costa rica uruguay soccer game
What are the tiebreaker rules for the intercontinental soccer playoff between costa rica and Uruguay?
If Costa Rica (fourth place CONCACAF team) and Uruguay (fifth place CONMEBOL team) each win one game of their two game intercontinental playoff, what are the tiebreaker rules which will determine which team qualifies for the 2010 World Cup?
It’s not wins that’s important but rather aggregate goals.
Example A
game 1: Costa Rica 2-0 Uruguay
game 2: Costa Rica 0-1 Uruguay
So each side ‘wins’ one game, but on aggregate goals, the score is Costa Rica over Uruguay 2-1. Costa Rica goes through to the World Cup.
The next consideration is “away goals”. If the teams are tied on aggregate goals, then the team with more away goals (goals scored away from home) will win.
Example B
game 1 (in Costa Rica) Costa Rica 0-0 Uruguay
game 2 (in Uruguay) Costa Rica 1-1 Uruguay
So the teams are tied in aggregate at the score of 1-1. But because Costa Rica scored 1 away goal, and Uruguay scored 0, Costa Rica will be the winner of the playoff.
If the teams are still tied both on aggregate score and away goals rule (e.g. both matches end 0-0) then the teams will play extra time, and failing any resolution, decide the match on penalty kicks.
USA 2 Costa Rica 2