England’s draw with Scotland showed just how confusing the European Championship format can be for the teams and even the organizers.
UEFA’s official website stated ahead of Friday’s game that a draw would secure England a spot in the round of 16 with a game to spare.
Once England had underwhelmingly clinched that point after being held to a 0-0 draw by Scotland, qualification seemed likely but not guaranteed.
England coach Gareth Southgate certainly wasn’t celebrating advancing, and his team analysts were left crunching the data.
By Saturday morning, UEFA had determined that England had yet to be sure of at least going through among the four best third-place teams from the six groups.
As it stands, England is in second place in Group D behind the Czech Republic on goal difference. The two teams will play each other on Tuesday at Wembley Stadium. Scotland and Croatia have one point each and will meet in Glasgow at the same time.