group stage

English

group stage (plural group stages)

(sports) a stage of a tournament where teams in the same group play each other, typically followed by a knockout stage, to which the best team(s) of each group advance
- 2011 December 7, Phil McNulty, “Man City 2 - 0 Bayern Munich”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:
  Their ambition of qualifying from the group stage was helped by Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes' decision to relegate many of his key players to the bench, having already won the group. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm, Mario Gomez, Franck Ribery and Thomas Mueller all watched from the sidelines.