Mid Quarter Final update

First two quarter final games were not high quality and I'm not sure that the better team won. It just shows that in the World Cup experience and tradition carry extra weight.

Germany is on a current streak of 16 consecutive top 8 finishes. The next based all time is Brazil with 6 (also current). Next all time is Switzerland (yes, the Swiss finished in the top 8 in 1934, 1938, 1950 and 1954). The next longest current streak is Argentina with 3. The only other team with a current such steak is the Netherlands which have done it in 2010 and 2014.

Even more remarkable in my view is the fact that this is the 4th consecutive semi-final for Germany (2nd, 3rd, 3rd, ???). Other than Brazil which made it to the Finals three times in a row (1994-2202) not other team has made it to the Semis more than twice in a row. This matchup also assures us that for the 19th time either Brazil of Germany will finish in the top 3. Brazil 9 time and Germany a record 11 (1970 & 2002 Brazil won and Germany finished 3rd & 2nd respectively). Twice more, both finished in the top 4, 1958 when Brazil won and Germany lost to France and 1974 when Germany won and Brazil lost to Poland.

So this is the 5th time in which both will finish in the top 4 and the other four times Brazil won the WC three time, Germany once and the rest of the world none.

So far only two countries played over 100 World Cup games - Germany with 104 and Brazil with 102. They have faced each other once!!! In the 2002 final. This Tuesday July 8th will be the second time. To put this in perspective, the other extreme is Sweden with a total of 46 games and 7 of them (over 15%) are against Brazil (0:2:5). Even Chile with only 33 games has faced Brazil 4 times in the knock-out rounds and have been eliminated all four times (0:1:3). Even Turkey with a grand total of 10 WC games has faced both Brazil & Germany twice.

With Neymar's Injury I think that the celebrations in Rio tonight were premature. The Brazil - Colombia game was one of the worst reffing jobs I have seen for many many years and there was not a single so called "big" mistake. Just an extremely poor job of player management, foul identification and (no) card selection. A major injury was just waiting to happen. 

Pre Quarter Finals update

Four years ago at this time, I picked Chile as my dark horse for this World Cup. Considering the draw they got, I think that they did very well - eliminating the World Cup and double European champions Spain, taking the favorites, Brazil to PKs and almost wining at the end of Extra Time. So I'm going to pick a dark horse for 2018 and this time, there is really only one choice that is has to be Belgium.

My two favorites before the draw were #1 Brazil and #2 Germany. So far Brazil have been very pedestrian and based on level of play so far should be considered an underdog to Colombia tomorrow, especially due to Neymar's injury. Germany other than the demolishing of Portugal in the first match have looked very vulnerable against 2nd tier opponents (Ghana, USA and Algeria). Yes I know that two of them made it to the last 16, but based on level of play (other than the Goalies) none of these team is a true world top 16. This means that this might be the first time since 1930 that neither of Germany not Brazil will finish in the top 3 (each had also finished 4th once, when the other won in 1958 and 1974).

At this point there are 2 team:

1. Won all 4 games without Extra Time - Columbia & Netherlands
2. Won 3 group game and a round of 16 AET - Argentina & Belgium
3. Won 3 games & tied 1 - France & Germany (1, AET)
4. Won 2 games & tied 2, advanced on PK - Brazil & Costa Rica

The first two will face the last two, but the others will face team with basically the same record.

UEFA record at the later rounds is outstanding. Since the group stage and quarterfinal rounds have been in place (1954). Only one, in 2010, did UEFA had less the half the quarter finalists - 3 and all three made it to the Semis and finished 1,2,3. With the exception of 1930, UEFA always had at least 2 team in the top 4 and since 1954 (15 WCs) they have average 2.93 teams in the Semis. This time we are assured of having 1 CSF team, 1 UEFA team and have an outside chance of the first CONCACAF team in the Semis since 1930 (no, it wasn't Mexico). However it is likely to be at least 2 UEFA teams once again.

I would put Brazil - Colombia as tossup if Neymar is playing. France as a mild favorite over Germany, Argentina as a very slight favorite over Belgium and Netherlands as a huge favorite over Costa Rica. 

