Quote:
Originally Posted by RainMaker
Yeah, I'm not a fan of the expansion but you've got to give teams 3 matches.
Is the knockout round 16 teams or are they expanding that to 32?
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3 matches wasn't the main issue, a group of 3 is bound to get fixed results.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by FIFA
The revised format mitigates the risk of collusion and ensures that all the teams play a minimum of three matches, while providing balanced rest time between competing teams.
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The knockout phase will expand to 32 teams:
12 groups of 4 (3 RR matches)
16 2nd round matchups (8x 1st vs 3rd place teams, 4x 1st vs 2nd place, 4x 2nd vs 2nd place)
8 3rd round matches (potentially 4x 1st vs 1st place teams, 4x 1st place vs the 2nd vs 2nd winners)
quarterfinals
semifinals
final (and 3rd place match)