England need to make sure they do not lose to Scotland at Wembley…
England take on Scotland at Wembley in a warm-up friendly for their crucial World Cup qualifiers in September, but defeat could actually have serious ramifications for the team, according to the Daily Mail.
Only the world’s top eight Fifa ranked teams are awarded ‘first-seed’ status for next summer’s World Cup, and with England currently languishing in 14th, having dropped down the rankings for the third consecutive year, they have a lot of work to do to climb back up the table.
A top eight finish of course, would secure an easier World Cup group, avoiding some international heavyweights.
That is if England even make it to Brazil next summer. Crucial ties against Moldova, Ukraine, Montenegro and Poland will decide their fate, with ten points from 12 guaranteeing they top the group.
If England do qualify, but fail to secure first-seed status, they could face one of either Spain, Germany, Argentina, Portugal, Italy, Colombia, Holland or Brazil in the group stages.
With Brazil guaranteed first-seed status as host-nation, the other seven countries mentioned currently occupy the top seven ranking spots, meaning England need to win virtually every match until the tournament begins, including friendlies, if they are to have any chance of winning a seeding.
The last time Scotland visited Wembely, they surprised England 1-0 thanks to a Don Hutchison header. Thankfully for England, a Paul Scholes brace secured them qualification in the away leg in Glasgow.
Roy Hodgson is set to experiment on Wednesday, aware that the Premier League season kicks off at the weekend – but it seems the case that this tie is more important than it originally seemed.
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