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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Gabriel McKay

Scotland eye World Cup play-off carrot as Nations League campaign could bring tangible rewards

Scotland are just one win away from Nations League promotion and one more win could bring a huge prize.

After a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic Steve Clarke 's side need just two points from the remaining two games to be assured of promotion to League A.

While that would see Scotland pitched against European heavyweights like Germany, Spain and France - not to mention England - getting the job done would bring real benefits.

The two teams with the best record from the Nations League will join the 10 runners-up from their World Cup qualifying groups.

These 12 teams will be drawn into three play-off paths, playing two rounds of single-match play-offs (semi-finals and finals, with the home teams to be drawn), with the 3 path winners qualifying for the World Cup.

So far Scotland have dropped just two points, leaving them with an excellent chance of being among the top two if they fail to finish as winners or runners-up in their qualification group.

In addition, the results so far mean Clarke's men will be in pot 3 for the qualifying draw, potentially avoiding some big names.

And while playing in League A would bring some tough games it would practically guarantee at least a play-off for Euro 2024.

(SNS Group / SFA)

While the group winners are guaranteed a play-off, teams in the top flight of the Nations League are almost certain to qualify automatically.

That means the place goes to the next team in the division that doesn't qualify, or the leagues below if all places cannot be filled.

In the 2018 edition Iceland were the only team from League A who failed to qualify, so it's likely that Scotland would get a play-off even by losing all six games.

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