Scotland will be desperate to avoid suffering Nations League relegation as they prepare to discover their opponents for an all-important play-off tie this week.
The Tartan Army’s hopes of retaining their status in League A had appeared in a serious jeopardy after a difficult debut campaign at the competition’s top level, only for a battling goalless draw against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal last month to be followed by a valuable victory over 10-man Croatia that ended a dismal run of 10 successive matches without a competitive win that included an insipid group stage exit from Euro 2024.
John McGinn’s late winner sent Scotland heading to Warsaw on Monday night knowing that they had to beat Poland to avoid confirmed relegation, with McGinn netting again early before Andy Robertson popped up with a dramatic stoppage-time effort to pip their opponents to third spot in Group A1, condemn them to League B and secure a berth in the relegation play-offs for themselves.
Steve Clarke’s side now enter the League A/B play-offs hoping to remain in the top-flight and deny a League B promotion-chaser a spot in League A at their expense.
Alongside their fellow third-place finishers in League A in Serbia, Hungary and struggling Belgium, Scotland will be seeded for Friday’s play-off draw taking place at Uefa headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland from 11am GMT.
The seeded teams will all play at home in the second fixtures of the two-legged ties, with the four group runners-up from League B unseeded and each paired against a seeded team.
The winners will all be guaranteed a spot in League A for the next season of the Nations League, while the losers will be in League B.
Who can Scotland face in the Nations League play-offs?
Scotland could meet Greece, who famously beat England at Wembley last month but lost 3-0 to the Three Lions in Athens last week to end up finishing second in Group B2 on goal difference only.
Austria are another potentially dangerous opponent, with Ralf Rangnick’s team having ended up as runners-up to promoted Norway in Group B3 after a costly 1-1 draw with Slovenia in their final game.
Turkey also surprisingly lurk in the draw having suffered a shock 3-1 loss to previously winless Montenegro in their last outing in Group B4, allowing Wales to leapfrog them and in the process snatch automatic promotion to League A after their thumping victory over Iceland.
Scotland could also come up against Ukraine, for whom back-to-back draws against Czechia and Georgia proved vital as they came second in Group B1 despite a final win in Albania.
