Group A - Belgium, Croatia, Macedonia, Scotland, Serbia, and Wales
First and foremost, farewell to Scotland. After obtaining two points in their first two matches, they promptly dropped the next four matches. Perhaps Manager Gordon Strachan will take note that for each loss, the opponent only scored in the 2nd half. Or maybe he'll try to
patch things up with Fergie and learn a thing or two. This does mean that he can employ new formations and younger players for more experience.
Team Played W D L GF GA GD Pts Belgium 6 5 1 0 11 1 10 16 Croatia 6 5 1 0 10 3 7 16 Serbia 6 2 1 3 8 7 1 7 Wales 6 2 0 4 6 14 -8 6 Macedonia 6 1 1 4 3 7 -4 4 Scotland 6 0 2 4 3 9 -6 2 For all intents and purposes, Macedonia is essentially eliminated as well. They can only max out at 17 points and would need either Croatia or Belgium to lose their remaining four matches. Croatia and Belgium face each other once; otherwise Macedonia would have a glimmer at the top. I actually envision them falling to Scotland and ending up at the bottom of the table. By current numbers, Scotland will be at the bottom. Croatia has yet to play Scotland, so they stay at 16 points and Belgium goes down to 13 points. By using the 19 and 14 points threshold, Croatia can already coast on through their final four matches while Belgium only needs one point. If Macedonia ends up at the bottom of the table, the results should be the same, two victories for each Belgium and Croatia. Belgium and Croatia each have 2 home games remaining, but the Croats host Belgium on October 11th. That match will (obviously) be the linchpin that will decide who receives the automatic qualification bid to Brazil. Advantage: Croatia (But ever so slightly) Serbia and Wales, sorry for ignoring you, but you should focus on 2018.