Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Changing of positions on final matchday

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Changing of positions on final matchday

    The final matchdays in the group stage are mouthwatering if all four teams have a chance of going through but less so if one or two teams cannot mathematically go through.

    I love it when you see the table changing as the final matches are in progress.

    In the history of the World Cup which final matchdays have seen the most exciting swapping of places?

    Have the two final group matches always been played simultaneously?

    #2
    In answer to the last bit, no they haven't always been. Up until 1982 they were staggered. And then the Austria 1-0 W.Germany game that stitched up Algeria happened. Since that one FIFA have accepted that playing the final games concurrently is essential.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Janik View Post
      Since that one FIFA have accepted that playing the final games concurrently is essential.
      And thankfully they haven't planned to do anything silly like introducing groups with an odd number of teams…

      Comment


        #4
        Not what you're after but...
        1990 had the four best 3rd placed sides go through and two 3rd placed out. Last round:

        Group F: Ireland equalised against Netherlands in the 71st both sides finishing on 3p and 0 in goal difference
        Group D: West Germany scored in the 88th, Colombia equalised during overtime giving the latter 3p and +1 in goal difference
        Group E: Uruguay scored a winner against South Korea (who were on 0p) during overtime, ending on 3p and -1 in goal difference

        In group C, Scotland had 0-0 against Brazil until the 81st minute, they lost 1-0 ended on 2p -1 goal difference. Holding on to the draw, Germany scoring one more instead of Colombia, Uruguay not getting a late winner, Netherlands not allowing a late goal. Any of it and Scotland would have been through. I felt sorry for them, even though they were in Sweden's group.
        Last edited by Pietro Paolo Virdis; 20-06-2018, 21:46.

        Comment


          #5
          [crap]

          Comment


            #6
            Happens more in the Euros due to fewer very weak sides.

            Comment


              #7
              Not sure there were fewer very weak sides in the last euros tbh. 2010 was good for this (perhaps as a result of the first two rounds of games being mostly very cagey), I think nearly every group ended with a cliffhanger. Landon Donovan's last minute goal to both qualify and snatch the group winners slot from England. Ghana needed a big favour from Australia against Serbia. Italy's bonkers defeat to Slovakia. Yakubu missing an open goal for Nigeria which would have put them through (despite losing their first two games).

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View Post
                Happens more in the Euros due to fewer very weak sides.
                Although the use of head to head results as first tiebreaker for teams level on points means positions only change if a goal changes the result - with goal difference the table can change with each goal, even if results in both matches are fairly certain.

                Comment


                  #9
                  I've never seen a complete turn-about in a major tournament's group deciders, but this from the 2009 Confederations Cup was notable:

                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_F...ns_Cup_Group_B

                  Originally posted by Janik View Post
                  In answer to the last bit, no they haven't always been. Up until 1982 they were staggered. And then the Austria 1-0 W.Germany game that stitched up Algeria happened. Since that one FIFA have accepted that playing the final games concurrently is essential.
                  Clearly it should have happened following the 1978 World Cup, in which the hosts played their deciding second-round match several hours after Brazil completed theirs.

                  Comment

                  Working...
                  X