(Reuters) – England’s 3-2 defeat away by Belgium on Tuesday not only meant they slipped to third in their Women’s Nations League group, but put Team GB’s 2024 Olympic participation in jeopardy, and now leaves Scotland in a bizarre position.
Team GB is made up of players from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and as the highest ranked British team, England are the nominated nation to qualify on Britain’s behalf.
England must win their group to have any chance of making it to Paris next year, and will more than likely need a win against Scotland to do so.
The four League A group winners qualify for the Nations League Finals. There are two Olympic spots up for grabs, and with France already qualified as hosts, if they reach the final then the winner of the third place play-off would qualify.
The fact that England and Scotland were drawn together in Group 1 and the fixture schedule sees them face each other in the final game means the Scottish players may need to lose that game if they want to keep their Olympic dream alive.
World Cup finalists England have lost two games already, against the Netherlands and now Belgium, and find themselves three points adrift of the Dutch, and one point behind Belgium.
The Lionesses’ next game is at home to the Netherlands, a must-win fixture, and if they end up level on points, England will need to better the Dutch’s 2-1 win against them.
A win on Dec. 1 over the Dutch would see them level on points, but Belgium could go top if they beat Scotland the same day. Four days later, while the Netherlands and Belgium do battle, England travel to face Scotland at Hampden Park.
Scotland have yet to win a game in the group, but at home they held Belgium to a 1-1 draw, and on Tuesday the Netherlands only came away with a 1-0 win.
Away to England, Scotland lost 2-1, but getting revenge with a home win would have a bittersweet taste if it comes at a heavy price.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
