Guide to First-Round Qualification

On page 82 of the WORLD CUP COMPANION 2010 book, and as the group stage unfolds, some guidance is provided to help with all those discussions about which teams need to do what to qualify for the second round. One of the statements in our guide explains that it is possible for a team to qualify for the next round with only 2 points, providing the other match results allow this. The team in first place must win all of its three matches, and the teams in third and fourth places must draw two games and lose one. The team in second place will have a superior goals record to that of the teams in third and fourth places.