Copy linkFacebookXPinterestEmailShare this article 0Join the conversationFollow usAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleNewsletterSubscribe to our newsletterGermany are through to the round of 32 at the World Cup. Theyll play at Gillette Stadium on Monday, June 29 for the right to move on to Philadelphia in the round of 16 on July 4.Theres nothing wrong with that on the face of it but Germany still have a group stage match to play. Their points total cant be matched by opponents Ecuador but a win for the South Americans would leave the door open for Ivory Coast to join Germany on six points.It wouldnt matter if they did. It still wouldnt matter if Ivory Coast somehow overturned the Germans vastly superior goal difference. Germany won the match between the two, and thats that. For the first time, World Cup group positions are being settled on head-to-head and Germany beat Ivory Coast in game two.Play our free match predictor and win �1kThere have always been dead rubbers and compromised fixtures but format failings are avoidableClearly, thats not ideal. Its a problem that will affect several World Cup 2026 groups one way or another and the idea of taking the edge off what should be a suite of thrilling concurrent group stage deciders is an unfortunate choice.Group E illustrates some of the issues. Germanys goal difference is skewed by their 7-1 win over Curacao. That might not seem like the most direct way to break a theoretical tie between Germany and Ivory Coast, but it would undoubtedly have made the last games more consequential. You may like Every World Cup 2026 group stage tiebreaker: What happens if teams finish with the same points? Which third-placed teams go through from the World Cup group stage? What would happen if a World Cup group ended with everyone level on points and goal difference? Theres no right or wrong way to choose a tiebreaker but the way the group stage was laid out and has played out does leave a strange taste as these final fixtures get underway.Everybody knew the rules with goal difference, writes Daniel Storey of The i Paper, who is driving solo across the United States to take in all the World Cup has to offer and more.Get FourFourTwo NewsletterThe best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.You had three matches and all of those matches mattered equally. Now, one match is potentially undisputedly worth more but with the twist that you only find out which one at the end.Thats something of a consensus opinion among observers, pundits and commentators, and theres obvious merit to it. If the tiebreaker isnt an issue in one World Cup and becomes one in the next, its worth looking at what was changed.Theres a bigger problem, though, and its not just Gianni Infantinos fawning little brother complex in his pathetic worship of Donald Trump on footballs behalf. What to read next What is the FIFA Team Conduct Score and how does it impact World Cup group stage? How to watch World Cup 2026: FREE live streams, groups, next matches World Cup day four highlights: Underestimate Germany at your peril, dark horse emerges, late drama and Graham Potter's redemption story Scotland and South Korea woke up at their World Cup training bases today not knowing whether theyre in or out after playing all three group matches.Creating this limbo by reviving the World Cups lopsided format is a much more egregious error than opting for an admittedly inferior tiebreaker, which, incidentally, is obviously not applicable in the third-place ranking.Its possible to argue that goal difference is flawed just as head-to-head has predictable shortcomings. The one in use is worse than the one thats not, but still, there are justifications for both.Teams reaching the final whistle of their last group stage match and not knowing within a matter of moments whether theyve done enough to make the cut for the next round is straight-up piping-hot nonsense.32 is the perfect number of teams for a modern World Cup. 16 is too few and 64 too many by far, but anything in between and the World Cup has now tried both 24 and 48 doesnt make sense.It might not be unfair to rank third-placed teams and eliminate some and not others but the subsequent delayed destiny is avoidably awkward and a lot more detrimental to the competition than a wonky tiebreaker.With the centenary of the World Cup imminent, there was a proposal to expand it again to 64 teams. 64 teams is too many. 128 matches is too much football. 96 group stages games is too long.The idea was rebuffed in favour of a second 48-team tournament and the same problems all over again.32 teams into a round of 16 is right there no ranking of third-place teams, no waiting around to find out, no weird vulnerabilities to results in different groups entirely.There are other ways to administer a 48-team tournament without expecting teams to sit around for half a week before sending them home anyway but none is as elegant as the mathematical beauty of a perfect bracket.TOPICSScotlandGermanyIvory CoastEcuadorCuraaoWorld CupWorld Cup 2026Chris NeeChris is a Warwickshire-based freelance football writer specialising in West Midlands football, the Premier League, the EFL and the J.League. He is the author of the High Protein Beef Paste football newsletter and owner of Aston Villa Review. He supports Coventry Sphinx.
