FIFA Tournament Tiebreaker Procedures

FIFA is the governing organization of international soccer and oversees tournaments such as the Confederations' Cup and the World Cup. These tournaments have a group stage and a knockout stage. In the group stage, groups of four teams play each other in a round-robin tournament with three points awarded for a win, one point for a tie and zero points for a loss. The two teams with the most points move on to the knockout rounds, where the winner of the game advances. However, if two teams have an equal number of points after the group stage, FIFA has several tiebreakers it uses to determine who advances.

  1. Goal Differential

    • The first tiebreaker allows the team with the greatest goal differential in all games played to advance. For example, if in the three group stage games team A had a +3 goal differential and team B had a +1 goal differential, team A would advance.

    Goals Scored

    • If teams are tied in points and goal differential, the team that scored the most goals advances. For example, if team A scored 10 goals and team B only scored 8 goals, team A would advance.

    Head-to-Head Points

    • If two or more teams remain tied after the previous tie breakers, FIFA uses points earned in head-to-head matches to determine the winner. For example, if teams A, B and C were all tied in total points, goal differential and goals scored, the team with the most points in the head-to-head games would advance. For example, if team A beat time B and tied team C, it would have four points in head-to-head games; team B lost to team A and beat team C, it would have three points in head-to-head games; and team C lost to team B and tied team A, it would have one point, meaning team A would advance.

    Head-to-Head Goal Differential

    • If teams have the same number of points in head-to-head games, the team with the best goal differential in games among the tied teams moves on. For example, if team A beat team B, 4-0, team B beat team C, 3-0, and team C beat team A, 2-0, team A would advance because even though each team ties with three points in head-to-head games, team A has the highest goal differential, +2, in the head to head games.

    Head-to-Head Goals Scored

    • If two or more teams are still tied, the team with the most goals scored in head-to-head games advances. For example, if team A tied team B, 4-4, team B tied team C, 2-2, and team C tied team A, 3-3, each team has two points and a zero goal differential in head-to-head games. However, because team A has scored seven goals, more than the six goals of team B and five goals of team C, team A advances.

    Random Draw

    • If teams remain tied after all of the tiebreakers listed above have been exhausted, FIFA selects the team that will advance by a random draw.