Curious scenario Must San Marino lose as heavily as possible to save their World Cup dream?

After Romania's last-minute victory over Austria, the tension is back in World Cup qualifying Group H. A curious scenario looms on the final matchday - with football dwarf San Marino in a leading role.

San Marino have conceded no fewer than 32 goals in their seven World Cup qualifying matches to date. A few days ago, the football dwarf even went down 10-0 against Austria. Nevertheless, their hopes of a World Cup ticket remain alive - and could create a curious starting position on the final matchday.

This is because the rules stipulate that The four best-placed group winners of the Nations League 2024/25, who have not already qualified for the World Cup finals or the play-offs as group winners or runners-up, have the chance to secure their World Cup ticket via the Nations League route after all.

As many goals as possible for play-off qualification?

This includes San Marino, who beat Liechtenstein and Gibraltar in Group 1 of League D in the last campaign. However, a prerequisite for the San Marinese to actually get their hands on a place in the play-offs is that Romania (winners of Nations League Group C2) qualify directly for the World Cup play-offs as runners-up.

And as chance would have it, San Marino could possibly help the Romanians in this regard. If Romania pick up at least one point in their penultimate match against Bosnia, the goal difference could ultimately decide who finishes second in qualifying Group H.

Romania will host San Marino of all teams on the final matchday. In this scenario, it would be in the football dwarf's best interest to lose the game and concede as many goals as possible - and thus keep the dream of a World Cup ticket alive.

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