Obsessedsportsnut's Blog

June 18, 2010

World Cup 2010: US Advancement Scenarios

So I’ve been asked a bunch of times, what it will take for the US to advance to the next stage.

Here are the tie breaking situations regarding advancement (top 2 teams advance).

1. Total points after three games (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss).
2. Goal differential after three games (total goals scored – total goals given up)
3. Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches

So after two games, here are the standings of Group C:

Team Points Goal Differential Goals Scored
Slovenia 4 1 3
United States 2 0 3
England 2 0 1
Algeria 1 -1 0

I’ve had a lot of questions about what needs to happen for the United States to advance.

The US will advance if…

The United States BEATS Algeria regardless of the outcome of England vs Slovenia

or

The United States TIES Algeria AND Slovenia BEATS England

or

The United States ties Algeria AND Slovenia ties England AND the United States scores more total goals over 3 games than England (after 2 games, the US has scored 3 goals and the English have scored 1 goal)

To sum everything up…if the US wins…they’re in. If they lose, they’re out. If they tie, they need help from the other game.

Basically, the US is in the best possible position. Their advancement to the next round rests solely in their hands.

They need to take advantage of it and get that win against Algeria.

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