Why Scotland’s World Cup advancement chances as 3rd-place team need to root for Germany, Ivory Coast, Australia, Iraq, Egypt, Spain, Uzbekistan and Austria

The Scottish national team has never advanced to the knockout rounds at a World Cup.

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They’ve got a chance to do it in this expanded tournament as a third-place team, but they need some help. There’s a lot Scotland’s fans can root for in the days ahead to give themselves a better chance.

Scotland is done playing, so it’s just watching and hoping at this point.

The Athletic put out a new tool that shows how each match’s result can help or hurt Scotland’s chances of being one of the eight-best third-place teams.

We’ve picked out the key points there and have them here.

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Who should Scotland root for?

On Thursday, June 25, Scotland needs to root for Ivory Coast, Germany and Australia.

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All three of those winners keep Scotland’s chances of advancing above 40%. Losses by those team lower the chances considerably.

On Friday, June 26, the key results needed are an Iraq win (or draw), a Spain win and an Egypt win. They have similar impacts to the Thursday result.

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Then on Friday, June 27, Scotland needs help from Uzbekistan (or a draw) and Austria.

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If most of those results happen, Scotland will have a great chance.

If not, the Scottish fans’ hearts could be broken again.

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