As group play winds down at the World Cup, the biggest intrigue might be not who finishes first in a four-team group. It’s who finishes third.Teams that are first and second in their groups move on automatically to the Round of 32. The U.S., Canada and Mexico, co-hosts of the tournament, have all advanced, along with France, Germany, Brazil, Norway and others. The U.S. will face Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday in Santa Clara, California, while Canada heads to Los Angeles to face South Africa on Sunday. Other marquee matchups are set, including Morocco versus the Netherlands and Japan versus Brazil.Third-place is no guarantee. The eight best third-place teams also get in, with ties broken by goals scored and goal differential if necessary.“I personally didn’t want to end up in this kind of situation, where we have to wait and see if we will reach the knockouts,” South Korea forward Son Heung-min said. “It’s disappointing that we didn’t get the outcome we deserved, considering the amount of hard work we’ve done, but it’s out of our hands now and we will have to accept our fate, whatever it will be.”Teams with four points — a win, a draw and a loss — almost certainly make the Round of 32. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sweden and Ecuador already advanced that way, and Paraguay is poised to join that group, which would mean four qualifiers left.That leaves eight other third-place teams for the final four spots.Some matches to watch closely Friday on the third-place front:Egypt (1-0-1) vs. Iran (0-0-2): Egypt would likely be a third-place qualifier even with a loss, provided that loss isn’t by a ton of goals. Iran would be heavily favored to advance as a third-place team with a tie. (Belgium and New Zealand each has a mathematically possible chance of finishing third in Group G.)Cape Verde (0-0-2) vs. Saudi Arabia (0-1-1): Cape Verde will advance (as a first- or second-place team) with a win. The Saudis need a win to advance, as well.Uruguay (0-0-2) vs. Spain (1-0-1): Uruguay would likely qualify as a third-place team with a tie. If it loses, it goes home.Senegal (0-2-0) vs. Iraq (0-2-0): If there’s a tie, both teams would be eliminated. If someone wins, that team has a chance (with three points, a 1-2-0 record and its status hinging on goal differential) and the loser would be eliminated. Scotland really needs an Iraq win or a tie here to help its fledgling chances.Here are the Round of 32 matchups already set:The Americans had their powerful momentum from two consecutive victories stalled in the loss to Turkey. But in the knockout round, they’ll face a Bosnia-Herzegovina team that is 62nd in the FIFA rankings — the lowest-ranked World Cup qualifier from Europe. Bosnia finished third in Group B with four points. U.S. star Christian Pulisic entered as a substitute in the second half against Turkey. He had not played since leaving an opening win over Paraguay at halftime with a calf injury. “We play every game like a knockout game,
With US, Canada and Mexico through, the World Cup knockout round hinges on who finishes third
