Ahead of an important few days of 2018 World Cup qualifiers, we take a look at the state of play in the regions outside Europe.
South America
Brazil have already qualified and manager Tite will therefore be using the Selecao’s remaining fixtures to help prepare his side for the task ahead. At the other end of the standings, Bolivia and Venezuela have no chance of qualifying and are already looking ahead to the 2022 World Cup.
In between, seven teams are vying for three more automatic qualification spots and a single play-off place. Colombia, Uruguay and Chile have their fate in their own hands, with Argentina currently down in fifth, but just six points separate all seven sides. There is thus plenty to play for in South America, and this upcoming double-header is likely to go a long way to determining who will be representing the continent in Russia.
Crunch games to watch: Uruguay vs Argentina (Fri 12am), Colombia vs Brazil (Tue 9.30pm).
Africa
There are 20 teams still standing in Africa, with the winners of five groups set to advance to the World Cup. DR Congo, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Egypt lead the way at the time of writing, but Tunisia, Cameroon, Gabon, Morocco, Uganda, Senegal and South Africa will not have given up hope of making it to Russia just yet.
In terms of possible big-name causalities, Algeria (zero points) and Ghana (one point) both have their work cut out, although there is still time for the pair to recover.
Crunch games to watch: Uganda vs Egypt (Tue 2pm), Nigeria vs Cameroon (Fri 5pm), Tunisia vs DR Congo (Fri 9pm), Gabon vs Ivory Coast (Sat 5pm).
North/Central America
With four matches left to play, even last-placed Trinidad and Tobago (three points) still have a chance of qualifying for the World Cup from the CONCACAF region. Mexico (14 points), Costa Rica (11 points) and the United States (eight points) occupy the qualification places at present, with Panama (seven points) and Honduras (five points) likely to be targeting the sole play-off spot.
Crunch games to watch: United States vs Costa Rica (Fri 11.55pm), Mexico vs Panama (Sat 2.30am), Costa Rica (Wed 3.05am).
Asia
Twelve countries made it through to the final stage of the process in Asia, with four automatic places and one play-off spot up for grabs. Thailand (mathematically), Iraq (mathematically) and China (realistically) are already out of the running with two matches left to play, but there is plenty still to be decided.
Iran have already qualified from Group A, with second-placed South Korea and third-placed Uzbekistan separated by a single point as they attempt to secure the final automatic spot in their segment. The other will probably proceed to an intra-confederation play-off (the winner of which will contest another play-off against a CONCACAF representative), although Syria remain in contention for third place.
In Group B, meanwhile, the battle is between table-toppers Japan (17 points), second-placed Saudi Arabia (16 points) and third-placed Australia (16 points), with the United Arab Emirates retaining an outside chance of taking the play-off spot.
Crunch games to watch: Japan vs Australia (Thu 11.35am), South Korea vs Iran (Thu 1pm), Uzbekistan vs South Korea (Tue 4pm), Saudi Arabia vs Japan (Tue 6.30pm).
Oceania
New Zealand and the Solomon Islands will contest a two-legged play-off to determine which of the two goes forward to represent Oceania against South America’s fifth-placed side. The All Whites are heavy favourites but are still unlikely to make it to the World Cup in Russia.
Crunch games to watch: New Zealand vs Solomon Islands (Fri 8.35am), Solomon Islands vs New Zealand (Tue 4am).
