How the World Cup works

But help is at hand, with our stage-by-stage guide...

Preliminary round
• Teams are divided into two groups in which they play each other once. The top three in each group progress to the Super Six stage.

• Teams are awarded four points for a win and two points for a draw or no result.

  
  

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  Tiebreakers
  

• If any teams finish equal on points at the end of the group stages, a series of tiebreakers will be used in order until one team emerges superior (see right).

Super Six phase
• The top three teams from Pool A play the top three teams from Pool B, with four points awarded for a win and two for a draw or no result.

• Teams will also carry forward points from the group phase - but their points allocation will be altered to four points for a win and two points for a draw against qualifying teams and one point for a win and half a point for a draw against non-qualifying countries.

• After the nine Super six games are completed, the four teams with the highest number of points qualify for the semi-finals. In the event of a tie, similar tiebreaker rules to the group phase will be employed.

Semi-finals
• The top team in the Super Six table plays the fourth-placed team, while second plays third.