At this point my dream final (as a partisan fan) is Brazil over Netherlands. However as stated above, the way Brazil is playing they are not likely to make it. History is also against this final, or even Brazil winning:

1. Every team that beat Netherlands in the final lost in the group stage.
1. 1974: (West) Germany to East Germany
2. 1978: Argentina to Italy
3. 2010: Spain to Switzerland

Only one other World Cup winner lost a game during the World Cup ((West) Germany in 1954 to Hungary which ended up losing the final)

2. No team that held the Confederation Cup at the time of the World Cup was able to win the World Cup
1. 2013 - Brazil (WC won by ???)
2. 2009 - Brazil (WC won by Spain), Brazil out in the 1/4
3. 2005 - Brazil (WC won by Italy), Brazil out in the 1/4
4. 2001 - France (WC won by Brazil), France out GS
5. 1997 - Brazil (WC won by France), Brazil lost the final
6. 1992 - Argentina (WC won by Brazil), Argentina out in R16
7. 1995, 1999 & 2003 winners - Denmark, Mexico & France also failed to win the subsequent WC.

June 30th World Cup Update

UEFA teams continue their undefined run which started on June 24th with Greece late win over Côte d'Ivoire. Since that win UEFA is 9:3:0 before that win they were 12:5:14 counting intra-UEFA games and otherwise 7:5:9. Moreover, none of the UEFA teams lost in the round of 16 (3:1:0, Greece was eliminated, but officially it was a tie).

During the knockout stage run, until the 79th minute all four UEFA teams failed to score a single goal. That is over 5.25 without scoring a goal. The rest of the way UEFA teams scored 7 goals and given up a meaningless goal at the 120'+1' min. During the 15 min post the 79' (1 hour across 4 games) UEFA teams are 6:0 and turn two ties into wins, a loss into a tie and most amazingly a loss into a win.

During the first 6 round of 16 games the group winner has won all 6 games. Never before have we gone that deep into the round of 16 without a 2nd place team advancing to the quarters. In 2010 Ghana beat the USA, in 2006, Ukraine advanced over Switzerland and France beat Spain (Ukraine & Spain as well as France & Switzerland were in the same group). In 2002 half the 2nd place teams advanced - USA beat Mexico, England beat Denmark, Senegal beat Sweden and Turkey beat Japan. In 1998 the tally was lower, but still Denmark beat Nigeria, and Croatia beat Romania. 

Even in 1994 with only 6 group winners, we had Bulgaria advancing over Mexico and Italy over Nigeria. In 1990 the only group winner to lose was Brazil which lost to Argentina which finished third in its group. 1986 saw Spain beating Denmark, Belgium beating the USSR, and West Germany beating Morocco. Even 1982 with a 2nd group stage of 12 teams had a 2nd place Italy advancing ahead of Brazil and France ahead of Northern Ireland.  In the other two groups we had West Germany advancing over England by beating Spain and Both Poland and 2nd place USSR finished ahead of Belgium. 

Even if we go father. In 1978 there was a semi-final group out of which two 2nd place teams (Argentina and Netherland) made it to the final and one more (Brazil) to the 3rd place game which they won. If not for Austria beating Germany on a 87' goal on the last match it would have been a clean sweep for the 2nd place teams. In 1974 using the same format 2nd place Germany made it to the final (which they won) and 2nd place Brazil was again in the third place game which they lost. In 1970 when knockout started at the quarter finals Uruguay beat USSR. It is only in 1996 that we have all group winner advance, but there were only 4 groups (16 teams) in the finals.

Is 2014 going to be the first time that all group winners advance since the expansion from 16 teams? 

Pre Round of 16 Confederations update

Confed	Tm	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	PNT	W%	PNT%
CSF	6	18	13	2	3	34	17	41	77.8	75.9
UEFA	13	39	18	7	14	62	52	61	55.1	52.1
CONC	4	12	5	3	4	13	14	18	54.2	50.0
CAF	5	15	3	3	9	18	28	12	30.0	26.7
AFC	4	12	0	3	9	9	25	3	12.5	8.3
OFC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Give great deal of credit to UEFA teams for winning 5 of the last 8 games and losing none (two ties and one game between CSF & CAF). The only team UEFA team to not get the result they needed was Russia which led 1:0 most of the game but Algeria managed to tie the game and Russia failed to get the win they need to advance.

