England will look to inch closer to a spot in the World Cup finals when it takes on Montenegro on Friday.
Unfortunately the British will be unable to clinch a spot on Friday as Ukraine and Poland, the second and fourth place sides, are slated for a meeting on Friday as well. An English victory would give them 19 points; however, the Ukrainians have 15 and Poland has 13. A Ukrainian win would keep them one point behind England while a Polish win would keep them potentially three points behind; England and Poland face off on Tuesday and if that latter scenario happened, the match could determine both teams' future.
"At the moment these feel like the most important ones," said England coach Roy Hodgson about the upcoming matches, according to the Telegraph. "We've got to win these two matches because we want to be in Brazil and as an England team we think we deserve to be in Brazil. We're unbeaten and top of the group - it's up to us to make certain that we don't slip up and that we carry through our promise, which has been that we will be top of the group and qualify."
Wayne Rooney is confident that his country will clinch the spot regardless.
"We're going to do it. We're going to get to the World Cup. I'm confident, we're confident, but you always have to be sure you're not over-confident. These are going to be two tough games for us, but we're good enough to do it," he said, according to The Mirror. "Would it be unthinkable not to get to Rio? Of course, this is crunch time."
Montenegro has 15 points and is only one point behind England. The team still has a chance to qualify if it manages to beat England and San Marino in its final two matches.
Prediction: England wins 2-0.
Start Time: 3 p.m. EST