Scotland: What Friday’s results mean for their qualification
After Scotland’s 3-0 loss to Brazil on Wednesday, their hopes of progressing to the knockout rounds at the World Cup are out of their hands.
With eight of the 12 third-placed teams progressing, Scotland are now 10th in the third-placed table, and, with just one of the three results going in their favour on Friday, they need a miracle to make it through.
Scotland’s chances now sit at just 0.05%. After their final group game, they had a 42% chance of qualification.
Spain did Scotland a favour by defeating Uruguay, but Senegal’s 5-0 thumping of Iraq earlier in the day saw them leapfrog Scotland in the third-place table.
In the final group of the day, Scotland needed Egypt to defeat Iran. They went ahead early on through Mahmoud Saber but Ramin Rezaeian responded to secure a point for Iran.
How Scotland can qualify
With the final three groups remaining, Scotland need all of the following scenarios to unfold:
Saturday
Group L
Croatia to lose to Ghana by three goals or more.
Group K
DR Congo to draw with Uzbekistan OR Uzbekistan to win by three goals or less.
Group J
Austria to beat Algeria by two goals or more OR Algeria to beat Austria by four goals or more. Both teams need a draw to
Previous results:
Wednesday
Group A
Czechia fail to beat Mexico and South Africa fail to beat South Korea OR Czechia fail to beat Mexico and South Africa beat South Korea by four goals or more. – South Africa’s 1-0 win saw South Korea finish third with -1 goal difference.
Thursday
Group E
Ecuador to fail to beat Germany and Curacao to fail to beat Ivory Coast OR Curacao to win by four goals or more and Ecuador fail to win. – Ecuador’s 2-1 win over Germany saw them reach the knockout stages by finishing third with four points.
Group F
Sweden to lose to Japan by four or more goals. – A 1-1 draw for Sweden guarantees them a spot in the next round with four points.
Group D
Paraguay to lose to Australia by two or more goals OR Australia to lose to Paraguay by four or more goals. – Both teams knew a draw would see them through to the knockout rounds, and they were happy enough with a 0-0 draw.
Friday
Group I
Senegal to draw with Iraq OR Iraq beat Senegal by two goals or less. – Senegal’s 5-0 thrashing of Iraq saw them book their place in the knockout rounds with three points and a +2 goal difference.
Group H
Uruguay to lose to Spain. – Alex Baena’s winner ensured that Scotland’s hopes, however slim, would continue into the final day of group action.
Group G
Iran to lose to Egypt – Iran’s 1-1 draw to Egypt moves them to three points with 0 goal difference.
Cover Photo: Flag of Scotland by Christoph Strassler used under license by CC BY-SA 2.0.
