Top four ranked teams make semi-finals for first time

The same ranking system was used for the Club World Cup last year, though one of the four top seeds (Real Madrid) made it to the semi-finals.

The top four teams in Fifa's world rankings have made the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time.

World football's governing body said it wanted to ensure the four top-ranked countries could not meet earlier in the knockout rounds, thus potentially saving blockbuster games for later in the tournament.