WEEKLY WHINE

The matrices

There have been many exciting matches at the 2018 Men’s World Cup, featuring stunning goals, incredible saves, and astounding use of the video assistant referee.

So far, six teams – Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Russia, and Uruguay – have made sure of their places in the elimination phase. There are another eighteen who could join them there. But which ones?

Well, obviously, we here at GoobNet totally know the answer to that. We just don’t feel like telling you.

No. Absolutely not. Go away.

All right, fine. How about this: We’ll tell you which teams would advance under all possible combinations of results of the remaining matches.

GROUP A

Russia and Uruguay, having both won twice, are already confirmed as the teams who will advance. They play one another today to decide first place in the group.

	Saudi Arabia win	KSA-EGY draw	Egypt win
Uruguay win	URU first, RUS second EGY, KSA out
URU-RUS draw	RUS first, URU second EGY, KSA out
Russia win

GROUP B

Morocco have played some mighty attractive football so far, but they lost their first two matches and have no possibility of advancing. Regardless, they could still throw a spanner into the works by defeating Spain.

	Spain win	ESP-MAR draw	Morocco win
Iran win	ESP first, IRN second POR, MAR out	IRN first, ESP second POR, MAR out	IRN first If IRN win by more goals than MAR: ESP second, POR out If IRN, MAR win by same margin and IRN score more goals than MAR: POR second, ESP out If IRN, MAR win by same scoreline: Second decided on disciplinary record between POR, ESP [currently ESP 1 yellow, POR 2 yellows] If IRN, MAR win by same margin and MAR score more goals than IRN: ESP second, POR out If MAR win by more goals than IRN: POR second, ESP out MAR out
IRN-POR draw	ESP first, POR second IRN, MAR out	If POR score more goals than ESP: POR first, ESP second If POR, ESP draw by same scoreline: First decided on disciplinary record between POR, ESP [currently ESP 1 yellow, POR 2 yellows] If ESP score more goals than POR: ESP first, POR second IRN, MAR out	POR first If MAR win by ≥2 goals: IRN second, ESP out If MAR win by 1 goal and IRN score ≥4 more goals than ESP: IRN second, ESP out If MAR win by 1 goal and IRN score ≤3 more goals than ESP: ESP second, IRN out MAR out
Portugal win	If POR win by more goals than ESP: POR first, ESP second If POR, ESP win by same margin and POR score more goals than ESP: POR first, ESP second If POR, ESP win by same scoreline: First decided on disciplinary record between POR, ESP [currently ESP 1 yellow, POR 2 yellows] If POR, ESP win by same margin and ESP score more goals than POR: ESP first, POR second If ESP win by more goals than POR: ESP first, POR second IRN, MAR out	POR first, ESP second IRN, MAR out

GROUP C

Peru are out of the picture, and Australia are firmly in the margins of the picture. They will need to win their own match and get some help from France.

	Australia win	AUS-PER draw	Peru win
Denmark win	DEN first, FRA second AUS, PER out
DEN-FRA draw	FRA first, DEN second AUS, PER out
France win	FRA first If either FRA or AUS win by ≥2 goals: AUS second, DEN out If FRA, AUS both win by 1 goal and AUS score at least as many goals as FRA: AUS second, DEN out If FRA, AUS both win by 1 goal and FRA score 1 more goal than AUS: Second decided on disciplinary record between AUS, DEN [currently AUS 3 yellows, DEN 4 yellows] If FRA, AUS both win by 1 goal and FRA score ≥2 more goals than AUS: DEN second, AUS out PER out	FRA first, DEN second AUS, PER out

GROUP D

Argentina’s shocking loss to Croatia has heaped the pressure on the Albiceleste. Even an Argentina win may not be sufficient to get them into the elimination phase if Iceland defeat Croatia by multiple goals.

	Iceland win	ISL-CRO draw	Croatia win
Nigeria win	If total margin of victory by NGA, ISL is ≥6: NGA first, CRO second If total margin of victory by NGA, ISL is 5 and NGA score ≥4 more goals than CRO: NGA first, CRO second If total margin of victory by NGA, ISL is 5 and NGA score ≤3 more goals than CRO: CRO first, NGA second If total margin of victory by NGA, ISL is ≤4: CRO first, NGA second ARG, ISL out	CRO first, NGA second ARG, ISL out
NGA-ARG draw	CRO first If ISL win by ≥3 goals: ISL second, NGA out If ISL win by 2 goals and ISL score ≥2 more goals than NGA: ISL second, NGA out If ISL win by 2 goals and ISL score ≤1 more goal than NGA: NGA second, ISL out If ISL win by 1 goal: NGA second, ISL out ARG out
Argentina win	CRO first If ISL win by at least as many goals as ARG: ISL second, ARG out If ARG win by 1 more goal than ISL and ISL score more goals than ARG: ISL second, ARG out If ARG win by 1 more goal than ISL and ARG, ISL score same number of goals: Second decided on disciplinary record between ARG, ISL [currently ISL 0 cards, ARG 3 yellows] If ARG win by 1 more goal than ISL and ARG score more goals than ISL: ARG second, ISL out If ARG win by ≥2 more goals than ISL: ARG second, ISL out NGA out	CRO first, ARG second ISL, NGA out

GROUP E

A draw against Serbia will be enough to put Brazil into the last sixteen. But if that match ends up level, and Costa Rica upset Switzerland, second place will be decided on goal difference between Serbia and Switzerland.

