Armenia and Bulgaria will do battle in a crucial World Cup qualifier on Friday.
Bulgaria currently sits in second place in the group, but needs as many points as it can get to win a place in the second round of the World Cup qualifiers.
There are nine World Cup groups but only the top eight second place teams get a chance to play in the second round playoffs. Since one of the groups only has five teams and the others have six, the second-place teams in six-team groups lose any points that they have acquired against the last-place team in the group. Bulgaria has 13 points but has earned six of them from last place Malta. As a result, the Bulgarians are currently out of the running for the second round; the team is four points out of the eighth spot at the moment.
Before Bulgaria can consider the second-place table, it needs to win the runner-up spot in Group B. Denmark trails by just one point and Armenia and Denmark are within striking distance with nine each. A win coupled by a loss to Denmark in its game with Italy would clinch the second-place spot for Bulgaria.
Armenia must win this game if it has any hopes of finishing in second. With nine goals in eight matches, the squad can still finish with 15 points; only three of those would be against Malta.
Prediction: The teams draw 1-1.
Start Time: Kick-off starts at 11 a.m. EST.
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