Scotland's World Cup qualifying pot confirmed along with Nations League opponents, dates, times and TV details

Scotland’s place in Pot 3 for the World Cup qualifying draw is confirmed following the final round of Nations League group games. The national team completed fixtures in League A1 with Friday’s 1-0 victory over Croatia at Hampden Park and Monday’s inspired 2-1 win against Poland in Warsaw. They hoped that would be sufficient for a Pot 1 or Pot 2 placing, but must now make do with Pot 3.

Scotland needed Georgia to win or draw away to Czech Republic in League B on Tuesday, or Estonia to win or draw away to Slovakia in League C. Neither of those results materialised as the Czechs enjoyed a 2-1 victory and the Slovakians triumphed 1-0 to take the final two places in Pot 2. That means Steve Clarke’s side will definitely be third seeds in their group for next year’s World Cup qualifying campaign.

CONFIRMED WORLD CUP QUALIFYING POTS

Pot 1: France, Spain, England, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria.

Pot 2: Ukraine, Turkey, Sweden, Wales, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Greece, Romania, Norway, Czech Republic, Slovakia.

Pot 3: Scotland, Slovenia, Republic of Ireland, Finland, Georgia, Albania, North Macedonia, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Israel.

Pot 4: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Belarus, Armenia, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Lithuania.

Pot 5: Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, San Marino.

WORLD CUP QUALIFYING DRAW

The World Cup qualifying draw takes place on Friday, 13 December, at 11am. There will be 12 groups drawn in total - six groups of four teams and six groups of five teams.

HOW TO WATCH THE DRAW LIVE

TV details have yet to be confirmed but the draw will be streamed live on the FIFA website and it is expected that BBC will also broadcast it.

FIXTURE DATES

Matchdays for the qualifiers are as follows [all 2025]:

21, 22, 24 & 25 March;

6, 7, 9 & 10 June;

4, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9 September;

9, 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14 October;

13, 14, 15, 16, 17, & 18 November.

Group winners qualify automatically, teams finishing second enter the play-offs on 26 & 31 March 2026. Scotland won’t begin their World Cup qualifying campaign until either June or September, depending on whether they are drawn into a four-team or a five-team group. They are unable to play in March 2025 as they will be involved in Nations League play-offs.

NATIONS LEAGUE PLAY-OFF DRAW

The draw for the Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs will take place this Friday, 22 November, at 11am.

HOW TO WATCH THE DRAW LIVE

UEFA will broadcast the draw live on their official website, UEFA.com, as well as their Youtube channel and their app. It will not be live on TV.

SCOTLAND’S OPPONENTS

Scotland finished third in Nations League A1 and will therefore be seeded and drawn against one of the four nations who finished second in the Nations League B sections. These are confirmed as: Ukraine, Greece, Austria and Turkey.

FIXTURE DATES

The two-legged promotion/relegation ties will be scheduled as follows: First leg on Thursday, 20 March, 2025, second leg on Sunday, 23 March, 2025. The second leg of Scotland’s tie will take place at Hampden Park.