The 12 teams first play in their provincial championships. Connacht and Ulster each contain two teams, so their championships are played as a single match.
In Leinster and Munster, there are four teams in the provincial championships. They play each other in a round-robin phase, with two teams progressing to the final.[4]
Group stage
The 12 teams are drawn into four groups of three teams; seeding is based on performance in the provincial championships. Each team plays each other team in its group once, earning three points for a win and one for a draw.[5]
Tiebreakers for group ranking
If two teams are level on points, the tie-break is:
winners of the head-to-head game are ranked ahead
if the head-to-head match was a draw, then whichever team scored more points in the game is ranked ahead (e.g. 1-15 beats 2–12)
if the head-to-head match was an exact draw, ranking is determined by the points difference (i.e. total scored minus total conceded in all games)
if the points difference is equal, ranking is determined by the total scored
If three teams are level on league points, rankings are determined solely by points difference.
The top two in each group progress to the All-Ireland quarter-finals. Quarter-finals and semi-finals are "results on the day," with 20 minutes' extra time being played in the event of a draw, and a free-kick shootout being taken from a 30 m (33 yd) distance in the event of a draw after extra time.[6] If the All-Ireland final is a draw, the game is replayed.
