The below table shows situation in FIFA 2010 World Cup’s Group C before last matches of the group stage. Each square on the drawing represents different result of last both matches in group C (Slovenia – England and Algeria – USA). Colors on the drawing show us who will go out the group and will be qualified to round of 16.
More similar visualisation can be found on: FIFA 2010 World Cup Groups
White and blue squares on the drawing tell us that USA will be qualified. As you can see, if the USA team wins against Algeria at least 1:0, it will be qualified to the next round (England vs Slovenia does not matter in this case). If USA draw to Algeria and England do not win to Slovakia, USA will be qualified in most cases, but there are some results that promotes England insted of USA (black squares in the middle).
Drawing of lots
There are also three pairs of interesting results (USA – Algeria 2:2,1:1,0:0 and England – Slovenia 1:1,2:2,3:3) marked by the black diamonds. In this case both teams have same number of points (3), same number of goals (3,4 or 5 depending on the result) and same number of goals scored in match between USA and England. Due to the terms of FIFA World Cup, drawing of lots will be needed to find the winner.
When does FIFA draw of lots to find the winner.
Below are the FIFA’s criteria that allows to find the winner of the group stage:
1.greatest number of points in all group matches;
2.goal difference in all group matches;
3.greatest number of goals scored in all group matches;
4.greatest number of points in matches between tied teams;
5.goal difference in matches between tied teams;
6.greatest number of goals scored in matches between tied teams;
7.drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.