USA and Nigeria managed to advance with a loss since two UEFA teams (Bosnia and Portugal did the job for them) as a result the round of 16 is made out of 6 UEFA (new negative record), 5 CSF teams (new record), 3 CONCACAF (new record) and 2 CAF (another record). 

I have to admit, after the draw I thought that the only CONCACAF team with a chance to advance was Honduras. They had a group with Switzerland who they tied in what a must win for the Swiss 4 years ago. An Ecuador team who was win-less away from home in qualifying and was never very successful at sea level. And France who I didn't this will do as well as they have. Four points was a stretch, but I could see it happening I could also see then advancing out of this group with 3 ties.

On the other hand, Mexico was lucky to qualify, and had to deal with both Brazil and Croatia which I rated much higher. My expectation was a tie or a win over Cameron and two losses. Costa Rica was with Uruguay, Italy and England and to be fair I didn't think they can get a point, in other groups I could see them advance. USA was with two UEFA powers and an old nemesis I thought that a point and two small losses would be a success.         

What is really impressive is that CONCACAF 3 teams in the round of 16 are out of 3.5 spots allocations. While statistically more impressive, but in reality less so is CSF 5 knock out stage teams are out of 4.5 + 1 (host) spots allocation and . Based on these results both these confederation should have more spots in the WC. However, at this point neither should get it since it will mean that more than half the CSF team will qualify and to a lesser degree it would make CONCACAF qualification a useless exercise of some teams as well.

So how about, for qualification purposes, we combine the two confederations and give them 10 spots. If they can constantly get 8 out 10 teams to the knockout stage this is more than reasonable allocation. Even if they can only get 7 or 6 teams through, this is reasonable. If they can't this can be changed in the future and we can always go back to the current setup.

UEFA with 6 out of 13 and CAF with 2 out of 5 are in line or slightly over represented. The one that is way over represented in AFC. Not only have they gone 0 of 4, and all four finished last in their groups, but all four failed to even win a single game in 12 matches. This confederation now holds 4.5 spots, so let's reduce it to 3.

If we go with the above we get:

UEFA - 12.5 (Playoff with OFC)

Americas - 10

CAF - 5

AFC - 3

OFC - 0.5

Host - 1

Some thoughts.

Colombia must be sorry for winning their group. They have to face Uruguay and if they advance probably Brazil and if not Chile. The prize for getting past these two matches is Semifinals with the winner of Germany - France. If they were to finish second in the group, they would face Costa Rica and probably the Netherlands who faces Mexico. None of these, especially Netherland, is a cakewalk, but this is a much easier path to the semis and a possible date with the winner of Argentina - Belgium.  

Can Greece, pull another Euro 2004 magical run? Costa Rica is beatable, Netherland can have a bad game, Argentina has shown us (vs. Iran) that they have  a hard time with solid defenses and their own defense is suspect at time. 

Confederations update and some not so random thoughts

Half way through the third round

Confed	Tm	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	PNT	W%	PNT%
CSF	6	16	12	1	3	31	15	37	78.1	77.1
CONC	4	10	5	3	2	13	10	18	65.0	60.0
UEFA	13	32	13	5	14	51	49	44	48.4	45.8
CAF	5	12	3	2	7	14	22	11	33.3	30.6
AFC	4	10	0	3	7	8	21	3	15.0	10.0
OFC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

• Not surprising CSF teams are doing well at "home". Only Ecuador is not in the Round of 16 and that is due to a late counter by Switzerland when Ecuador refused to settle for a tie in the opening match.
• So far CONCACAF has had a very respectable showing With two teams finishing the group stage undefeated and one more needing only a tie to advance. Only Honduras which had the easiest group on paper is pointless after two games.
• UEFA is one game below 500 and it would have been worse if not for late winners by Greece & Switzerland and a 95th min tying goal by Portugal.
• CAF after only getting one of 6 teams to advance at home 4 years ago was in a position to advance 4 - Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria and Algeria only needed a tie to advance and Ghana is likely to advance with a win. Côte d'Ivoire managed to have the needed tie at the end of 90 minutes but in added time a PK sent them home.
• As always AFC has way too many representatives. So far 3 ties in 10 games. The last time AFC team won a playoff was 1998 was against Australia who is now part of AFC. During that time they managed to lose to teams form CSF, OFC (yes you are reading this right), CONCACAF and UEFA. The only reason they have not lost to a CAF team is that they didn't play them. 

