AS THE final World Cup group-stage matches are set to be played this evening, Scotland can still qualify for the knockouts — but they will need a miracle.
Following a disastrous night against Brazil, where Steve Clarke's men were the makers of their own downfall in a 3-0 defeat, Scotland’s chances plummeted from almost guaranteed qualification to a pipe dream.
Clarke's side currently sits 10th in the 12-team third-place table, after tumbling from second following Wednesday night’s defeat, with only the top eight progressing to the last 32.
Scotland face an anxious wait to see if their three points and -4 goal difference will be good enough to send them through to the knockouts, with the likelihood being that it will not be.
Opta, a leading sports analytics company that supplies data for 30 sports in 70 countries, has calculated Scotland's chances of progressing following tonight's group matches at just 0.07%.
So there is a chance, but what does Scotland need to happen for them to qualify for their first-ever World Cup knockout stage?
In Saturday’s Group L match, Scotland needs Ghana to beat the current third-placed side, Croatia, by three or more goals.
The African nation has only scored one goal in the tournament so far and is sitting second in their group. A Croatia win would see them leapfrog Gahan.
Scotland will also need Uzbekistan to win or draw against DR Congo in Group K.
If Uzbekistan does win, they cannot do so by four or more goals, as they would then leapfrog Scotland in the best third-place standing table.
Uzbekistan has only scored once this tournament while conceding eight and they are up against an impressive DR Congo side that held Portugal to a 1-1 draw in their opening match.
Scotland would then need Austria to win by two or more goals against Algeria, who currently sit above Clarke’s team in the best third-place finishers.
If any of these fail, then Scotland are officially out of the World Cup.
