Scotland make their return to the World Cup stage for the first time in 28 years.
The Tartan Army will cross the Atlantic in full force as Steve Clarke becomes the first manager to lead his country out at a World Cup since Craig Brown did so at France 1998.
It is difficult to know what to expect from Scotland. The fact that three teams advance out of several groups makes life slightly easier for them, but Clarke’s teams have disappointed at the last two European Championships.
In a group that contains potential wild cards Haiti and a pair of heavyweights in Morocco and Brazil, the Scottish are facing quite the task.
Still, football – or indeed sport in general – is nothing without optimism. Here, we will map out Scotland’s potential route to the World Cup final.
If Scotland finish third in Group C
The most likely outcome is that Scotland finish behind Morocco and Brazil (in no particular order) to emerge out of Group C.
That is not a certainty, but it would hardly be a surprise either – even adding the caveat that Scotland have never made it to the second stage of a World Cup.
In that event, they would likely play one of France, Germany or Mexico at the start of the final week of June.
Should they beat Mexico, they could play against England in the last-16. If they were to beat France or Germany, they’d play the other one of those two teams at that stage.
From there, they could meet Netherlands or Brazil in the quarter-final and then potentially Spain, Portugal or Argentina in the semis.
If Scotland finish second in Group C
Should Clarke’s side finish in the top two in Group C, the path is slightly more favourable.
That could see them potentially play Netherlands in the last-32. Win that, and Scotland could face any of South Africa, South Korea, Czechia, Canada, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar and Switzerland in the last-16.
They could then potentially play France in the quarter-finals, Spain in the semi-finals and any of England, Brazil, Portugal and Argentina in the final.
If Scotland win Group C
In the unlikely event that Scotland win Group C, their route onwards would look more forgiving.
Japan or Sweden could be their opponents in the last-32 before a potential last-16 meeting against Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Senegal or Norway.
If they were to reach the quarter-finals, England would likely await, while Argentina or Portugal could be their opponents in the semi-final, while France or Spain would tee up a stunning final for the Scots.
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