Eli5 how does the Fifa football worldcup work? What is the system?
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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.
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