What each team need to reach World Cup knockouts
· Yahoo Sports
The final round of group fixtures is nearing a conclusion, with the path to the World Cup final on 19 July becoming clearer.
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But with 32 of the 48 teams advancing to the knockout rounds, new tie-breaker rules, and a table of third-placed teams to keep track of, staying across the various permutations is far from simple.
As it stands, England sit top of Group L. But Scotland look destined to miss out on qualifying as one of the best third-placed sides.
There is lots still to be decided. Find out the results required to get teams through to the knockout rounds.
BBC Sport has also developed a projection tool that updates in-game to illustrate the schedule all the way to the final.
With dates and times listed alongside the fixtures, planning early morning alarms and potential all-nighters across three host countries and four different time zones has never been easier.
Click here to view the World Cup knockout stages as it stands.
How does knockout qualification work?
Sixteen of the record 48 teams involved in the World Cup will be eliminated at the end of the group stage, leaving 32 nations in the mix for the trophy.
The top two teams from each of the 12 groups will advance to the last 32.
The remaining spots in the knockout stages are taken by the eight third-placed teams with the best records.
If two or more countries are level on points, head-to-head results are used as the first tie-breaker to determine positions.
If the teams remain tied, they are ranked on goal difference, goals scored, Fifa's Team Conduct Score - a disciplinary metric for red and yellow cards, and finally whoever had the higher Fifa ranking in June's published update.
These criteria are applied in the 12 groups of four and to determine the rankings of the 12 third-placed sides.
Group A
Co-hosts Mexico became the first nation to qualify for the knockout stage and won Group A with a 100% record.
El Tri will host a third-placed team from Group C, E, F, H or I in the last 32 on Tuesday - most likely Ecuador.
South Africa beat South Korea 1-0 in their final group stage game to climb into second place and reach the knockout stage for the first time. They will play Canada in the last 32 in Los Angeles on Monday.
That result meant South Korea finished third in the group with three points and they must wait to see if that is enough to send them through.
Czech Republic's defeat by Mexico meant they finished bottom of the table with one point from their three matches.
Group B
Switzerland won the group on seven points with a 2-1 victory over Canada.
The Swiss clinched a last-32 tie against a third-placed team in Vancouver on Thursday, 2 July.
Canada finished as runners-up on goal difference with four points and face a date with South Africa in Los Angeles on Monday.
Bosnia-Herzegovina beat Qatar 3-1 to finish third on four points and will face the United States in the last 32.
South Africa's win over South Korea confirmed Bosnia would be one of the best third-placed teams.
Group C
Five-time winners Brazil topped the group on goal difference with seven points thanks to their 3-0 win over Scotland. They now play Group F runners-up Japan in Houston on Monday.
Morocco went through in second place on seven points after they beat Haiti 4-2. The North Africans' next opponents will be the Netherlands, Group F winners, in Monterrey on Monday.
Scotland finish in third on three points and goal difference of -3, which now looks unlikely to be enough to put them through.
Haiti were already eliminated without scoring a point.
Group D
The United States qualified for the knockout stages on six points as Group D winners and will face Bosnia-Herzegovina in the last 32 in Santa Clara on Wednesday.
Australia on four points joined them with a goalless draw against Paraguay in their final game. They will play Egypt.
Paraguay face a nervous wait to see if they will progress as one of the best eight third-placed sides on four points.
Semi-finalists in 2002, Turkey finish bottom and were eliminated after two games but gained a consolation win over USA in their last match.
Group E
Germany, who finish on six points, had already won the group on head-to-head record before the final day and will face third place from either A, B, C, D or F - most likely Paraguay.
Ivory Coast beat Curacao 2-0 to secure second place on six points, which has set them up for a last 32 tie against Norway.
Ecuador produced a shock 2-1 win over Germany to finish third, and they are guaranteed to be one of the best third-placed teams on four points.
Curacao have been eliminated with one point.
Group F
Netherlands secured top spot - and with it a last-32 tie against Morocco in Monterrey on Monday - on seven points with a 3-1 win over Tunisia.
Japan and Sweden drew 1-1 in their final game, meaning both progressed to the last 32 on five and four points respectively.
Japan took second place and will play Brazil in the next round in Houston on Monday, while Sweden progress as one of the best third-placed sides. Their opponents will be worked out in the next few days but it is likely to be France in New Jersey on Tuesday.
Tunisia are eliminated after three defeats.
