Why are Turkey and Haiti out of the World Cup? Fifa's new rule change explained

Why are Turkey and Haiti out of the World Cup? Fifa's new rule change explained

Turkey and Haiti have been eliminated from the World Cup following Fifa's new rule change for how the group stages work. Despite it appearing mathematically possible for both teams to finish third and potentially advance as one of the best third-place teams, the new rule prevents this. The governing body has moved to prioritise head-to-head records over goal difference when teams finish level on points, fundamentally altering how group-stage fates are determined. For Turkey, this means their losses to Australia and Paraguay have mathematically condemned them to bottom place in Group D, regardless of what happens in their remaining fixture against co-hosts USA. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Likewise, Haiti's losses to Scotland and Brazil mean they will finish bottom of Group C, no matter the result of their final game against Morocco. Turkey fell 1-0 to Paraguay in their second Group D encounter, having already suffered a 2-0 defeat against Australia in their opening fixture. Across their two group stage defeats, Vincenzo Montella's men attempted an astonishing 62 shots, including 32 against Paraguay alone. Many had tipped Turkey as a dark horse heading into the tournament, with expectations high both domestically and internationally that they would advance from Group D. LATEST SPORTS NEWS World Cup day 10: Netherlands in action against Sweden before Germany plays Ivory Coast Scotland lose to Morocco 1-0 as referee centre of attention in feisty encounter LIV Golf star becomes first player to receive two-shot penalty for club throw at US Open Montella cut a dejected figure in his post-match press conference, though he refused to criticise his players. He said: "I'm sad, but also very proud of my players. They gave their all until the final whistle. Football is like that sometimes. "I am very, very sorry. There were high expectations on behalf of our nation. Our expectations were also high. "I am also very sorry on behalf of the TFF [Turkish Footba