Group tournament ranking system

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In a group tournament, unlike a knockout tournament, there is no decisive final match. Instead, all the competitors are ranked by examining the results of all the matches played in the tournament. Points are awarded for each fixture, with competitors ranked based either on total number of points or average points per fixture. Usually each competitor plays an equal number of fixtures, in which case rankings by total points and by average points are equivalent.

1 Points calculation
2 Tiebreaker criteria
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Points calculation

In 2-competitor games where ties are rare or impossible, competitors are typically ranked by number of wins, with ties counting half; each competitors' listings are usually ordered Wins-Losses(-Ties). Where draws are more common, this may be 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw, which is mathematically equivalent but avoids having too many half-points in the listings. These are usually ordered Wins-Draws-Losses. If there are more than 2 competitors per fixture, points may be ordinal (for example, 3 for first, 2 for second, 1 for third). A games behind figure is sometimes included in listings for a tournament still in progress, to allow comparison of competitors who have not completed the same proportion of their allotted fixtures.

Some games may have more complex ranking criteria. In rugby union, bonus points may be awarded for scoring a certain number of tries (which are a more crowd-pleasing form of score than goals), usually 4, or for losing by a relatively small margin, usually losing by 7 points.

In football (soccer), where draws are relatively common, many leagues give 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw to encourage attacking play. Besides the traditional 2-1-0 points and newer 3-1-0 points systems for win-draw-loss, various other systems have been used to try to encourage attractive play. Some examples:

3-2-1 as in the Greek League 1959-73^[1]; or 4-2-1. Giving 1 point extra in each case for losing may be simply cosmetic, but does allow for awarding 0 points for forfeiting a match. (The FIFA standard is to count a forfeit as a 3-0 defeat.)
The W-League in 2002 gave 4-1-0 with a bonus point for scoring three goals ^[2].
The League of Ireland in 1981-82 had 4-3-2-1-0 points for away win - home win - away draw - home draw - loss^[3]
In China in the 1970s and 80s, bonus points were for scoring headed goals, and for teams whose players were selected for the national squad.^[4]
Bulgaria for three seasons 1984-7 gave no points for scoreless draws^[5].
France gave a bonus point for scoring 3 goals in 1973-6^[6], but stopped after rumours this encouraged match fixing. However, Michel Hidalgo has reported to the French Football Federation similar proposals to encourage attacking play.^[7]

Some leagues have used penalty shootouts after drawn games, in which case points will vary for regulation win - penalties win - penalties loss - regulation loss:

In the playoffs of the French women's league, 4-2-1-0^[8].
Yugoslav League had 2-1-0-0 from 1989-92^[9]
Major League Soccer had 3-1-0-0 from 1996-9^[10].
Japan Football League (former) had 3-3-1-0 in 1996^[11]
In the North American Soccer League in 1975-84, 6-1-0-0, with a bonus point each for up to 3 goals scored^[12]
In the Western Soccer League in 1989, 6-4-2-0, with a bonus point each for up to 3 goals scored^[13]

[edit] Tiebreaker criteria

When competitors are level on points, there is usually some tiebreaker criterion. Sometimes, however, ranking ties may stand: prior to 1994, the Five Nations Championship in rugby union could result in joint champions. A tiebreaker may be a play-off, with extra matches between the tied competitors. If there are more than two tied competitors in a 2-competitor game, the play-off may be a round-robin or knockout tournament. Instead of a playoff, the original fixtures may provide the tie-breaker criteria:

head-to-head: considering only results of fixtures between the deadlocked competitors. If more than a single fixture is involved, a subtable may be used recursively for the ranking.
scoring average: the ratio of points (goals, etc.) scored to those conceded.
scoring differential: the difference between points (goals, etc) scored and those conceded.
points scored: irrespective of points conceded.
points scored away: valuing scores "on the road" above scores on one's home ground.
number of wins: in games where draws are possible
disciplinary record: fouls conceded, players sent off, etc.
seeding or pre-tournament ranking: This may be defined to favour the higher- or lower-ranked competitor.
Neustadtl score, or Sonneborn-Berger score: the sum of defeated opponents' scores plus half the sum of drawn opponents' scores; this method is especially common in round-robin chess tournaments; in chess Swiss system tournaments it is used as a secondary tie-break criterion.

Ties remaining on one of these criteria may be resolved by resorting in turn to others of them. Where a group is the qualifying phase of a larger tournament, it may be necessary as a last resort to use drawing of lots as a tiebreaker. This was used in Group F of the 1990 FIFA World Cup to separate second and third place.