Steve Clarke's Scotland side have likely played their last World Cup game, with the team facing an uncertain future in the tournament.
The expanded World Cup format this year means 32 teams progress to the knockout rounds, but former Chelsea midfielder Steve Clarke feels this just rewards teams that don't deserve to be there.
"I have no problem with Scotland going out," Clarke said. "I know this is the way the bracket works with the 48 teams, but we're just rewarding complete mediocrity here." He added that Scotland doesn't really deserve to go through, and that they will likely be eliminated unless they get lucky.
Craig Burley does not think Scotland's players could compete in the knockout rounds, saying that they just don't have the players to succeed at this level.
"If they do go through, I just think it's going to continue the sort of embarrassment of looking at what Scotland are and it's kind of second rate, isn't it?" Burley said. "They just don't have the players. They've got a couple. But they just don't have the players of yesteryear. World class players. Guys at the back like [Alan] Hansen and others who couldn't even get a game at times. Who could pass the ball for fun, with anybody. They just don't have that."
Liverpool legend Steve Nicol, who won 27 caps for Scotland, feels the World Cup is being "devalued" by third-placed teams qualifying from the group stages.
"If you take Scotland's name away, just the quality of that group of players shouldn't be going forward in a World Cup," Nicol said. "A World Cup is supposed to be the elite. It's the medal that every single player wants to win more than any other, regardless of what country you play in. And it's being devalued when there are certain teams that are going to be going through that just don't deserve to be there."
Scotland boss Steve Clarke was asked about the wait to see if his team have a World Cup future, but dismissed the question and walked out of the interview, saying "I can't even think about that. Sorry, I can't even think about it."
He added that his team need to be better if they want to compete at this level, and that they will likely be going home.
