Scotland losing 3-0 to Brazil still leaves them with a chance of qualifying for the World Cup round of 32. Despite also being beaten 1-0 by Morocco, their win over Haiti by the same score line means they have finished third in Group C.
Eight of the 12 third-placed teams progress to the knockout stages, in which those dozen nations are ranked against each other. Scotland currently ranks seventh-best because of their -3 goal difference, but all of the sides who are below them have yet to play their final group stage games.
Belgium, Cape Verde, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador and Senegal are the five currently with worse records than them, albeit through two games. Algeria, Croatia, Paraguay and Sweden are the four ahead of them who could still drop down the standings with heavy defeats in their last match.
Paraguay play Australia, and an Aussie win by two clear goals would move Scotland ahead of the South American side. Alternatively, with both Group D teams on three points, a four-goal win for Paraguay would drop Australia into third place, and below the Scots on goal difference
Ecuador are currently third in Group E on one point, so Scotland need them not to beat Germany, while the Ivory Coast must avoid defeat against Curacao. The latter beating their African rivals by four goals, combined with the four-time champions not losing to Ecuador, would leave Ivory Coast in third with a worse goal difference than Scotland.
Over in Group F, a 4-0 win for Japan against Sweden, who lost by that margin last time out to the Netherlands, is what Scotland are hoping for. Japan ending up in third by losing to the Swedes would be bad news, as both are already on four points.
Group G is one to watch, with Belgium and Iran currently level on two points behind group leaders Egypt. Scotland will be cheering on the latter and New Zealand to beat their opponents.
There is a similar situation in Group H, with Scotland wanting Saudi Arabia and Spain to win their games against Cape Verde and Uruguay. Those results would leave third place on two points.
Iraq is who Scotland have to root for in Group I. A Senegal win would move the Africa Cup of Nations finalists ahead of Steve Clarke’s side.
Group J sees second-placed Austria face Algeria in third. Scotland will want the Europeans to do them a favour by beating their opponents by two clear goals to reduce their ranking sufficiently.
Uzbekistan could play a significant role in Scotland’s making the knockout stages. If they narrowly beat DR Congo, not only would that drop the African nation down to fourth, but it would also send them third with a worse goal difference than the Scots.
England in Group L cannot affect whether Scotland qualifies. Clarke and Co need Ghana to beat Croatia by three clear goals to drop them down the rankings.
