Steve Clarke upbeat but expects ‘tough matches’ for Scotland in Nations League

Scotland boss Steve Clarke said his side had been drawn with “three fantastic opponents” in the Nations League’s top tier.

Having won Group B1 to gain promotion in the previous edition, Clarke’s men are set to face Croatia, Portugal and Poland in A1 this time around.

The Scots, at 36th, are five places below Poland in the FIFA rankings, while 2023 runners-up Croatia and Portugal are 10th and seventh respectively.

Thursday’s draw in Paris sets up Scotland potentially facing Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski.

Clarke said in quotes on the Scottish Football Association’s official website: “It’s our first time in League A so it was always going to be a difficult draw.

“We’ve got three fantastic opponents and hopefully six very good matches. I’m always a great believer, if you want to improve you have to play against the best teams.

“When you’ve been in football as long as I have, you don’t make too many predictions.

“I predict tough matches but hopefully they will be tough matches for our opponents as well.”

This is to be an expanded Nations League, in which League A group winners and runners-up will progress to two-leg quarter-finals in March 2025.

Fourth-placed teams will be relegated to League B, while third-placed finishers will enter a promotion/relegation play-off against a second-tier runner-up.