Down to the final day of group play in the World Cup, things can get tricky in trying to determine which teams are moving on to the knockout stage, and which are going home.
FIFA has eight possible tiebreakers to sort through who deserves to advance and who does not, or who wins the group and who comes in second. Wouldn’t you know it, in several cases the first six tiebreakers have not resolved the issue, so FIFA has turned to the seventh, and most controversial measure: “Fair Play Conduct Points.”
Basically, FIFA has decided to reward teams that don’t collect yellow and red cards.