World Cup 88 qualification
 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 180 |
World Cup 88 qualification is an upcoming series of games to determine the 30 teams that will join hosts Cassadaigua and Chromatika at the World Cup 88 finals.
Format
The qualification structure is as follows:
- Group stage: The 180 qualifying entrants were divided into eighteen groups of ten teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The winners of each group and the six group runners-up with the best records will directly qualify for the World Cup finals, while the remaining runners-up will advance to the play-offs.
- Play-offs: The twelve group runners-up who fail to qualify directly will be paired into six two-legged playoff ties. The winners of each tie will qualify for the World Cup finals.
Tiebreakers
In the group stage, the ranking of teams in each group will be based on the following criteria:
- Points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss);
- Points in matches between teams initially tied on points;
- Goal difference in matches between teams initially tied on points;
- Overall goal difference;
- Drawing of lots (OOC: cumulative roleplay bonus).
In the event that more than two teams are initially tied and at least one team wins or loses a tiebreaker, the tiebreaking procedure would continue with the next criterion on the list, with results from all initially tied teams still included in the "head-to-head" calculation. The same criteria will be applied to rank the group runners-up, which determined the three directly-qualified runners-up and the seeding for the playoffs.
Group stage
Seeding
Teams were seeded into one of ten pots according to the KPB ranking system, updated as of the end of the 75th Baptism of Fire; ties between teams with the same rank were broken by the order in which the tied teams registered for the tournament, with the first team(s) to register seeded highest. Teams will be drawn consecutively into Groups 1 to 18, with the positions of each team in their group (for the purposes of determining the match schedules in each group) determined by a computerised draw after the conclusion of the draw ceremony.
Groups
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7
Group 8
Group 9
Group 10
Group 11
Group 12
Group 13
Group 14
Group 15
Group 16
Group 17
Group 18
Ranking of group runners-up
Playoffs
The twelve group runners-up that do not qualify directly will be paired into six two-legged playoff ties by the serpentine method (i.e. the best runners-up play the worst runners-up, the second-best runners-up play the second-worst runners-up, etc.). The lower-ranked team in each tie will play the first leg at home.