It’s quite simple really. For the U.S. to advance in the World Cup, they need only a draw or victory against Germany. A loss and things get really hairy. Here’s a complete breakdown.
The U.S. is in if they lose to Germany and…
-Ghana and Portugal draw
-Ghana beats Portugal by one goal and the U.S. loses by one goal.
-Ghana doesn’t have a +2 advantage in goal differential
-Portugal beats Ghana by less than five goals
This tweet from Chris Bunn gives you a graphical look at the outcomes. Green and the U.S. advances, red and the U.S. goes home. And of course, the dreaded goal differential decides tiebreaks.
This is where we’re at. Green advances us, Red doesn’t. Obvi. Goals for tiebreaker comes into play in a few cells pic.twitter.com/ywciqRQNpN
— Chris Bunn (@ChrisBunn247) June 23, 2014
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So let’s just go out and beat Germany, right? Cause that wouldn’t be hard.
Photo: USATODAYSPORTS/Mark Rebilas