Going into the final day of group play at the World Cup, there are essentially eight teams vying for four spots in the round of 32.Tournament co-hosts the United States, Canada and Mexico have all advanced, along with France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Norway and others.The U.S. will face Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday in Santa Clara, California, while Canada heads to Southern California to face South Africa on Sunday. Other marquee matchups are set, including Morocco versus the Netherlands, Japan versus Brazil and Norway versus Ivory Coast.Third place in a group is no guarantee of advancing. The eight best third-place teams get in with ties broken by goal differential and goals scored, if necessary.Teams with four points — a win, a draw and a loss — almost certainly will make the round of 32. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sweden, Ecuador and Paraguay have already advanced that way.
Scotland and its passionate fans are waiting for lots of things to go right to make the knockout stage in a long shot bid with three points.Here’s what to watch Saturday:Group LPanama vs. England and Croatia vs. Ghana (5 p.m. ET): England and Ghana advance with anything other than blowout losses and could still advance. Croatia gets through with a win or a draw, while Panama has already been eliminated.
