Nations League: Who awaits Scotland in relegation playoff draw?

After finishing off their group stage with a win in Warsaw, Scotland are now two games away from securing their place in the top tier of the Nations League.

John McGinn and Andy Robertson were both on target in the 2-1 victory over Poland on Monday in a game that represented an impressive landmark for both players.

McGinn opened the scoring after just two minutes with his 20th goal for the national team that puts him ahead of Ally McCoist in fifth place in Scotland’s all-time top scorers list.

Then, just as it looked as though the game was heading for a draw that would have consigned Steve Clarke’s men to automatic relegation, Robertson scored in injury time to secure the three points that put them ahead of Poland and into third place.

It was a night to remember for the captain who earned his 80th cap to go joint third in the all-time appearance list beside former skipper Darren Fletcher.

The legendary Kenny Dalglish is now the only outfield player with more caps for Scotland than Robertson with former Manchester United, Aberdeen and Hibs goalkeeper Jim Leighton in second place.

But more importantly the win keeps the nation’s hopes of staying in League A alive and they will now face a two-legged relegation playoff against one of the four runners up from League B.

When is the relegation playoff draw?

Scotland will find out who their opponents will be when the draw takes place on Friday.

The draw will begin at 11am with the playoffs for the lower leagues coming first, so the Tartan Army will have to wait until the draws for Leagues C/D and Leagues B/C are done before they find out who they will play.

Who can Scotland play in the playoffs?

Steve Clarke’s side will be drawn against one of the four nations who finished as runner up in League B.

That means they will play either Greece, Turkey, Austria or Ukraine.

When will the playoff games be played?

The two-legged ties will be played over four days in March next year.

As a League A side Scotland are one of the seeded teams in the draw meaning they will have the benefit of paying the decisive second game at home.

The away game will be played on Thursday, March 20, 2025, while Hampden will host the second leg on Sunday, March 23.

A look at the potential opponents:

Greece: The 2004 European champions might be the one Scotland will want to avoid after an impressive showing in League B.

They finished just behind group winners England on goal-difference after a campaign that saw them defeat Ireland home and away, Finland home and away and record an impressive 2-1 win over England at Wembley.

The only game they lost was a 3-0 defeat to England in Athens.

Turkey: The Euro 2024 quarterfinalists finished a point behind Wales in Group 4 after three wins, two draws and one defeat from their six games.

They drew with the Welsh home and away and beat Iceland home and away.

Going into the final game they had top-spot within their grasp before losing 3-1 away to Montenegro, who they had defeated 1-0 earlier in the campaign.

Austria: The Austrians finished two points behind Norway in Group 3 after winning three, drawing two and losing one of their six group matches.

They thrashed the Norwegians 5-1 in Vienna earlier in the campaign but were denied an automatic promotion spot after a late equaliser by Slovenia in the final group game.

Austria reached the last-16 at Euro 2024 and recorded an impressive 3-2 win over the Netherlands in Germany.

Ukraine: Scotland were denied a place at the last World Cup after a 3-1 defeat to Ukraine at Hampden at the playoff round, but got them back a few months later with a 3-0 win in the Nations League.

Ukraine, perhaps hampered by playing their home games outside of the country, won two, drew two and lost two of their group games.

They finished three points behind Czech Republic and one ahead of both Georgia and Albania.