| How
does a team qualify? |
Initially,
eligibility for the tournament is determined by a country's
official FIFA World Rankings as documented on the official FIFA website.
Furthermore, only the top twenty teams in the world
are eligible to enter the qualification stage, based
on rankings at the end of the previous year. Which
means that if a country is in the top twenty in January
but by December they drop out of the top twenty, they
are no longer considered eligible and cannot enter
the competition qualification stage. The qualification
stage is a two-legged home and away affair with an
aggregated score. Fixtures are determined through
a random draw. The
highest ranked
team in each fixture will host the second leg at home.
The winner in each fixture will progress to the main
group stage of the tournament. Away
goal rule is in place, in the event of level scores.
If scores
are still tied, extra time golden goal will be played
until
a goal is scored. If scores are still tied then a
penalty shootout will be
played to determine the victor. |
