Women's World Cup 2019: Teams which can reach the last 16

Six teams are in the running to claim the last two knockout berths in the FIFA Women's World Cup Round of 16. Here's who they are and what they must do to qualify,

Six teams have their hopes pinned on two group games on Thursday to decide who will go through to the Round of 16 in the FIFA Women's World Cup 2019.

The FIFA Women's World Cup has reached the final set of group stage matches. Cameroon pulled off a thrilling last-kick victory over New Zealand. Netherlands beat Canada 2-1 to end group E encounters for the tournament.

Two games remain now. USA takes on Sweden and Chile takes on Thailand in the final games of Group F. A legendary rivalry on one end and a key knockout tie in the other. It promises to be interesting.

An elaborate qualification process has been put in place by FIFA in case of a points deadlock, to determine who goes through and who doesn't. Before that comes into play though, there is basic math at play that will factor in after these two ties conclude.

READ : Women's World Cup: A guide to the knockout qualifications

Here is how the teams in the quadrennial showpiece stand before tonight's games: ELIMINATED : South Africa, South Korea, Jamaica, Scotland, Argentina and New Zealand. QUALIFIED (top-two from each group): France, Germany, Norway, Italy, Spain, USA, Sweden, Engand, Japan, Canada, Netherlands and Australia are through.

BEST THIRD-PLACE TEAMS: China, Brazil and Cameroon are through to the last 16. One spot remains.

READ: Rule of thirds: Who are the best third-place teams in the Women's World Cup?

One seat left at the table, three prospective candidates

After the Cameroon vs New Zealand match, one knockout berth remains with three teams vying to claim them - Nigeria, Chile and Thailand. Here's how they fare according to points and goal difference.

Teams	Matches played	Points	Goals scored	Goal Difference
Nigeria	3	3	2	-2
Chile	2			-5
Thailand	2		1	-17

 

READ : Women's World Cup 2019: Results and standings

Nigeria: The Super Falcons have finished third in group A. It has a win and three points, 2 goals and a goal difference of -2. Cameroon secured a dramatic last-minute victory over New Zealand. It was a case of getting two birds with a stone for Cameroon as it knocked out New Zealand and Argentina from the knockout race. Nigeria still has a chance. A draw in the Chile vs Thailand tie will allow Nigeria to go through on the basis of points. 

Chile and Thailand aren't evenly placed in this tie. The burden of qualifying is a lot easier on Chile's shoulders than Thailand's owing to the latter's dismal goal difference, courtesy the drubbing at the hands of USA. Thailand needs to pull off a miraculous win over Chile due to the same. Chile stands a good chance if it manages a win by a three-goal margin to edge out Nigeria and grab the last berth in the Round of 16.  

MID-GAME UPDATE: An own goal by Thai keeper Boonsing and a stunner from Urrutia have given Chile a 2-0 lead over Thailand. Chile now needs one more goal (without Thailand scoring any) to make it through to the last 16. This will help Chile edge out Nigeria. Chile has around 10 minutes to net one more, with Endler guarding the scoreline at the other end. Chile has missed a vital penalty. Nigeria is seconds away from qualifying and making it through to the knockouts.

Sportstar will be live-blogging the Chile vs Thailand game. Follow live updates here.