We have had at least three very late goals (post 90 min) that have made a big difference already and if you add Messi's vs. Iran that 4 in 40 games. That is a very high percentage. The US better remember Gary Lineker's quote "Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win". This is double important, in 2010 & 2006 Ghana eliminated the US, in 2002 Germany and Germany was involved in 1998. Are the two of them going to combine this time? I sure hope not.

Brazil path is full with land mines. Start with a very dangerous Chile team (this is the 3 time in the last 5 world cups that they two are meeting in the Round of 16. If they win they will have to face the winner of Columbia and Uruguay (the current CSF champion) and if that is not enough, the winner of France and Germany is waiting in the Semis.

On the other hand Argentina and Netherlands are booking their hotels in Sao Paulo for the other Semi. Argentina will face Switzerland or Ecuador followed by the winner of Belgium vs the US or Ghana. None of these is a top 8 team and probably not even a top 16. The Netherlands will face Mexico (a team that needed another 90+ minute goal by the US against Panama in order to advance to the payoffs), and after that the winner of Costa Rica and Greece. I think that it is safe to say that it is more surprising to see these teams in the R16 then not. I doubt that anyone had all three advance.

Trivia:

1. Which team holds the longest current streak of qualifying to the World Cup and advancing out of the group stage?
• Highlight to see the answer: Mexico (6 times, since 1994). Brazil (since 1970) and Germany (since 1954, all at least 1/4 final) have advanced out of the group stage for longer, but both didn't need to qualify since Mexico's run started (Germany in 2006 and Brazil in 2014)
2. When was the last time that none of England, Italy and Spain advanced out of the group state in a World Cup?
• Highlight to see the answer: 1974. Italy finished 3rd in the group behind Poland and Argentina (on GD) while both England and Spain failed to quality (England 2nd to Poland and Spain lost to Yugoslavia in a payoff after both was tied on points and GD).   

Final note. The officiating has been the worst I remember. Even 2002 was better and that is saying a great deal. Is it possible that the introduction of Goal Line Technology has subconsciously impacted these world class refs and shaken their confidence?

Advancement possibilities end of round 2

Group A:

Brazil:

• Advance with:
• A win or a tie with Cameron
• A loss and one of the following:
• Mexico win over Croatia
• Mexico loss to Croatia and one of the following
• Mexico's loss is by the same or greater margin
• Mexico's loss is by one less goal and
• Mexico doesn't score 2 or more goals than Brazil (e.g., Brazil lose 0:2 & Mexico 1:2)
• Mexico scoring 2 more goals than Brazil (e.g., Brazil lose 0:2 & Mexico 2:3) and Brazil winning the drawing of lots
• Win group:
• A win plus one of the following:
• Mexico winning by the same margin or not winning
• Mexico winning by 1 more goal and one of the following:
• Mexico doesn't score 2 or more goals more than Brazil (e.g., Brazil win 2:1 & Mexico 3:1)
• Mexico scoring 2 more goals (e.g., Brazil win 1:0 & Mexico 3:1) and Brazil winning the drawing of lots
• A tie combined with a Mexico - Croatia tie

Mexico:

