# Knockout stage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knockout-stage-of-the-2010-fifa-world-cup/544247>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [June 23, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knockout-stage-of-the-2010-fifa-world-cup/544247 "2010-06-23T15:18:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knockout-stage-of-the-2010-fifa-world-cup/544247/1 "2010-06-23T15:18:41Z")

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Who decides that the winner of Group G plays Runners-up of Group H? Brazil may be playing Spain there.  
Are these 2nd round games decided at random or is there some reasoning behind it?

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**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/knockout-stage-of-the-2010-fifa-world-cup/544247/2 "2010-06-23T18:26:14Z")

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Group A is paired with Group B, C with D and so on. Group winners from the one group play runners up from the other. It’s all done by alphabetical order. Which teams are in which groups to begin with was decided after qualification at random, although with a heavy element of seeding.