Nations League: Who could Scotland get in Thursday's draw?

Scotland will find out their opponents for the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League when the draw for the tournament is made in Brussels later on Thursday.

Steve Clarke’s side will be in League B after being relegated from the top tier last spring when Greece defeated the Scots 3-1 on aggregate in a play-off.

The focus of the Tartan Army is understandably on securing tickets for matches at this summer’s World Cup, with Scotland’s men featuring in FIFA’s showpiece event for the first time in 28 years.

But they will have one eye on the draw for the fifth edition of the Nations League, which will be linked to qualification for the next European Championships.

What is the format of the draw?

The 54 member associations will be divided into four leagues (A, B, C and D) based on their performance in the 24/25 competition.

Leagues A, B, and C feature 16 teams split into four groups of four, whereas League D consists of six teams split into two groups of three.

When will the games be played?

The league phase gets under way with a prolonged international window from September 24 to October 6.

During that period, Scotland will play four matches.

The final two match days take place between November 12-17.

Scotland will face each opponent in their group home and away during the league phase.

Who could Scotland face?

Scotland are in Pot 1 of League B – alongside Hungary, Poland and Israel, which means they cannot play any of those three countries.

From Pot 2, they will draw one of Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria or Ukraine.

From Pot 3, they will draw one of Slovenia, Georgia, Republic of Ireland or Romania.

From Pot 4, they will draw one of Sweden, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland or Kosovo.

Scotland will be promoted to League A if they top their group. If they finish second, they will enter the play-offs against teams that finished third in League A.

Alternatively, a poor campaign would see the Scots relegated to League C if they finish bottom of their group, or face a relegation play-off by finishing in third place.

That play-off would be against a team that finished second in Group C and would take place during the international window in March 2027.

The best-performing teams in the Nations League that do not qualify for the 2028 European Championships from the qualification campaign will enter play-offs to earn the final qualifying spots for that tournament.

But aren’t Scotland a co-host for Euro 2028?

Yes, Scotland are co-hosting the tournament along with England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland.

UEFA clarified last year that all the hosts will have to qualify for the tournament, but two places will be reserved at the finals should any of them fail to qualify.

The four host nations will each be in separate qualifying groups, with two spots allocated to the highest-ranked of those sides who don’t make it.

The remaining places will be decided by play-offs between the remaining runners-up and the best-ranked 2026-27 Nations League non-qualified group winners.

Hampden Park in Glasgow will host six matches between June 10 and July 1, 2028 – including one quarter-final tie on July 1.

Scotland will play all of their group games at Hampden if they directly qualify for the tournament.