Group G
Belgium claimed top spot with a 5-1 win against New Zealand, so will face a third-place finisher in Seattle on Wednesday, 1 July (21:00 BST).
Egypt hung on for a 1-1 draw with Iran to finish in second place, behind Belgium on goal difference. As group runners-up, the Pharaohs will play Australia on Friday, 3 July (19:00 BST).
A point means Iran finish third with three points, and must wait to find out if they are one of the eight-best third place finishers.
New Zealand finish bottom with one point and are out.
Group H
Spain secured top spot in Group H with a 1-0 win against Uruguay, meaning they will face the runner-up of Group J - either Austria or Algeria - in the last 32 on Thursday, 2 July in Los Angeles (20:00 BST).
Cape Verde secured second place in their first ever World Cup campaign by drawing 0-0 with Saudi Arabia, who finished bottom of the group with two points.
The African side will face Argentina in the next round.
Uruguay took two points from three games and finished third, above the Saudis on goal difference.
However, two points was not enough to make them one of the eight-best third-place finishers, and so they are eliminated.
Group I
France secured top spot in the group on nine points with a 4-1 win over a much-changed Norway.
Les Bleus will now play a third-placed team, almost certainly Sweden, in New Jersey on Tuesday.
Norway finish on six points and will take on Ivory Coast in Dallas, also on Tuesday.
Senegal beat Iraq5-0 to finish on three points with a +2 goal difference, giving them a chance of being one of the eight best third-placed teams.
Iraq finish on zero points.
Group J
Argentina have topped the group and will face Cape Verde.
Austria and Algeria are tied on three points and they meet on Sunday (00.00 BST).
Austria have the goal difference advantage so need to draw to progress in second.
Algeria, however, must win if they to go through automatically.
A draw may be enough to send Algeria through in third on four points, and they will know if that is the case as this is the final group to complete.
The runners-up play Spain next.
Jordan cannot progress.
Group K
Colombia have secured a top two spot and will win the group if they avoid defeat against Portugal on Sunday (00:30 BST).
The group winners will play a third-placed team.
Portugal must win to finish first, while a draw will lock second place.
Even if Portugal lose and DR Congo win, Roberto Martinez's team are six goals better off in goal difference so would likely take second.
DR Congo's only chance of second is tobeat Uzbekistan and overhaul that goal difference. A win, however, will put them onto four points which will surely be enough in third.
Uzbekistan must win but can only finish third, and with goal difference of -7 the chances of taking a place in the next round on three points are slim.
Group L
England top the group ahead of Ghana on goal difference and face Panama in their final game on Saturday (20:00 BST).
Thomas Tuchel's men must equal or better Ghana's result against Croatia to remain at the summit and play a third-placed team.
If both games are draws, England win the group.
If both win, top spot would be decided on goal difference - England are currently on +2 and Ghana +1, but the Three Lions have scored three more goals.
Should goal difference finish identical, it will go to disciplinary record (England -1, Ghana -2) and then England would secure it on Fifa world ranking.
Ghana will secure a top-two finish if they win or draw against Croatia.
The Africans will top the group if they better England's result, or win by a big enough margin to overtake them on goal difference.
Ghana will finish third if they lose, but four points should be enough.
Croatia must beat Ghana if they are to secure automatic qualification. A Croatia win and England dropping points would see them top the group.
A draw is very likely to secure safe passage in third, but if they lose a heavy defeat could be damaging to their chances.
Panama, who are yet to open their account, are already eliminated.
How does third-place qualification work?
The eight third-placed teams with the best record will go through to the last 32.
The tiebreakers start with group points, and then goal difference, goals scored, disciplinary record and finally the Fifa world ranking.
The last 32 fixtures are determined by the precise combination of the groups which provide the eight qualifiers.
We started out with 495 possible outcomes, which will gradually reduce as the groups complete.
All remaining combinations for Bosnia-Herzegovina (3B) send them to play United States (1D), so that fixture is locked.
And, for instance, if groups B, E, F, G, H, J, K and L provide the third-placed teams, that would also mean Mexico (1A) would play Ecuador (3E).
What are all the tiebreakers?
When teams are level on points, this is the order used to separate them:
- Head-to-head points between the teams in question. If there are three teams involved, a mini-league is created removing the results against the fourth team
- Head-to-head goal difference
- Head-to-head goals scored
- Group goal difference
- Group goals scored
- Fair play (yellow card -1, red card for two cautions -3, straight red card -4, yellow then straight red -5)
- Fifa world ranking
- Better position in progressively older Fifa world ranking