Scotland were hoping to hold Brazil to a draw and secure qualification to the Last 32 last night but those hopes were dashed after just 7 minutes when Scott McKenna was caught in possession on the edge of his own penalty area, the ball ricocheting to Vinicius Junior who took the ball round Scottish goalkeeper Angus Gunn to slot into an empty net. A disastrous start. A peculiar VAR decision saved them from going 2 goals down shortly afterwards after another defensive calamity, this time involving Jack Hendry but the VAR obviously thought Hendry kicking Vinicius Juniors leg was a foul by the Brazilian. Very odd but a lifeline. Unfortunately they conceded a second just before the break and, despite a plucky second half performance, could not prevent Cunha from adding a third. Scott McTominay will be disappointed that he did not bury a couple of decent header chances
late on but 3-0 was the final score meaning Scotland finished 3rd in Group C with a -3 goal difference. That leaves them in 7th place out of 12 in the 3rd Place table. I can see Belgium and Senegal overtaking them but can also see Paraguay and/or Algeria losing to fall beneath them, so they may still qualify by the skin of their teeth.
Brazil won Group C with Morocco 2nd after they twice came from behind to beat Haiti 4-2 in an exciting match. Haiti finished bottom of the group though and are eliminated.
Mexico maintained their 100% record to win Group A and send the Czech Republic home as they beat them 3-0. South Africa shocked South Korea with a 1-0 win to secure second place in the group and qualify for the knockout phase for the first time in their history. It leaves Korea third but well placed to make it through as well.
Group B saw Switzerland beat co-hosts Canada 2-1 in their shootout to see who won the group. The Swiss finish top with Canada runners up and also qualifying for the Last 32. Bosnia and Herzegovina also played off against Qatar to see who finished third. It was the European side that triumphed 3-1 to end on 4 points and almost certainly qualify. Qatar go home.
World Cup Prediction Competition 2026
After Mexico 3 Czech Republic 0; South Africa 1 South Korea 0; Switzerland 2 Canada 1; Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 Qatar 1; Scotland 0 Brazil 3; Morocco 4 Haiti 2
Groups A, B and C have now finished which means the points scored from everyone’s predicted final group tables for those groups have been added to overall points totals plus the respective group totals.
This also means we have more bonus prize winners. Luis Brites finished Group A strongly to take the prize for most points in that group with 37. Luis wins £20.
Peter Sarfas and Adam Bozdag both top scored with 40 points each in Group B. They win £10 each.
Peter Sarfas again and Antony Just share the Group C prize with an impressive 52 points each. They win £10 each.
Congratulations to them.
It was an excellent day for Peter Sarfas as he reclaimed top spot overall on 233 points, 11 clear of Alan Dadswell on 222 in second. Adam Wootton sits 3rd on 213 with Peter Sage 4th on 212. Vince Hemsley has climbed into 5th on 209 and Ian Clapinson is back in the prize places in 6th with 208 points. Rebecca Corbould is now 7th on 206 and Anna Lomas and Dean Russell joint 8th on 205. Still close behind.
PLEASE INVITE ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO MAY BE INTERESTED IN TAKING PART.
