MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Scotland men’s soccer team’s superfans known as the Tartan Army might want to come up with a few new rousing chants to support the likes of Egypt, Iraq, Spain and Uzbekistan. Maybe a few other teams, too.
Scotland is going to need some help.
The games might be done for the Scots at the 2026 World Cup, except for one: the waiting game. Scotland finished third in Group C (behind Brazil and Morocco, which had seven points apiece), not good enough to automatically advance but potentially good enough to grab one of the eight spots in the round of 32 that are allocated to the best third-place teams.
“It’s a waiting game, unfortunately,” Scotland midfielder Kenny McLean said. “Maybe results will go our way.”
Each of the 48 teams at this World Cup co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States were assigned to a group of four. The teams finishing first and second in those groups automatically move into the knockout stage, so with 12 groups, that takes up 24 spots on a 32-team bracket.
The teams that finished last in each of the 12 groups are eliminated.
That leaves 12 third-place finishers for the eight remaining spots. A total of four standings points will almost certainly be enough to advance; three would get it done for many teams as well. Ties within the third-place teams, with no head-to-head tiebreaker possible because they’re all in different groups, will be settled by goal difference, goals scored, FIFA’s “fair play” ranking and FIFA’s world ranking, if necessary.
Bosnia-Herzegovina — which finished third in Group B with four points after one win, one loss and one tie — is one of those qualifying teams and will face the U.S., which won Group D, in a knockout match Wednesday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Ecuador, which also went 1-1-1 and was third in Group E after knocking off Germany on Thursday, is another third-place team that’s moving on. So is Sweden, which advanced with a 1-1 draw against Japan in Group F.
Paraguay — which finished Group D play with a scoreless draw against Australia on Thursday night — also has four points and seems certain to make the next round, but has not yet clinched because of its minus-2 goal differential.
However, plenty of teams, including Scotland (three points, with a minus-3 goal differential) will have no choice other than to sit around and wait for results that will decide their fate — which, in some cases, might not be decided until Saturday night. If Egypt, Iraq, Spain and Uzbekistan all win their final matches in group play, the Scots would probably advance.
There are other paths, too. There are also countless ways for them to miss out.
“We made mistakes, but that happens in football,” Scotland defender Nathan Patterson said. “And now we just have to hope things go our way.”