The Scots left it late to leapfrog the hosts and avoid immediate relegation from the top tier of the Nations League
Sizzling Scotland ensured the immediate drop from Nations League A1 with a dramatic 2-1 victory against Poland in Warsaw that has also kept them in contention for a pot two slot in the World Cup qualifiers.
The game had looked to be heading for a draw after John McGinn‘s opener had been cancelled out by Kamil Piatkowski’s stunner, only for skipper Andy Robertson to get on the end of a superb cross from John Souttar in injury time to seal a stunning win and give Steve Clarke’s men a fighting chance of staying in the tournament’s top tier. Scotland did have an outside chance of finishing second in the group, but the 1-1 draw between Croatia and Portugal in Split saw the former finish in the runner’s spot.
The Dark Blues will now face one of the four teams who finished second in Nations League B: Greece, Austria and whoever claims the runner’s up spot out of Turkey, Wales or Iceland and the Czech Republic, Georgia, Albania and Ukraine. Clarke’s side will take part in the two-legged play-off on March 20 and March 23 2025 – with the second leg taking place at Hampden – to decide who remains in the top tier, and will learn just who they are facing when the draw is made on Friday.
Equally as importantly, Scotland’s Warsaw heroics have also given them a shot of landing a pot two slot for the qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup in North America. The Scots will require either Estonia or Georgia to avoid defeat against Slovakia and the Czech Republic tomorrow night in order to claim second seeding.
The draw for the European qualifiers for the finals in two years’ time take place on December 14, 2024. Our national team have infamously not reached the finals of a World Cup since France in 1998, and suffered a disappointing loss to Ukraine in the play-off semi-final for the Qatar World Cup in June 2022.
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