Steve Clarke\u2019s side defeated Haiti in their opening match before a slim 1-0 loss to Morocco. A dispiriting defeat to Brazil left them with just three points<\/a> and a goal difference of -3, as well as an agonising wait to determine if they\u2019ll make it into the knockout rounds. <\/p>\n From 12 groups only the best eight third placed finishers will progress meaning Scotland need four teams to finish third with fewer than three points or a worse goal difference than them (-3) to qualify. <\/p>\n The Scots may not know their fate until the final group stage matches have been played meaning a wait until Sunday and the conclusion of Group J\u2019s fixtures. South Africa\u2019s victory over South Korea<\/a> in Group A and Ecuador\u2019s stunning triumph over Germany<\/a> in Group E are already significant blows that have severely narrowed their route to the knockouts. <\/p>\n How can Scotland qualify for the knockout rounds? <\/p>\n Following their defeat to Brazil, Scotland\u2019s progress to the next stage of the tournament \u2013 which would put them in the knockout rounds for the very first time \u2013 is out of their hands.<\/p>\n Over the next few day, certain results will need to fall in their favour in order for them to book a spot in the last-32, but what scenarios from each group will hand the Scots a place in the next stage of the competition? Scotland need at least four results to go their way. <\/p>\n Here is how the third-placed sides currently stand:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Thursday 25 June<\/p>\n Fixtures<\/p>\n Japan vs Sweden (Group F) – 12am BST <\/p>\n Tunisia vs Netherlands (Group F) – 12am BST <\/p>\n Paraguay vs Australia (Group D) – 3am BST <\/p>\n Turkey vs USA (Group D) – 3am BST<\/p>\n<\/p>\n What Scotland need:<\/p>\n In Group F, the current third placed team, Sweden, have three points and face Japan who are second with four. Japan need to win that match and to such an extent that Sweden\u2019s goal difference (currently 0) is worse than Scotland\u2019s (-3). Sweden would still have the advantage on goals scored, though, so Scotland require a four-goal Japan victory. <\/p>\n In Group D, Australia and Paraguay are second and third but meet in their final game. The losers of that match would end the group with three points, while a draw would leave both sides on four and ahead of Scotland. The Tartan Army therefore need Australia to win by two goals. <\/p>\n Friday 25 June<\/p>\n Fixtures<\/p>\n Norway vs France (Group I) \u2013 8pm BST <\/p>\n Senegal vs Iraq (Group I) \u2013 8pm BST <\/p>\n Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia (Group H) – 1am BST<\/p>\n Uruguay vs Spain (Group H) \u2013 1am BST<\/p>\n Egypt vs Iran (Group G) \u2013 4am BST <\/p>\n New Zealand vs Belgium (Group G) \u2013 4am BST<\/p>\n What Scotland need<\/p>\n In Group I, a draw between Senegal and Iraq would be the ideal result. Iraq would need to win 3-0 to qualify while for Senegal, even a one-goal win would be enough. Scotland require a draw between Senegal and Iraq, or a narrow Iraq win. <\/p>\n In Group H, while at least one of Cape Verde or Saudi Arabia are guaranteed to better Scotland\u2019s total, a victory for Spain against Uruguay would result in the third-placed team only finishing on two points. Scotland require a Spain win. <\/p>\n Group G sees the crucial match played between Egypt v Iran. A win for Egypt means the team finishing third, either Iran or Belgium, will have fewer than Scotland\u2019s three points. Scotland require an Egypt win. <\/p>\n Saturday 26 June <\/p>\n Fixtures<\/p>\n Croatia vs Ghana (Group L) \u2013 10pm BST<\/p>\n Panama vs England (Group L) \u2013 10pm BST <\/p>\n Colombia vs Portugal (Group K) \u2013 12.30am BST<\/p>\n DR Congo vs Uzbekistan (Group K) \u2013 12.30am BST<\/p>\n Algeria vs Austria (Group J) \u2013 3am BST <\/p>\n Jordan vs Argentina (Group J) \u2013 3am BST <\/p>\n What Scotland need: <\/p>\n In Group L. Should Croatia earn a point or better against Ghana then the third-place finisher would have more points than Scotland. Scotland need Ghana to beat Croatia by three goals. <\/p>\n Group K sees DR Congo and Uzbekistan face off for third place. A draw would be ideal or a narrow win for Uzbekistan who have a goal difference of -7. If DR Congo win they will finish third with four points. Scotland need DR Congo to fail to win. <\/p>\n In Group J, Austria and Algeria sit second and third respectively and both have three points. Algeria have the worse goal difference heading into their meeting so Scotland need an Austria win, and by two goals. <\/p>\n Here are the full group stage standings:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Who will Scotland play in the knockout rounds if they advance? <\/p>\n There are still plenty of scenarios and results which will influence Scotland\u2019s route through the knockout rounds should they get there. But, having finished third in Group C, they are set to face Group A winners Mexico in the last-32. <\/p>\n If Steve Clarke\u2019s men win that tie they could then face England in the round of 16, providing Thomas Tuchel\u2019s men finish top of Group L and then defeat Algeria in the last-32. If the Scots defeat their old enemy, then a rematch against Brazil could be on the cards otherwise they could face one of Japan, Ivory Coast or Norway in the quarter-finals as things stand. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658464,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,221052,221053,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-658463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-optamatchid2608293","tag-optauuidspvh4xw4rpclalcf1jhsrv2s","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Scott](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/01KVXTXRJ8G2QNYK48674J9G83.jpg\")
Scott McKenna was caught in possession leading to Brazil\u2019s opening goal (PA)<\/p>\n![\"Scotland](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2026-06-24T234741Z_1639430530_UP1EM6O1U3G0K_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-WORLDCUP-SCO-BRA.JPG\")
Scotland fans now face a nervous wait to see if their side will qualify for the knockout rounds (Reuters)<\/p>\n