• Advance with:
• A win or a tie with Croatia
• A loss plus one of the following:
• Brazil loss by a margin that is 2 or more goals greater.
• Brazil loss by 1 more goal plus one of the following:
• Mexico scoring at least 3 more goals than brazil (e.g., Mexico loss 4:3 & Brazil 1:0)
• Mexico scoring 2 more goals than brazil (e.g., Mexico loss 3:2 & Brazil 1:0) and Mexico winning the drawing of lots
• Win group:
• Win plus one of the following:
• Brazil not winning against Cameron
• Margin of victory is at least 2 more than Brazil's win
• Margin of victory is 1 more than Brazil's win plus one of the following:
• scoring at least 3 more goals (e.g., Mexico win 4:1 & Brazil 1:0)
• scoring 2 more goals (e.g., Mexico win 3:1 & Brazil 1:0) and Mexico winning the drawing of lots
• Tie combined with Brazil loss

Croatia:

• Advance with:
• A win over Mexico
• A Tie combined with a Brazil loss to Cameron
• Win group:
• A win combined with a Brazil tie

Cameron - Eliminated

Group B:

Netherlands: Advanced

• Win group:
• A with or a tie with Chile

Chile: Advanced

• Win group:
• A win over Netherlands

Australia - Eliminated

Spain - Eliminated

Group C:

Colombia: Advanced

• Win group:
• A win or a tie with Japan
• A loss and one of the following:
• Côte d'Ivoire not winning over Greece.
• Côte d'Ivoire win plus one of the following
• combined margin is 2 or 3 goals
• combined margin is 4 goals and Côte d'Ivoire scores 1 or 2 more goals than Colombia (e.g., Colombia lose 2:1 & Côte d'Ivoire wins 3:0)

Côte d'Ivoire:

• Advance with:
• A win over Greece
• A tie and one of the following:
• Japan not winning over Colombia
• Japan winning by 1 goal and Japan scoring 1 or 2 goals more than Côte d'Ivoire (e.g., Côte d'Ivoire ties 0:0 & Japan win 2:1)
• Win group:
• A win and Colombia losing to Japan and one of the following
• combined margin of both games is 5 goals
• combined  margin of both games is 4 goals and Côte d'Ivoire scores 3 more goals than Colombia (e.g., Côte d'Ivoire win 3:0 & Colombia lose 1:0) 

Japan:

• Advance with:
• A win over Colombia and one of the following:
• Côte d'Ivoire loss to Greece and Greece winning margin is no more than 1 greater than Japan's
• Greece win and Greece winning margin is 2 more than Japan's and one of the following
• Greece scores the same number of goals as Japan (e.g., Japan win 3:2: & Greece win 3:0)
• Greece scores 1 more goal than Japan (e.g., Japan win 2:1 & Greece win 3:0) and Japan winning the drawing of lots

Greece:

• Advance with:
• A win over Côte d'Ivoire plus one of the following:
• Japan not winning over Colombia
• Japan winning plus one of the following:
• Margin of victory is 3 greater than Japan's
• Margin of victory is 2 greater than Japan's plus one of the following:
• Greece scores 2 more goals than Japan (e.g., Greece win 3:0 & Japan win 1:0)
• Greece scores 1 more goal than Japan (e.g., Greece win 2:0 & Japan win 1:0) and Greece winning the drawing of lots

Group D:

Costa Rica: Advanced

• Win group:
• A win or a tie with England
• A loss one of the following:
• Italy and Uruguay tie
• Italy win and one of the following:
• Both games are a one goal win
• Combined margin for both games is 3 goals and Italy scores 1 or 2 more goals than Costa Rica (e.g., Costa Rica lose 0:1 & Italy win 2:0)
• Uruguay win and one of the following:
• Combined margin for both games is 3 or less
• Combined margin for both games is 4 goals and Uruguay scores 1 more goals than Costa Rica (e.g., Costa Rica lose 1:3 & Uruguay win 2:0)

Italy:

• Advance with:
• A win or a tie with Uruguay
• Win group:
• A win and Costa Rica loss to England and one of the following:
• Combined margin for both games is 4 or more goals
• Combined margin for both games is 3 goals and Italy scores 3 more goals than Costa Rica (e.g., Italy wins 3:1 & Costa Rica lose 0:1 

Uruguay:

• Advance with:
• A win over Italy
• Win group:
• A win and Costa Rica loss to England and one of the following:
• Combined margin for both games is 5 or more goals
• Combined margin for both games is 4 goals and Uruguay scores 2 more goals than Costa Rica (e.g., Uruguay win 2:0 & Costa Rica lose 0:2)

