Iraq's Rebin Ghareeb is shown a red card by referee Anthony Taylor. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

In the FIFA World Cup 2026, if two or more teams finish level on points in the group stage, their head-to-head record is first used to break that tie, followed by overall goal difference and total goals scored.

If all the above parameters remain level, the Team Conduct Score becomes the difference maker.

The Team Conduct Score converts the yellow and red cards accumulated by a team into a disciplinary tally, which is then compared with teams tied on all other tiebreakers.

Has it been used before and will it come into play?

In the 2018 edition, the Team Conduct Score was utilised to determine who finishes second between Senegal and Japan. Both teams remained level in the head-to-head record, goal difference and goals scored at the end of the group stage.

Ultimately, Japan qualified for the Round of 16 as it had a better Conduct Score, minus four points to Senegal’s minus six points.

In 2026, with the extended format, the possibility of the Conduct Score being enforced remains on the cards. It will also come into play in the third-placed teams points table, where Conduct Score is the fourth tiebreaker after total points, goal difference and goal scored.

If two or more teams end up with the same Conduct Score, after it comes into play, their FIFA Rankings would be used as the final tiebreaker.

Published on Jun 27, 2026