2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™
How The FIFA World Cup™ Works
a brief explaination
Soccer at the International level is administered by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Soccer dos not have "rules", but instead has
The Laws Of The Game". And while I'm referring to "Soccer" here, be aware that in the wider world outside the United States, this game is called "Football".
There are only three types of soccer matches. Qualifiers, where the the National Teams of each FIFA Member State are qualifying for the World Cup, "Friendlies", which are "training matches" where the National Teams train together for Qualifiers, and most important of all, the World Cup matches. It's a little more complicated than that, but it's the basics you need to know right now.
32 nations have qualified to be in the World Cup. They are broken up into 8 groups of 4 teams each. In the 1st Round, each team plays the other three teams in it's group, so every team plays at least 3 matches in the World Cup. A win is worth 3 points, a tie is worth 1 point, and a loss is worth 0 points. The points are added up, and the top two teams in each group goes on to the 2nd Round.
If there is a tie for 2nd place, then the number of goals scored are compared, and a 2nd place team is determined. It's all laid out in The Laws Of The Game.
If you're looking at one of the printed schedules of the 2nd round matches, the teams are represented by a number and a letter. 1A refers to the 1 place team in Group A, while 2B refers to the 2nd place team in Group B.
How to tell the teams apart
FIFA's laws state that the Home Team shal be listed first, and Visiting Team second. The Home Team will usually wear a white jersey, or a jersey with the National Colors. If not, then the tab under the score will show the colors for each team. Also, ESPN has finally figured out to put a color strip to show the team's jersey color next to the three letter team code.
Why we support International Soccer
Robert Osband, the fellow behind PHonePHriendly.Com, was a
volunteer at the Citrus Bowl, a World Cup venue during World Cup USA 1994®. Ozzie knows what the World Cup means to the rest of the world, and is happy that Soccer is one area where the USA joins the rest of the world in something.
* World Cup Main Manu
0 Call Ozzie, dial 321-Liftoff on your mobile phone.
# PHonePHriendly.Com
Ozzie@PHonePHriendly.Com was a
Volunteer at World Cup 1994 USA, and has followed the US Men's National Team ever since.
