Plotting England and Scotland’s routes through the World Cup

If England get off to a great start against Croatia and go on to win their group they

would play a third-placed team in the first knockout stage, either in East Rutherford or Philadelphia.

However, the most complicated World Cup ever becomes even more confusing when trying to work out their opponents.

There are 495 different combinations of how groups could provide the eight advancing third-placed teams. We will not go through them all.

Only five groups could provide England’s opponents though: E, H, I, J or K. So, any one of 20 teams right now.

If we were to take a stab, that would likely involve Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde, Senegal, Norway, Austria, Algeria, Uzbekistan or the winner of the DR Congo play-off path.

It should present a winnable tie for England, though no one wants to meet Erling Haaland’s Norway.

Finish second in the group? England would move into the other half of the bracket and fly to Toronto to take on the runners-up of Group K, and the odds are that would be Colombia.

If Scotland shock the world and win Group C, they would face the runners-up of Group F, Japan or Tunisia maybe, in Houston. If they were second they would jet off to Mexico to play the winners of the same group, the favourites being Portugal, in Guadalupe.

Finishing third and advancing would mean Scotland playing the winners of groups A, E or I – decided by which groups provide the third-placed teams.

If Scotland were to get Group A, they would probably head off to Mexico City to take on Mexico. For Group E it could be well be Germany in Foxborough. From Group I, a round of 32 tie against France in East Rutherford might be waiting.