Possible Scotland opponents at World Cup 2026 from projected pots

Here’s a list of the nations Scotland could come up against at the World Cup next year.

The reality has barely had time to sink in but it’ll soon be time to watch and see who Scotland land in next year’s World Cup.

A crazy clash with Denmark was won 4-2 by Steve Clarke’s heroes who made themselves legends on a night for the ages at Hampden. They now have a plane ticket booked to next year’s major tournament in America, Canada and Mexico, the first Scotland team to clinch such a berth since 1998.

Several teams are already there and others have play-offs to endure before they can begin celebrations. 48 nations enter this edition of the tournament and the competing countries will be divided into 12 groups containing four teams each, one from each of the four draw pots. The nine top countries on FIFA’s rankings who have made the tournament will enter pot one alongside the three host nations.

Pots two, three and four have the next 12 best-ranked sides in order so the groups are balanced and the theory is that the the best teams do not face each other until later in the tournament. Teams from the same confederation are kept apart in the group stage, except for European nations, where the 16-strong contingent outnumber the groups. A maximum of two European nations can be in one group.

So with all that in mind and play-off favourites calculated, Football Rankings have published a projected pots list, which shows the type of dream draws and tough assignments Scotland could land from pot three. Working from pot four up, take a look.