John Powers of the Boston Globe explains:
■ A win over Algeria today would give the Americans 5 points. Because England plays Slovenia, one of those teams can’t finish with 5.
■ A US draw with Algeria would give it 3 points. If England loses to Slovenia or the England-Slovenia match ends in a draw, the US would have to maintain a goal advantage over England. Currently, the US has three goals and England has one.
■ If the US ties Algeria and England ties Slovenia, but England scores two more goals than the US does in its last game, US and England would be even on all tiebreakers for second place. In this scenario, lots could be drawn to determine who advances.