Euro 2012 group stage tie-breaking rules

You may read the official UEFA Euro 2012 Regulations here; what follows is my summary. If you know all this, you may jump directly to how these rules apply to groups A, B, C, or D.

Eight tie-breaking criteria may be used at the group stage. These are always used in order and only when applicable. Once a criterion fails to apply, we proceed down the list. We never move back up the list, even if the number of teams that are tied should change after the application of a later criterion. Say there are three tied teams: A, B, C. Criterion #1 fails to break the tie. Criterion #2 eliminates team C, but teams A and B are still tied. Criterion #3 breaks the tie by using the same rules as if three teams were still tied. As you will see, this is relevant and proper in some (rather rare) scenarios.

Here are the eight tie-breaking criteria:

1. Alternate standings (AS). "Higher number of points obtained in the matches between the teams in question." If two teams are tied (A, B), whoever won the match between A and B will advance; this is also sometimes called the criterion of direct confrontation. If three teams are tied (A, B, C), their points are recalculated as if this were a three-team group, thus ignoring the outcomes of all matches in which team D played. Hence the name "alternate" standings.


2. Alternate goal difference (AGD). "Superior goal difference in the matches between the teams in question." In a two-way tie not broken by AS, the alternate goal difference will also be identical and we will need to move to the third criterion (below). In a three-way tie, the import of team D is once again ignored and the goal difference is recalculated. This is done by ignoring any goals that the three tied teams A-B-C have scored against or conceded to team D.


3. Alternate goal scoring (AGS). "Higher number of goals scored in the matches by the teams in question." Again we ignore goals scored against the other team(s). In two-way ties, this will again fail to break the tie. In three-way ties, this is often the deciding criterion. This is also the first applicable criterion in a four-way tie, since the only way to get a four-way tie is if all group matches were draws, and in that case both AS and AGD would obviously be identical for all four teams. (If all the draws also had the same score, like 0-0 or 1-1, then criterion #6 becomes the first applicable, since OGD and OGS will also be identical for all teams).


4. Overall goal difference (OGD). "Superior goal difference in all the group matches." Should the first three criteria fail to break the tie, the import of the other (non-tied) teams is reconsidered, so all the goals scored and conceded against all teams are counted.


5. Overall goal scoring (OGS). "Higher number of goals scored in all the group matches." Same as above: all goals scored count.


6. UEFA Ranking (RK). "Position in the UEFA national team coefficient ranking system." These rankings are calculated according to many criteria and include the international success of the nation's club teams over the last few years. See the full rankings here.


7. Fair play (FP). Of the tied teams, that or those with the fewest red cards advance. If that fails to break the tie, yellow cards are considered. If that fails to break the tie, the number of fouls committed is considered. 


8. Drawing of lots (DL). The old-fashioned coin toss.

No international competition has ever required more than the fifth criterion for tie-breaking. It's also highly debatable whether UEFA rankings should come before fair play, as the latter applies to the current tournament and the former doesn't. This is a real issue, because Groups B and C in Euro 2012 may have ties that will only be broken by the UEFA coefficient ranking system. A rare possibility, but still.

See my group-by-group analysis in the following posts:

GROUP A --- GROUP B --- GROUP C --- GROUP D

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