SIMULATIONS - 2026 FIFA World Cup

[NicCarBel]

Turkiye v Paraguay

 

[NicCarBel]

Belgium v Iran

 

[NicCarBel]

 

[NicCarBel]

Results and (non-ordered) standings after Matchday 2




Can only do 1 game at a time for this - so we kick off Matchday 3 in Group D with Turkiye v United States. Both teams sit on 4 points, so should be assured of at least a 3rd place in the group. A win for either side will see them top the group. A draw in this match (coupled with an Australia victory over Paraguay) will mean a 3 way tie at the top of Group D.

 

[NicCarBel]

It's Australia's final group game - and it's do or die for both sides, as Australia faces off with Paraguay in San Francisco





Whilst the Socceroos don't know this at the time of kick-off, Turkiye's victory over USA has confirmed them as Group D winners. For Australia to guarantee advancing to the Round of 32, they must defeat Paraguay - who also needs to win to have a sniff of advancing as third place.

For the Socceroos, a victory will guarantee them second (although being played at the same time as the match above, means they could have theoretically still won the group), draw will see them finish third behind USA, and likely advance to the Round of 32, whereas a loss means elimination from the FIFA World Cup

 

[NicCarBel]

Welp... that's Australia out with 2 draws and a loss - I'll be sorting out all the 3rd places after I finish the Group G games.

Onwards to Vancouver, where New Zealand will face off with Belgium in their final game - with their 5th successive World Cup finals draw (2 draws this tournament, and the 3 in 2010).

Heading into the final match day, Iran sit atop the group on 4 points, with Belgium close behind on 3. Egypt sit in last place on 1 point, behind New Zealand's 2.

A win for the All Whites will mean they finish top of Group G if Egypt defeat Iran. In that scenario, if Iran draws with Egypt, then NZ and Iran will be split by most goals scored (unless NZ defeat Belgium by more than 1 goal)

 

[NicCarBel]

Alrighty - so the group stage is over and here are the full results and standings:


Now some notes on who advances and etc that I've noticed as little anomaly's and what now:

• All positions that were technically decided on head-to-head, were also decided in the same order on the 'traditional' method - with the exception of 3rd/4th in Group B between Bosnia & Herzegovina and Switzerland.
• Interestingly, if Switzerland were given the 3rd place in the group on the 'traditional' method, they would have advanced as one of the best 8 3rd places - however, Bosnia & Herz. are indeed knocked out as they placed 10th of the 12 3rd places in the end.
• The other group I want to highlight is Group L. This group ended with a 3-way tie on 6 points at the top of the table, between England, Croatia and Ghana. Now, in these scenarios, it's not overall GD and GF that decides the order - it is still head-to-head. So, this would mean removing the results for each of the teams against Panama (who finished 4th in the group), and creating their own mini-table - which I've included below. However, this still meant the same order as the 'traditional' method.

All scorers from the Group Stage (own goals are excluded I gather)



Ok, so the 3rd places from Groups A, D, F, H, I, J, K and L will advance alongside each groups first and second place nations - and this is the knockout bracket

 

[NicCarBel]

Because Australia never made that round for knockouts, and also because it's jumbled up in terms of how it eventually played out - I realised I forgot to set up my simulation of the Round of 32 after the actual group stage!

So... the bracket has been entered as of the start of the actual knockout stage (so yes, Germany and Netherlands can still win it), and we'll be following the Socceroos games - so first up will be Australia v Egypt (taking note that Paul Okon-Engstler cannot be included, and thus we'll be treating him as injured, and the rest of the squad will be the bench. Am going to run that sim soon and upload (the one I included to showcase the anthems was me doing a play).