When teams finish a group with the same number of points, tiebreakers are used to determine the correct ranking. One of the most widely used, but sometimes confusing, is head to head.
How it works
For a two-way tie in which two teams are equal, the process is fairly straightforward and the system looks at the score(s) between the two tied teams. The team that won the head to head match is ranked higher. If more than two teams tied, Tournify creates a “mini-league”, involving only the teams that are tied, and compares their results against each other to determine their ranking — mirroring the system used at almost all major sports events.
An example
Let’s look at a real-world case from a tournament group:
Team | Played | Goals for | Goals against | Goal difference | Points |
Team Red | 3 | 7 | 0 | +7 | 9 |
Team Blue | 3 | 2 | 7 | -5 | 3 |
Team Green | 3 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 3 |
Team Yellow | 3 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 3 |
Team Red clearly tops the group, having won all three of its matches: 1–0 against Team Yellow, 5–0 against Team Blue, and 1–0 against Team Green. The remaining three teams are all tied with 3 points each, so we now apply the head to head tiebreaker to separate them.
We create a mini-league with only the results between the tied teams:
Match | Result |
Team Blue - Team Green | 2–1 |
Team Green - Team Yellow | 1-0 |
Team Yellow - Team Blue | 1–0 |
Based on these results, the sub-table looks as follows:
Team | Played | Goals for | Goals against | Goal difference | Points |
Team Blue | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
Team Green | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
Team Yellow | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
All three teams are still tied on the first two head to head criteria: points and goal difference. Now we go to the next head to head criterium: goals scored. Since Team Yellow has the fewest goals scored in the head to head matches, they drop to fourth place in the group.
Now we are left with Team Blue and Team Green. There are two ways to rank them, depending on your head to head tiebreaker settings:
Reapply head to head criteria (default - as used by e.g. the UEFA)
Continue resolving ties using head to head. In the example, with only two teams still tied, we compare them directly. Since Team Blue won 2-1 from Team Green, Team Blue is ranked higher.
Use overall stats (alternative - as used by e.g. the FIFA)
If you prefer not to apply head-to-head comparisons multiple times (iteration), you should disable "Reapply head to head criteria when two or more teams are still level" from the head to head tiebreaker settings. Tournify would still use the head to head sub-table to eliminate Team Yellow (since they scored fewer goals), but it would not compare Team Blue and Team Green again. Instead, it would go straight to overall goal difference, where Team Green (-1) would be ranked higher than Team Blue (-5).
Tournify gives you full control over how group rankings and tiebreakers are applied. To customize these settings, go to General > Group ranking in your tournament dashboard. Once configured correctly, you can trust that Tournify will always display the standings accurately — and you can refer back to this article anytime for clarification.
In nearly all cases, “Number of points” should be the first criterion in your ranking settings. Tiebreakers such as head to head or goal difference are only to be applied when two or more teams have the same number of points.