SYDNEY (AP) – What happens if teams that have the same points cannot be separated by all the FIFA tournament tiebreakers after the group stage is completed? Women’s World Cup?
The World Football Association has confirmed that it is a lottery procedure.
So luck in the draw could actually decide which team advances to the round of 16 and which team goes home.
FIFA issued a statement stating that the draw “will only take place if all the steps set out in Article 13 of the competition regulations prove inappropriate to determine the ranking.”
The tournament’s tie-break criteria begin with which of the tied teams in the group has the better goal difference and most goals scored in their group matches.
If this is not enough to determine a final standing, the direct results between the teams in question will be the determining factor.
If that doesn’t work, a table is made of how many yellow and red cards each team accumulated over the course of the tournament.
In the highly unlikely event that the teams cannot be separated, FIFA will determine the group placement by drawing lots.
When required, these draws will be held in Sydney, open to accredited media and streamed.
In the raffle, slips of paper placed in plastic balls are placed in a bowl and drawn at random. It is similar to how the groupings for World Cup tournaments are conducted.
Only once in the history of a World Championship tournament has a lottery ticket been drawn.
At the 1990 World Cup in Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands were separated by drawing lots for second and third place in a group. Both teams were already assured of qualification for the next round, so that no team has yet been eliminated from a World Cup due to the draw.