A new FIFA rule that many don’t know about might affect England, after two other countries have already gained from it.
FIFA has changed how league tables are decided at the World Cup, and this could affect England, while two other countries have already gained from the new rule.
As the World Cup moves into its second round of matches, some teams are already advancing to the knockout stage, while others have been knocked out.
On June 19, Mauricio Pochettino’s USA showed a strong performance against Australia in Seattle, winning 2-0 thanks to an own goal by Cameron Burgess and a header from Alex Freeman. This win secured the USA’s place in the round of 32, even though they still have one Group D game left against Turkey.
At the same time, Turkey was eliminated after losing 1-0 to Paraguay. Paraguay played the entire second half with 10 players after Miguel Amorim was sent off for covering his mouth during the match in San Francisco. Haiti was also knocked out following their 3-0 loss to Brazil in Philadelphia.
Both Haiti and Turkey are three points behind the third-place teams in their groups, but they can’t catch up because of a little-known FIFA rule change.
Before this tournament, FIFA used overall goal difference to break ties when teams had the same points. But now, FIFA has switched to using head-to-head results instead.
Because Turkey lost to both Paraguay and Australia, even if they beat the USA in their last game and tie on points with one of those teams, they will still be out under the new rule. The same goes for Haiti, who face Morocco. Even if Haiti matches points with Morocco, they will still be eliminated since they lost to Brazil and Scotland.
England might actually benefit from this rule change if they beat Ghana on June 23. If England wins and Panama doesn’t beat Croatia, England will win their group early. Ghana also has a chance to top the group if they beat England and Croatia doesn’t beat Panama.
Mexico, another World Cup co-host, has also benefited. After winning against South Africa and South Korea, they are through to the round of 32.
FIFA used goal ratio until 1966, then switched to goal difference in 1970. UEFA already uses the head-to-head system in competitions like the Champions League.
The main reason for the change is to avoid situations where one big win, like Germany’s 7-1 over Curaçao, gives a team an unfair advantage in goal difference.
If teams are tied on points after three group games, FIFA now uses several tiebreakers. First, they look at the head-to-head points between the tied teams, which acts like a mini-league without the results against the fourth team.
If that doesn’t decide it, they consider head-to-head goal difference, then head-to-head goals scored. If teams are still tied, overall group goal difference, group goals scored, fair play, and even FIFA World Ranking can be used to decide who advances and who goes home.