Scotland are set to learn our opponents for the 2026/2027 edition of the UEFA Nations League, when the draw takes place in Brussels on Thursday evening.
The Scots will compete in League B, with matches taking place between September and November.
Scotland were promoted to League A of the UEFA Nations League in 2022, and produced memorable victories over Croatia and Poland in the 2024 edition of the competition before dropping back to League B after a play-off defeat to Greece in March last year.
How does the draw and group stage work?
The 54 UEFA member nations will be drawn into four leagues, with the draws for League D and League C taking place before the draw for League B, in which Scotland will compete.
We will be drawn into a group of four teams, with Scotland in Pot 1 for the draw, which kicks off at 5pm.
Should Scotland finish in top spot, we would be promoted back to League A, with top spot also expected to guarantee at least a play-off spot for UEFA EURO 2028, should we not qualify through the traditional qualifying route or as one of the tournament hosts.
Second place in the group would give us a play-off to return to League A, while third place means a relegation play-off and the side who finishes bottom will be relegated to relegation to League C.
Any potential play-off would take place in March 2027.
Who could Scotland face?
With Scotland set in Pot 1, based on world rankings, we are unable to face Hungary, Poland and Israel - three teams that we have competed against in the past few years. Pot 2 contains familiar opposition in Switzerland, who we drew 1-1 with at UEFA EURO 2024, and Ukraine who we defeated at Hampden Park in the 2022 edition of the UEFA Nations League. Republic of Ireland were also opponents in that edition of the UEFA Nations League and they are in Pot 3, with Northern Ireland among the sides in Pot 4.
Pot 1: Scotland, Hungary, Poland, Israel
Pot 2: Switzerland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Ukraine
Pot 3: Slovenia, Georgia, Republic of Ireland, Romania
Pot 4: Sweden, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Kosovo
Previous UEFA Nations League campaigns
Scotland were initially placed in League C in the inaugural UEFA Nations League in 2018/2019 and recovered from a narrow defeat to Israel by beating Albania 4-0 and defeating Israel 3-2 at Hampden to secure promotion to League B, with James Forrest scoring an incredible five goals across the final two matches.
In 2020 Scotland appeared set for back to back promotions after three straight wins over Czech Republic (twice) and Slovakia during the middle of the campaign, but a 1-0 defeat in Israel in the final game saw us settle for a second-place spot.
2022 then saw promotion to League A, with four wins across the six matches, including memorable wins over Ukraine and Republic of Ireland at Hampden, and a hard-fought goalless draw away to Ukraine which cemented top spot.
Drawn alongside Portugal, Croatia and Poland, we began the 2024 Nations League with back-to-back defeats but a last-gasp Andy Robertson header away to Poland in the final game saw us leapfrog our opponents into third place, though we would be unable to hold onto our League A status, losing 3-1 in a play-off to Greece over two legs.
UEFA Nations League Key dates
The UEFA Nations League campaign kicks off in September, in a revamped international window which sees sides compete in four matches over the course of a two-week match window which begins on Thursday, 24 September and Tuesday, 6 October.
The final two match days of the group stage format take place between Thursday, 12 November and Tuesday, 17 November.
League phase draw: 12 February 2026
Matchday 1: 24-26 September 2026
Matchday 2: 27-29 September 2026
Matchday 3: 30 September-3 October 2026*
Matchday 4: 4-6 October 2026
Matchday 5: 12-14 November 2026
Matchday 6: 15-17 November 2026
League A quarter-finals: 25-30 March 2027
League A/B and B/C play-offs: 25-30 March 2027
Final tournament: 9-13 June 2027
League C/D play-offs: 23-28 March 2028