Since four points is enough to advance, should aus and Paraguay just collaborate and semen slurp for 90 mins?
>>155623330They should pla ALL 24 games at the same time. Otherwise there’s an unfair advantage to the last groups to play, as they’ll know exactly what 3rd place needs to limp
>>155623330Yea
>>155623330No, not all 3rd place teams advance
just realized both of USA's first goals in each game came from and own-goal. bet money on them to do it again for fortunes
>>155623330If they draw, Australia gets in and they don't. Paraguay needs to win.
>>155623348Majority do and 4 points with positive goals difference is very likely.
>>155623330well no, you'd be fighting to go towards a specific path, and you may not want to risk attempting to finish third cos you'll eithera) get eliminated b) sent down a random risky path You know what you're getting into if you finish second
>>1556233302 points is going to be enough to advance in third place (but not all 2 point 3rd places). All third places with 3 points should be enough.
>>155623382but among those that advance they get thrown down random brackets based on where they finish in the "qualified" table?
>>155623348https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup#Ranking_of_third-placed_teamswe're nearly 2/3rds of the way through the groups, and there's still plenty of teams on 1 or 2 points who are on track to advance. Granted, that probably won't be enough come game 3, but in reality 4 points are going to be enough, and probably even 3 depending on goal difference. It will be interesting to see who is the 8th ranked 3rd placer (ie, the shittest team that still makes it) and how weak their results are
Right now AI says the probable "line" is 3 points with a -2 GD (which would be 50/50 in or out) -1 GD would be in 85% and -3 GD would be almost surely out
>>155623330Both teams should rotate but also try to go for the win. Why end up 3rd and go out early facing a France or Spain when you can be 2nd and face an Egypt or Iran and go one more extra knockout round?
>>155623540Looking at the recent Euros editions and their 3rd place finishers that progress to knockouts, it's preferable to have 3 points and a positive GD. You're 95% guaranteed to qualify as a 3rd place team with 4 points.
>>155623330You do not want that."Die Schande von Gijón" is still an infamous incident in German football history:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUZZKxrTPtA
>>155623577>preferable to have 3 points and a positive GDSo lose two out of three but the one you win you destroy the other team? That sounds like one of those groups with Haiti or Curacao
>>155623653I watched all that gobbledygook nonsense thinking something funny was going to happen at the end
>>155623721My point was, that it's not funny. So stop it ffs.It's a national shame to this day - worse than Cordoba.
>>155623342This. There’s definitely going to be some rigging going on otherwise
>>155623540>teams with a 1-2 record and negative goal differential will advance to the playoffs SHIT SYSTEM
>>155623890I don't know what that means either and I assure you the Australian public would not care
Paraguay will fancy their chances of beating Australia. But are they content with a point and hopefully qualifying as a 3rd best place team. Paraguay might go for the win rather than the point, they'll fancy it
>>155624045>I don't know what that means eitherThe reigning world champion getting completely outplayed by its little neighbor in the following world cup ("Die Schmach von Cordoba").
>>155623659That's why they made H2H the primary tiebreaker instead of GD, they wanted to avoid teams taking it easy or using the punching bag teams as their insurance. But in this specific case, both Australia and Paraguay have nothing to gain going for the 3 points other than a potentially easier knockout path and playing for honor. Settling for a draw ensures both go through the next round with 4 points. Paraguay would absolutely love 4 points instead of 3 since we raped them and gave them a poor GD for the 3rd place team table.
>>155624149>That's why they made H2H the primary tiebreaker instead of GD,Ah, this makes sense. I wondered why they made tie breaking so convoluted.
