Eli5 how does the Fifa football worldcup work? What is the system?
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32 teams qualify through continental competitions played in the previous years.
Then when the tournament starts they’re drawn into 8 groups of 4. The top two teams in each group qualify for the knockouts.
Then in the knockouts, it works more or less like the NBA or NFL playoffs (assuming you’re used to those systems) which is basically teams playing each other in a knockout system (losers get eliminated) up to the final.
Edit: the next world cup will work differently as it has been controversially expanded to 48 teams
There are 32 participating teams, who qualified though a system that ensured some level of geographic diversity.
These teams are separated into 8 groups of 4 for the ‘group stage.’ During the group stage, each team plays three matches, one against each of the other three teams in their group. If you win a game, you get 3 ‘points.’ If you draw, you get 1 point. If you lose, you get 0 points. After all teams have played their three games, the top 2 teams in each group by points stay in the tournament. Ties are broken by who has the best overall goal difference (goals scored minus goals allowed).
There are now 16 teams remaining for the ‘knockout stage,’ which is just a single-elimination tournament. The 16 teams are first paired in to 8 matches (with winners of groups playing runners up in groups). The 8 winners progress to the quarterfinals, another 4 games. The 4 winners in the quarterfinals progress to the semifinals, 2 games. And the 2 winners in the semifinals play in the finals.
Each national FIFA federation puts together a national football team. This is different from the club teams that players normally play in. They play qualification matches over three years before the main event. So only 32 teams qualify. These are then drawn into 8 groups of 4 teams each. These 4 teams all play each other for points. The two best teams from each group enters into the elimination tournament. In the first round all the winners in each group play against all the runner ups in one of the other groups. Eventually the two best teams play the finale. The cup takes about a month from the first group match to the finale and all takes place within one country, although usually several cities in the country. The cup is held every four years with the qualification matches between each event.
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