	Switzerland win	SUI-CRC draw	Costa Rica win
Serbia win	SUI first, SRB second BRA, CRC out	SRB first, SUI second BRA, CRC out	SRB first, BRA second SUI, CRC out
SRB-BRA draw	SUI first, BRA second CRC, SRB out	BRA first, SUI second CRC, SRB out	BRA first If CRC win by ≥2 goals: SRB second, SUI out If CRC win by 1 goal and SRB score ≥2 more goals than SUI: SRB second, SUI out If CRC win by 1 goal and SRB score ≤1 more goal than SUI: SUI second, SRB out CRC out
Brazil win	If BRA win by at least as many goals as SUI: BRA first, SUI second If SUI win by 1 more goal than BRA and BRA score more goals than SUI: BRA first, SUI second If SUI win by 1 more goal than BRA and BRA, SUI score same number of goals: First decided on disciplinary record between BRA, SUI [currently BRA 3 yellows, SUI 4 yellows] If SUI win by 1 more goal than BRA and SUI score more goals than BRA: SUI first, BRA second If SUI win by ≥2 more goals than BRA: SUI first, BRA second CRC, SRB out	BRA first, SUI second CRC, SRB out

GROUP F

This is the most open group so far: nobody has been eliminated, and nobody has advanced yet. If Korea Rep defeat Germany and Mexico defeat Sweden, Korea Rep, Germany, and Sweden will all be on three points. If Germany defeat Korea Rep and Sweden defeat Mexico, Germany, Mexico, and Sweden will all be on six points.

	Mexico win	MEX-SWE draw	Sweden win
Korea Rep win	MEX first If KOR win by ≥2 goals: KOR second, GER, SWE out If KOR win by 1 goal and MEX win by ≥2 goals: KOR second, GER, SWE out If KOR, MEX both win by 1 goal and KOR score ≥2 more goals than SWE: KOR second, GER, SWE out If KOR, MEX both win by 1 goal and KOR score 1 more goal than SWE: GER second, KOR, SWE out If KOR, MEX both win by 1 goal and SWE score at least as many goals as KOR: SWE second, GER, KOR out	MEX first, SWE second GER, KOR out	SWE first, MEX second GER, KOR out
KOR-GER draw	MEX first, GER second KOR, SWE out	MEX first If GER score at least as many goals as SWE: GER second, SWE out If SWE score more goals than GER: SWE second, GER out KOR out
Germany win	MEX first, GER second KOR, SWE out		If SWE win by ≥2 goals and SWE win by more goals than GER: SWE first, GER second, MEX out If SWE win by ≥2 goals; GER, SWE win by same margin; and GER score at least as many goals as SWE: GER first, SWE second, MEX out If SWE win by ≥2 goals; GER, SWE win by same margin; and SWE score more goals than GER: SWE first, GER second, MEX out If SWE win by ≥2 goals and GER win by more goals than SWE: GER first, SWE second, MEX out If SWE win by 1 goal and GER win by ≥2 goals: GER first, SWE second, MEX out If both SWE, GER win by 1 goal and GER score more goals than SWE: GER first, SWE second, MEX out If both SWE, GER win 1-0: GER first, SWE second, MEX out If both SWE, GER win by 1 goal with same scoreline and SWE score ≥2 goals: SWE first, MEX second, GER out If both SWE, GER win by 1 goal and SWE score more goals than GER: SWE first, MEX second, GER out KOR out

GROUP G

England and Belgium, having both won twice, are already confirmed as the teams who will advance. They play one another on Thursday to decide first place in the group.

	Panama win	PAN-TUN draw	Tunisia win
England win	ENG first, BEL second PAN, TUN out
ENG-BEL draw	First decided on disciplinary record between ENG, BEL [currently ENG 2 yellows, BEL 3 yellows] PAN, TUN out
Belgium win	BEL first, ENG second PAN, TUN out

GROUP H

Poland are the only seeded team to have been eliminated so far. With Japan and Senegal each on four points, they each know that a draw in their respective match will be sufficient.

	Senegal win	SEN-COL draw	Colombia win
Japan win	If JPN win by more goals than SEN: JPN first, SEN second If JPN, SEN win by same margin and JPN score more goals than SEN: JPN first, SEN second If JPN, SEN win by same scoreline: First decided on disciplinary record between JPN, SEN [currently JPN 3 yellows, SEN 5 yellows] If JPN, SEN win by same margin and SEN score more goals than JPN: SEN first, JPN second If SEN win by more goals than JPN: SEN first, JPN second COL, POL out	JPN first, SEN second COL, POL out	JPN first, COL second POL, SEN out
JPN-POL draw	SEN first, JPN second COL, POL out	If JPN score more goals than SEN: JPN first, SEN second If JPN, SEN draw by same scoreline: First decided on disciplinary record between JPN, SEN [currently JPN 3 yellows, SEN 5 yellows] If SEN score more goals than JPN: SEN first, JPN second COL, POL out	COL first, JPN second POL, SEN out
Poland win	SEN first, JPN second COL, POL out	SEN first, COL second JPN, POL out	COL first If COL win by more goals than POL: JPN second, SEN out If COL, POL win by same margin and POL score more goals than COL: JPN second, SEN out If COL, POL win by same scoreline: Second decided on disciplinary record between JPN, SEN [currently JPN 3 yellows, SEN 5 yellows] If COL, POL win by same margin and COL score more goals than POL: SEN second, JPN out If POL win by more goals than COL: SEN second, JPN out POL out