A quiet World Cup rule change could become a loud controversy in the final group stage games
For many years, FIFA’s first standings tiebreaker at World Cups was soccer’s tradition of goal difference. This time, it's head-to-head result, and that risks making things less fun.
IRVINE, Calif. — If you’re new to soccer, this is the sort of thing you should know about as you learn the sport. And even if you’re a veteran of the game, you might not have realized it had happened.
For many years, FIFA’s first standings tiebreaker at World Cups was soccer’s tradition of goal difference: goals scored minus goals conceded. But this time, it has switched to head-to-head result, the format used by the Union of European Football Associations in the Champions League and other continental tournaments.
It didn’t exactly go unnoticed when it was announced, but it wasn’t seen as a big deal. Now, though, it has become a growing controversy.
The issue isn’t so much about determining group winners, though the U.S. has benefited on that front. If goal difference was the first tiebreaker, the Americans wouldn’t have clinched first place yet.
They have because Paraguay beat Turkey a few hours after the U.S. beat Australia. That left the U.S. with six points, Paraguay and Australia with three each, and Turkey with none.
Since the U.S. has beaten Paraguay and Australia, it has the tiebreaker over both. So if Turkey beats the U.S Thursday night (10 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo 62) and there’s a winner in Paraguay-Australia (10 p.m., FS1, Universo), the U.S. will keep first with a tie on six points. With a goal difference tiebreaker, even though the Americans are sitting at a strong plus-5, a big loss plus a big win in the other game could have changed things.
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The bigger issue tournament-wide is how head-to-head has eliminated teams after two games — and it’s magnified further by the best eight third-place teams qualifying.
If goal difference was the first tiebreaker, a last-place team could jump to third in the last minute and have a prayer of making the cut. Instead, five of the tournament’s 48 squads were eliminated before playing their finales: Turkey, Haiti, Jordan, Panama, and Tunisia. (Haiti’s elimination came in Philadelphia with the loss to Brazil.)
There has been some outrage among purists about this in Europe, even though they’re more used to the format than they might admit because of the Champions League. But even the talking heads who understand the head-to-head way’s benefits have agreed with something that Americans ought to be able to see, too.
It’s more fun when more teams are alive going into the last round of games. If goal difference was the first decider, there could be a dose of chaos along with the stars, underdogs, and however many goals are scored.
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Fortunately, Philadelphia’s last two group games will have drama. On Thursday, Curaçao, one of this tournament’s greatest underdog stories, could snatch one of the top eight third-place finishes if it upsets Ivory Coast (4 p.m., FS1, Universo) and Germany beats Ecuador in the Meadowlands (4 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo 62). On the flip side, if Ecuador wins that game, Ivory Coast will have to win or tie to keep hold of second.
Then on Saturday, Ghana and Croatia will have lots to play for (5 p.m., FS1, Universo). Ghana could steal first place if Panama upsets England in the Meadowlands (5 p.m., Fox29, Telemundo 62), while Croatia needs a win to finish second and avoid playing a group winner in the round of 32.
Wondering what the players think? Alas, you won’t get much out of the U.S. camp. All they care about is winning games. But at least veteran centerback Chris Richards brought some humor.
“On our end, we just want go into the next round with nine points,” he said. “I haven’t really thought too much about the rule change — I feel like the rules are always changing, so I’m kind of confused myself. But as long as we keep winning, that’s the number one thing.”
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Pulisic ‘feeling good,’ hopes to play
Christian Pulisic got right to the point when he arrived to meet the media before Wednesday’s practice.
“Can I guess the first question?” he said, knowing full well what it would be. Of course everyone wanted to know how he and his rehabbed calf were feeling.
“I’m feeling good,” he said as he headed into a third straight day of full participation. “I’ve obviously joined with the team in the last few days. So I’m feeling good, positive going into [the game], and hopefully I’ll be able to play a part in it tomorrow.”
The Hershey native reconfirmed that he was kicked in his left calf in practice a few days before the U.S.-Paraguay game (he politely declined to say who did it), then again in the first half of the contest.
“Throughout the first half I felt good, and then I started to notice it a little bit, and I think adrenaline definitely carried me through,” he said. “I think I had a pretty strong contusion, strain, whatever you want to call it.”
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It might have hurt more emotionally than physically that he couldn’t play against Australia. He certainly took in as much of that day as he could as a spectator.
“I never really feared the worst, but I obviously didn’t want it to keep me out any longer than it had to,” Pulisic said. “And I was really trying to get ready for the last game — I feel like I could have gone, but it just wasn’t quite there.”
Players with yellow cards won’t play vs. Turkey
In his news conference Wednesday afternoon, U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino confirmed that the four players with yellow cards — Tyler Adams, Folarin Balogun, Chris Richards, and Antonee Robinson — won’t play vs. Turkey so that they don’t pick up another and get suspended for the round of 32.
“It’s unnecessary to take a risk and then take another yellow card,” Pochettino said. “It’s a normal and easy answer not to play with them from the beginning.”
He also said of Pulisic’s status: “He’s available, and then we need to decide if it’s possible for him to play from the beginning or be on the bench and play in the second half.”
In this World Cup, underdogs are stealing the spotlight, the U.S. men are on a roll, and Philadelphia has not only welcomed the world but has given visitors a crash course on just how real the curse of the Rocky Statue can be.
Join Jonathan Tannenwald, the Inquirer's soccer writer, and host Lisa Carlin, analyst for CBS Sports Golazo, as they dissect the matches, the moments, and more as Philly has its moment in soccer's brightest spotlight. Watch our latest episode right here.
