What results Scotland need from Croatia & Poland matches to avoid UEFA Nations League relegation

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke during a MD-1 training session at the City Stadium on Thursday. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group) | SNS Group

Scotland will play in their penultimate Nations League group game on Friday night, when the Tartan Army square off against 2018 World Cup runners up Croatia. It has been a campaign to forget for Steve Clarke’s men, as they currently sit at the foot of the table - but it isn’t over for them just yet.

They are currently sharing a group with Poland, Portugal, and their opponents on Friday night, Croatia. As things stand, Portugal are top of the league with ten points, while Croatia are second with seven points and Popand are third with four points.

As Scotland are in one of the ‘A’ groups in the Nations League, they cannot be promoted. Instead, the teams who finish in the top two slots will merely maintain their position. The team in third will enter the relegation playoff round, while the team that finishes fourth will be automatically relegated.

Scotland can no longer catch Portugal - their chances of catching Croatia are also very slim, as it would require them to beat the Croats and then for them to lose to Portugal on Monday. They are, however, in with a chance of finishing above Poland.

Poland will play against Portugal on Friday night in a game that will run concurrently against Scotland vs Croatia. If Poland fail to avoid defeat, Scotland’s fate is still in their hands. However, if Scotland cannot equal or better Poland’s result, they will be consigned to fourth place - and automatic relegation.

Of course, should Scotland stay alive, they will then need to defeat Poland to avoid fourth place. Even if they can manage this, they will still not be safe, as they will then enter into the relegation playoff round.

There, they could face off against teams such as England, Wales, Austria, the Czech Republic or Norway (to name a few). Of course, they will need to grind out a result against Croatia first and foremost.