England: Eliminated

Group E:

France:

• Advance with:
• Anything except a loss to Ecuador by 4 or more goals and Switzerland win over Honduras and one of the following:
• combined margin for both games is 9 or more goals
• combined margin for both games is 8 goals and Switzerland scores 5 more goals than France (e.g., France lose 0:4 & Switzerland win 5:1)
• Win group:
• Anything except a loss to Ecuador and one of the following:
• loss is by 4 or more goals
• Switzerland win and one of the following
• Combine margin for both games is 9 or more goals
• Combine margin for both games is 8 goals and Switzerland scores 5 more goals than France (e.g., France lose 0:3 & Switzerland win 5:0)

Ecuador:

• Advance with:
• A win over France and one of the following:
• Switzerland doesn't win over Honduras
• Switzerland win and one of the following:
• Switzerland margin is by 1 goal more than Ecuador's
• Switzerland margin is by 2 goals more than Ecuador's and Ecuador scores 2 goals more than Switzerland (e.g., Ecuador wins 5:4 & Switzerland win 3:0)
• Win group:
• A win over France by 4 or more goals and one of the following:
• Switzerland doesn't win
• Switzerland win and one of the following:
• Switzerland margin of victory is 1 more than Ecuador's
• Switzerland margin of victory is 2 more than Ecuador's and Ecuador scores 2 goals more than Switzerland (e.g., Ecuador wins 8:4 & Switzerland win 6:0) 

Switzerland:

• Advance with:
• A win over Honduras and one of the following:
• Ecuador doesn't win
• Ecuador win and one of the following:
• Switzerland margin of victory is 3 or more greater than Ecuador's
• Switzerland margin of victory is 2 more than Ecuador's and Ecuador scores only one goal more than Switzerland (e.g., Switzerland win 3:0 & Ecuador 4:3)
• Win group:
• A win and Ecuador win over France and one of the following:
• combined margin of both games is 9 or more goals and one of the following:
• Switzerland margin of victory is 3 or more greater than Ecuador's
• Switzerland margin of victory is 2 more than Ecuador's and Ecuador scores only one goal more than Switzerland (e.g., Switzerland win 6:0 & Ecuador 7:3)
• combined margin of both games is 8 goals and one of the following:
• Switzerland margin of victory is 3 or more greater than Ecuador's
• Switzerland margin of victory is 2 more than Ecuador's and Switzerland scores at least 5 more goals than France (e.g., Switzerland win 5:0 & Ecuador - France 3:0)

Honduras:

• Advance with:
• A win over Switzerland by 2 or more goals and France win over Ecuador and one of the following:
• combined margin for both games is at least 5 goals
• Combined margin is 4 goals and Honduras scores 3 goals more than Ecuador (e.g., Honduras win 3:0 & Ecuador lose 0:1)

Group F:

Argentina: Advanced

• Win group:
• A win or a Tie with Nigeria

Nigeria:

• Advance with:
• A win or a tie with Argentina
• A loss and one of the following
• Iran loss or tie with Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Iran win and both games are 1 goals wins and one of the following:
• Nigeria scores the same or more than Iran (e.g., Nigeria lose 1:2 & Iran win 1:0)
• Iran scores one more goal than Nigeria (e.g., Nigeria lose 0:1 & Iran win 1:0) and Nigeria win the drawing of lots
• Win group:
• A win over Argentina

Iran:

• Advance with:
• A win and Nigeria loss to Argentina and one of the following:
• combined margin for both games is 3 or greater
• Both games are 1 goal win and Iran scores at least 2 goals more than Nigeria
• Iran scores one more goal than Nigeria (e.g., Iran win 1:0 & Nigeria lose 0:1)and Iran win the drawing of lots

Bosnia-Herzegovina: Eliminated

Group G:

Germany:

