Scotland in pot three for World Cup draw

Scotland will be in pot three for the World Cup qualifying draw on 13 December.

A recent surge in form for Steve Clarke's side came just too late to catch others in the rankings.

In Tuesday's final round of Nations League matches, Scotland needed a slip from either Czech Republic or Slovakia to nudge into pot two, but they earned narrow home victories against Georgia and Estonia respectively.

Europe will have 16 representatives at the expanded 48-team tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada in the summer of 2026.

There will be 12 qualifying groups containing four or five teams, with a home-and-away format.

Group winners book their places directly, while the four remaining spots are decided via play-offs involving the runners-up and the four best-ranked group winners from the Nations League who do not secure a top-two berth.

Scotland have not been at the World Cup since 1998.

Scotland followed Friday's 1-0 win over 10-man Croatia at Hampden with a dramatic 2-1 triumph in Poland on Tuesday to finish third in Nations League Group A1.

To stay in the top tier of the competition they must come through a play-off against a runner-up from the B-level.

With the group phase now complete, the possible opponents are Austria, Greece, Turkey and Ukraine, with the draw taking place on Friday.

Those ties will be played on 20 and 23 March, with Scotland at home in the second leg.

Pot one: Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, Croatia, England, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria

Pot two: Ukraine, Turkey, Sweden, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Greece, Romania, Norway, Slovakia, Czech Republic

Pot three: Scotland, Slovenia, Republic of Ireland, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Israel, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro

Pot four: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Kosovo, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Lithuania

Pot five: Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Lichtenstein, San Marino

"It’s just your luck with a draw," former Scotland manager Craig Levein told BBC Scotland.

"If you're in pot three, you automatically assume there are two teams that are going to be better than you.

"But you might draw a team that's had its two best centre backs injured. There's so many things still to happen.

"It just feels better, the whole thing. I'm really enjoying the atmosphere around the games.

"We've got a lot of players who I would consider to be at their peak just now.

"I just get the feeling that things have turned our way again. So I'm extremely optimistic."