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.
The next criteria that is checked is which team scored more goals across all matches in the group stage. And again, both Japan and Senegal had scored 4 goals in total.
So after checking all three criteria in Step 1, Japan and Senegal are still tied. We then move on to step 2.
STEP 2
In step 2, we see how the teams that are tied, performed against each other. If there are more than 2 teams tied with each other, all matches between these teams will be considered.
The following criteria are checked in order.
D) Greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned
E) Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned
F) Greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned
In our case, Japan and Senegal played one match against each other. And the result of that match was as follows.
Yes, a draw! So, both teams had same points from the match, goal difference was 0 and both scored the same number of goals 2.
You might think this is a stupid rule because just one match decides their fate. However, if there are more than 2 teams tied on points, this is a good way of deciding the winner.
In our case, we move on to the next criteria.
G) Greater number of points obtained in the fair play conduct of the teams based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches
This penultimate tie-breaker looks at the number of yellow cards and red cards the teams have received. Negative Points are awarded for each card the team receives. The points are calculated as follows.
Both Japan and Senegal had zero red cards. Next, we check how many yellow cards these teams got over the course of the tournament.
As you can see in the table above, Japan got only 4 yellow cards, 2 lesser than Senegal's 6.
Thus, Japan had a Fair Play score of -4 and Senegal ended up with -6.
And that was how the winner of the tie was decided, and Japan moved on to the next stage in this World Cup.
A lot of fans would think that this is unfair. However, these are the rules and we play by the rules.
You would be thinking what if both Japan and Senegal had both received the same number of yellow cards. In that case, we would have had the final tie-breaker and that is as follows.
H) Drawing of lots by the FIFA
This would entail FIFA putting chits with the names of both teams in a bowl and picking out one name. The lucky team would be deemed the better team and would proceed to the next round.
And that would be one heart-breaking moment. To be knocked out by pure luck!
Read up more on this rule at the link below.
LINK: https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/tie-breakers-for-russia-2018-groups
How does the FIFA decide who goes ahead if teams are tied on points, after all their group matches are finished. Senegal found it out the hard way yesterday, as they were knocked out and Japan moved ahead into the knockout stages.
How does the FIFA decide who goes ahead if teams are tied on points, after all their group matches are finished. Senegal found it out the hard way yesterday, as they were knocked out and Japan moved ahead into the knockout stages.If you want to find it out the easy way, read on 😃
There is a 2-step process to decide the winner in case there is a tie.
The following criteria are checked in sequential order to decide the winner.
STEP 1
A) Greatest number of points obtained in all group matches
As you can see in the table below, Japan and Senegal both had 4 points each after the group stage matches.
B) Goal difference in all group matches
The next criteria that is checked is which team had a better goal difference (calculated as "Goals For - Goals Against").
Again, both teams had a goal difference of 0.
C) Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches.
The next criteria that is checked is which team scored more goals across all matches in the group stage. And again, both Japan and Senegal had scored 4 goals in total.
So after checking all three criteria in Step 1, Japan and Senegal are still tied. We then move on to step 2.
STEP 2
In step 2, we see how the teams that are tied, performed against each other. If there are more than 2 teams tied with each other, all matches between these teams will be considered.
The following criteria are checked in order.
D) Greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned
E) Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned
F) Greater number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned
In our case, Japan and Senegal played one match against each other. And the result of that match was as follows.
Yes, a draw! So, both teams had same points from the match, goal difference was 0 and both scored the same number of goals 2.
You might think this is a stupid rule because just one match decides their fate. However, if there are more than 2 teams tied on points, this is a good way of deciding the winner.
In our case, we move on to the next criteria.
G) Greater number of points obtained in the fair play conduct of the teams based on yellow and red cards received in all group matches
This penultimate tie-breaker looks at the number of yellow cards and red cards the teams have received. Negative Points are awarded for each card the team receives. The points are calculated as follows.
- one point for each yellow card
- three points for each secondary yellow that leads to a red card
- four points for a straight red card
- five points for a yellow card and straight red card
Both Japan and Senegal had zero red cards. Next, we check how many yellow cards these teams got over the course of the tournament.
As you can see in the table above, Japan got only 4 yellow cards, 2 lesser than Senegal's 6.
Thus, Japan had a Fair Play score of -4 and Senegal ended up with -6.
And that was how the winner of the tie was decided, and Japan moved on to the next stage in this World Cup.
A lot of fans would think that this is unfair. However, these are the rules and we play by the rules.
You would be thinking what if both Japan and Senegal had both received the same number of yellow cards. In that case, we would have had the final tie-breaker and that is as follows.
H) Drawing of lots by the FIFA
This would entail FIFA putting chits with the names of both teams in a bowl and picking out one name. The lucky team would be deemed the better team and would proceed to the next round.
And that would be one heart-breaking moment. To be knocked out by pure luck!
Read up more on this rule at the link below.
LINK: https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/tie-breakers-for-russia-2018-groups
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