Scotland at the World Cup: What do Scotland need to qualify for knockouts?

In Group D, Australia and Paraguay are second and third respectively and meet in their final game. The losers would end the group with three points, while a draw would leave both sides on four.

On we go to Group E. Ecuador and Curacao have one point apiece and play Germany and Ivory Coast respectively. Failure to win would mean whoever finishes third cannot better Scotland’s tally of three points.

In Group F, Scotland will be hoping second-placed Japan beat third-placed Sweden convincingly. A point for Sweden, though, would leave the third-placed finishers on at least four points.

The key fixture in Group G as far as Scotland are concerned is Egypt v Iran. A win for Egypt will ensure the team finishing third will have fewer than three points.

It is the same situation in Group H where Scotland fans will be rooting for Spain to beat Uruguay so the third-placed team can only finish on two points, while in Group I, a draw between Senegal and Iraq would mean the team in third will have just one point.

In Group J, Austria and Algeria – second and third respectively on three points – meet in their final group game, so Scotland would not want that to end in a draw.

DR Congo and Uzbekistan are vying for third place in Group K.

A win for Uzbekistan would give them three points but, with a goal difference of -7, they would need a big win against DR Congo to move above Scotland in the standings.

In Group L, a point or more for Croatia against Ghana could be bad news for Scotland as it would again leave the third-place finishers with four points.

A big win for Ghana, and Panama not beating England, would be Scotland’s ideal scenario from a mathematical point of view.