What results does Scotland need to reach the World Cup knockouts after Uruguay’s game gave them a bit of hope?
The chances might be tough, but Scotland still has a shot at making it to the World Cup knockouts for the first time ever—if a pretty unlikely set of results happens soon.
Steve Clarke’s team is currently 10th in the table for third-placed teams, and only the top eight get to move on to the last 32. After their 3-0 loss to Brazil, Scotland’s chance of qualifying dropped from 42% to just under 7% when matches involving South Korea, Ecuador, and Sweden didn’t go their way.
Then Paraguay and Australia drew 0-0, which helped both teams but hurt Scotland’s chances again, dropping them to about 5%. The latest results are mixed—Spain’s win over Uruguay was good news for Scotland, but Iran’s draw with Egypt kept their hopes pretty slim.
So, what does Scotland need to do to qualify? With a goal difference of -3, it’s going to be really tough. On Saturday, they need Croatia to lose to Ghana by three goals or more, and Uzbekistan to either draw with DR Congo or win by no more than three goals. On top of that, Algeria needs to lose by two or more goals, or Austria by four or more. If Algeria and Austria draw, both teams would advance instead.
According to Opta, Scotland’s chance of moving on is just 0.07%. After the game against Brazil, head coach Steve Clarke said they were “probably going home.” He admitted the team gave Brazil too many chances and deserved to be punished. Clarke said they’ll need to look closely at what went wrong before worrying about what comes next.
What do you think about Scotland’s World Cup performance? Share your thoughts in the comments!