Scotland v Brazil LIVE: World Cup kick-off time, team news, line-ups and prediction with history in the balance as Tartan Army prepare for nervy Group C finale

The top eight third place finishers will be decided on which teams have accumulated the most points.

Should eight or more nations finish third with the same number of points, the nations who progress will then be determined by goal difference.

In all likelihood, teams that finish third with four points or higher will go through, the teams on three points will need the best possible goal difference to progress.

Avoiding defeat to Scotland will see Brazil reach this year’s knockout stages, and they’ll have a good shot at topping the group if they produce a high-scoring win, adding to the goal difference they racked up against Haiti.

If they lose – which would surely be the greatest result in Scotland’s history – the Selecao should still be in a good spot to progress as one of the eight-best third-placed teams, already on four points heading into the final outing. To keep their spot in the top two in this scenario, Brazil would require Morocco to lose to Haiti which is highly unlikely.

If Scotland lose, their World Cup fate will be in the balance. The good news for Scotland is they only lost 1-0 to Morocco. If they repeat the trick against Brazil and only lose by a one-goal margin, they will finish the group stage on three points and with a goal difference of -1. Based on previous editions of the European Championships that could be good enough to go through as one of the eight-best third-placed teams. But they would be right on the fence.

Let’s get the most optimistic but clear-cut scenario out of the way first. If Scotland beat Brazil, they’re into the knockouts, possibly as group winners if Morocco fail to beat Haiti. Dream big, Tartan Army.

A draw would almost certainly be enough for Scotland to qualify, as it would take them to the elusive four-point mark. This should put them among the eight best third-placed teams, who will progress to the round of 32 along with all top-two group finishers.

While three points and a positive goal difference is likely to be enough, four points is extremely likely to be enough, but Scotland would need to wait until later in the tournament for this to be confirmed; with several teams putting together a run of draws, there could be a number of teams in third with four points.

Scotland are sweating on the availability of Scott McKenna, Aaron Hickey and Lewis Ferguson, who all missed training at the weekend, while a question mark remains over the selection of Ben Gannon-Doak, who was brought on as a substitute against Morocco, to widespread surprise that he wasn’t a starter.

Does Steve Clarke give Gannon-Doak a start today to try and get some threat into his side?

Scotland face Brazil at the Miami Stadium on Wednesday 24 June, with kick-off at 11pm BST. Viewers in the UK can watch the game live on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, with coverage beginning at 10pm BST.

It’s a big one. Scotland face Brazil, the five-time winners and one of the giants of the World Cup, with a place in the knockout rounds of the World Cup still within reach.

Steve Clarke’s side could do it with a win in Miami, but a draw is also likely to be good enough. A defeat, unless it is a narrow one, would leave the Tartan Army looking for their calculators and would hand Scotland a lengthy wait before the group stages conclude.