• Advance with: 
• A win or a tie with United States
• A loss and one of the following:
• Ghana - Portugal tie
• Ghana win and one of the following
• Combined margin of both games is 4 or less
• Combined margin of both games is 5 and one of the following:
• Ghana scores 1 or 2 goals more than Germany (e.g., Ghana win 2:0 & Germany lose 0:3)
• Ghana scores 3 goals more than Germany (e.g., Ghana win 3:0 & Germany lose 0:2) and Germany win the drawing of lots 
• Portugal win and one of the following
• Combined margin of both games is 7 or less
• Combined margin of both games is 8 and Portugal scores 4 or less goals more than Germany (e.g., Portugal win 5:0 and Germany lose 0:3)
• Win group:
• A win or a tie with United States

United States:

• Advance with:
• A win or a tie with or Germany
• A loss and one of the following:
• Ghana - Portugal tie
• Ghana win and both games are a 1 goal win and Ghana scores only 1 goal more than the United States (e.g., Ghana win 1:0 & United States lose 0:1)
• Portugal win and one of the following
• Combined margin of both games is 4 or less
• Combined margin of both games is 5 and one of the following
• Portugal scores only 1 goal more than United States(e.g., Portugal win 1:0 and United States lose 0:4)
• Portugal scores 2 goals more than United States(e.g., Portugal win 2:0 and United States lose 0:3) and United States win drawing of lots
• Win group:
• A win over Germany

Ghana:

• Advance with:
• Win over Portugal and one of the following:
• United States losing and one of the following:
• Combined margin of both games is 3 or more
• Both games are 1 goal wins and Ghana scores at least 2 goals more than the United States (e.g., Ghana win 2:1 & United States lose 0:1)
• Germany losing and one of the following:
• Combined margin is 6 or more
• Combined margin is 5 and one of the following:
• Ghana scores 4 more goals than Germany (e.g., Ghana win 4:0 and Germany lose 0:1)
• Ghana scores 3 more goals than Germany (e.g., Ghana win 3:0 and Germany lose 0:2) and Ghana win the drawing of lots

Portugal:

• Advance with:
• Wins over Ghana and one of the following:
• United States losing and one of the following:
• Combined margin of both games is 6 or more
• Combined margin of both games is 5 and one of the following
• Portugal scores 3 or more goal more than United States(e.g., Portugal win 3:0 and United States lose 0:2)
• Portugal scores 2 goals more than United States(e.g., Portugal win 2:0 and United States lose 0:3) and Portugal win drawing of lots

Group H:

Belgium: Advanced

• Win group:
• A win or a tie with Korea Republic
• Algeria loss or a tie with Russia

Algeria:

• Advance with:
• A win over Russia
• A Tie plus one of the following
• Korea Republic loss or a tie with Belgium
• Korea Republic win and one of the following
• win is by 2 or less goals
• win is by 3 goals and Korea Republic scores 1 or 2 goals more than Algeria (e.g., Korea Republic win 3:0 & Algeria tie 1:1)
• Win group:
• A win over Russia and Belgium loss to Korea Republic

Russia:

• Win over Algeria and one of the following:
• Korea Republic loss or a tie with Belgium
• Korea Republic win and one of the following
• Korea Republic margin is the same margin or less than Russia's margin
• Korea Republic margin is 1 more than Russia's margin and one of the following:
• Russia scores 3 or more goals than Korea Republic (e.g., Russia win 5:4 & Korea Republic win 2:0)
• Russia scores 2 more goals than Korea Republic (e.g., Russia win 4:3 & Korea Republic win 2:0) and Russia win drawing of lots

Korea Republic:

• Win over Belgium and one of the following:
• Algeria tie with Russia
• Win is by 4 or more goals
• Win is by 3 goals and Korea Republic scores 3 or more goals more than Algeria (e.g., Korea Republic win 3:0 & Algeria tie 0:0)
• Russia win over Algeria
• Korea Republic margin is 2 or more goals more than Russia's margin
• Korea Republic margin is 1 more than Russia's margin and one of the following:
• Russia scores 1 goal more than Korea Republic (e.g., Russia win 3:2 & Korea Republic win 2:0)
• Russia scores 2 more goals than Korea Republic (e.g., Russia win 4:3 & Korea Republic win 2:0) and Korea Republic win drawing of lots