What Is a Hexagonal Table in Soccer?
A hexagonal table in soccer is a group competition of six teams. Any soccer competition with a single-table grouping of six teams is a hexagonal table, but they are commonly associated with FIFA World Cup qualification.
Other People Are Reading
-
Facing the Competition
-
Hexagonal tables are not single elimination. They are played round-robin style. Teams play all of the other teams both home and away during World Cup qualifying.
Awarding Points
-
Teams are awarded three points for a win and one point for a tie. The goal is to earn more points than the opposition. The team finishing with the most points is the group champion.
-
Reaching a Hexagonal
-
Teams may have to qualify for a hexagonal. In the CONCACAF region prior to the 2010 World Cup, 34 teams were reduced to the hexagonal round after three rounds of qualifying. However virtually all European member associations entered into hexagonal competition at the start of qualifying, with 48 of 53 teams placed into eight hexagonal tables while the remaining five teams played in their own group.
How to Advance
-
Varying rules apply. In CONCACAF, the top three hexagonal finishers automatically reached the 2010 World Cup, with the fourth-place finisher entering into a playoff with a South American team. In Europe, the eight hexagonal winners, along with the winner of the five-team group, advanced to the World Cup. The eight best second place teams entered a playoff for four additional World Cup spots.
Tiebreakers
-
If teams finish the hexagonal tied on points, a tiebreaker system is in place to determine final standings. These tiebreakers include statistics like head-to-head results, goal difference, goals scored, goals against, and possibly even a coin flip.
-
References
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of C Ling Fan
