Editor’s note: this was my draft going into last night, but some stuff came up and I could not finish it. I just wanted to publish the work I did for posterity. A proper wrap-up post will come soon.
Lots of stuff is bound to go down on Tuesday. Let’s have a look.
CAF
Nothing will conclude in Africa on the 15th, with the return leg of all the matches taking place in November. That said, we can talk about the early results. (INSERT)
CONCACAF
The US has secured the top of the table going into their match against Panama. First, let’s talk scenarios.
| Team | W | D | L | GF | GA | Diff | Pts |
| United States | 6 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 19 |
| Costa Rica | 4 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 15 |
| Honduras | 4 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 14 |
| Mexico | 2 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 11 |
| Panama | 1 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 11 | -3 | 8 |
| Jamaica | 0 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 11 | -8 | 4 |
No matter what, Honduras can do worse than 4th place, so they have a spot in the inter-confederation playoff against New Zealand at least. Costa Rica already has a ticket to Brazil.
- Honduras can clinch a spot in the World Cup Final with a win or draw against Jamaica.
- Honduras can clinch with any Mexico draw or loss to Costa Rica.
- Mexico can clinch a spot in the World Cup Final with a win over Costa Rica and a Honduras loss to Jamaica. Mexico would also need to win by at least two goals.
- Mexico can clinch a spot in the Inter-Confederation Playoff with any win or draw.
- Mexico can clinch a spot in the Inter-Confederation Playoff with any Panama draw or loss to the United States.
- Panama can clinch a spot in the playoff with a win over the United States and a Mexico loss. Panama would need to beat the US by at least two goals. There are scenarios where Panama can prevail over Mexico if they finish with the same goal difference, provided Mexico does not overtake them in terms of total goals scored.
COMEBOL
Colombia clinched on Friday. The remaining three non-eliminated teams can do no worse than the Inter-Confederation playoff against Jordan. The remaining matches that matter are Chile vs. Ecuador and Uruguay vs. Argentina.
- Ecuador and Chile will clinch a spot in the Final with any Uruguay draw or loss to Argentina.
- Ecuador and Chile will clinch a spot in the Final if they draw against each other.
- Uruguay can only clinch a spot in the final if there is a loser in the Ecuador-Chile match and if they beat Argentina. In that case, it will come down to goal difference. Uruguay currently has a –1 differential, while Ecuador is at +5 and Chile is at +3.