England and Scotland’s potential opponents in the first round of the World Cup are now in greater focus after Steve Clarke’s side suffered a 3-0 defeat to Brazil on Thursday morning. As things stand, the Three Lions will play Algeria on July 1 at 5pm, while Tartan Army will play co-host Mexico at 2am on the same day.
Thomas Tuchel’s side were forced to settle for a share of the spoils after a goalless draw with Ghana in Boston on Tuesday night, which leaves them sitting atop the Group L table. Scotland, who had hopes of making a breakthrough, suffered a major setback when they lost 3-0 to Brazil in Group C in Miami on Wednesday night. Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior scored twice for Florida, while Manchester United star Matheus Cunha also scored.
The defeat left Scotland third in their group, making them the sixth-highest third-placed team in the World Cup group overall, but things got worse later that night when South Africa defeated South Korea 1–0.
This Group A result has seen Scotland fall further in the race for third place, now in seventh place out of 12 teams, with only the best eight advancing to the round of 32. The final group game still remains and could further influence the situation.
As it stands, England are scheduled to play Algeria in the Round of 32 of the World Cup, with the clash scheduled to kick off at 5pm UK time in Atlanta on Wednesday, July 1.
There is still room for change in this situation, with England facing Panama in their final Group L game on Saturday, and Algeria facing Austria in the early hours of Sunday. Meanwhile, Scotland still have a chance of securing a place in the knockout stages and will face co-hosts Mexico in Mexico City.
The match will take place on Wednesday 1st July with kick-off at 2am UK time.
Which third-placed team England ultimately face will be determined by FIFA’s complex bracket matrix. This matrix assigns matchups based on the eight teams in third place (out of all 12 groups) accumulating enough points to advance.
If Scotland ultimately qualify for the knockout stages as the third-placed team in Group C, the table could change and England’s likely opponents could change.
Although England will not play any team in Group C, the inclusion or exclusion of the third-placed team in Group C will change the calculation of the matrix and could affect which team in Group E, H, I, J or K is allocated to England.
