World Cup 91 qualification
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 165 |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 1,650 |
World Cup 91 qualification was a series of games to determine the 30 teams that would join hosts Graintfjall and Farfadillis at the World Cup 91 finals.
Format
The qualification structure was as follows:
- Group stage: The 165 qualifying entrants were divided into fifteen groups of eleven teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The winners of each group directly qualified for the World Cup finals, while the runners-up and third-placed teams advanced to the playoffs.
- Playoffs: The fifteen group runners-up and third-placed teams who failed to qualify directly were paired into fifteen two-legged playoff ties. The winners of each tie qualified for the World Cup finals.
Tiebreakers
In the group stage, the ranking of teams in each group was 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 tied teams;
- Goal difference in matches between tied teams;
- Overall goal difference;
- Drawing of lots (OOC: RP Bonus).
In the event that more than two teams were initially tied and at least one team won or lost a tiebreaker, the tiebreaking procedure would restart from the first tiebreaker for any teams which might still be tied. The same criteria were applied to rank the group runners-up, which determined 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 Baptism of Fire 77. Teams were drawn consecutively into Groups 1 to 20, 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.
