Are Scotland out of the World Cup? How mixed overnight results impacted Scotland World Cup fate
Scotland finally get one result in their favour but is it enough to stay in World Cup?
Scotland are on the verge of exiting the World Cup despite one result finally landing in their favour overnight.
After the 3-0 defeat by Brazil in Miami that left Scotland third in Group C with three points and a goal difference of -3, Steve Clarke's side faced an anxious wait to discover whether they would reach the knockout stages of a major tournament for the first time in history.
With only the eight best placed teams who finished third across the 12 groups joining the winners and runners-up in the round of 32, Scotland were left hoping that other teams could do them a favour.
However, their hopes have suffered blow after blow with results failing to help their cause.
The latest setback arrived on Friday night when Senegal trounced Iraq 5-1 to finish third in Group I on three points and a +2 goal difference to drop Scotland into ninth place in the third-place standings.
A rare World Cup favour
One result finally went Scotland's way in the early hours of Saturday morning when Uruguay lost 1-0 to Spain to finish on two points in Group H and become the first third-placed side to be eliminated with a worse record than Scotland.
However, more bad news followed for Scotland in Group G as the match between Egypt and Iran finished in a 1-1 draw. Scotland needed Egypt to win as the result leaves Iran third on three points with a goal difference of zero, dropping Scotland to 10th in the third-place ranking.
It means there is now no margin for error left for Scotland, who will be officially eliminated from the tournament on Saturday night if Ghana fail to beat Croatia by at least three goals in Group L. That match kicks off at 10pm UK time in Philadelphia.
Even if this unlikely result transpires, Scotland would still need favourable outcomes in the two remaining unfinished groups in the early hours of Sunday morning to stay in the World Cup.
In Group K, Scotland would be looking for the match between DR Congo and Uzbekistan to end in a draw, or for Uzbekistan to win by three goals or less. That game starts at 12.30am UK time in Atlanta.
Finally, Scotland would require Austria to beat Algeria by at least a two-goal margin in the final match in Group J, which kicks off at 3am UK time on Sunday morning in Kansas.
It seems only a matter of time before Scotland are sent home from a ninth World Cup where they have failed to progress beyond the group stages with data providers Opta now rating their chances of progression at just 0.07 per cent.
Cape Verde, meanwhile, are celebrating qualifying the knockout phase on their World Cup debut after drawing 0-0 with Saudi Arabia to finish runners-up in Group H– a point above third-placed Uruguay. Cape Verde, an African country with a population of just over 500,000, will now come up against reigning champions Argentina in Miami next Friday.
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