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Scotland begin and end the campaign with matches against the top seeds.
Scotland’s fixture list for next year’s World Cup qualifiers has been revealed, a day after Steve Clarke and his players discovered who stands between them and a place at the 2026 finals.
At FIFA’s ceremony in Zurich, Scotland were drawn to face Belarus, Greece, and the loser of the Nations League quarter-final between Denmark and Portugal.
While the identity of the top seeds won’t be known until the Nations League matches are played in March, the Scottish FA has published details of when Scotland will play, allowing the Tartan Army to begin making their plans.
The World Cup qualifiers will be played over three international breaks in late 2025, with the six qualifying games split into double-headers in September, October and November.
Scotland will begin the campaign with what is, on paper, the toughest match of the six when they travel to play top seeds Denmark or Portugal on Friday, September 5. That match is followed three days later with another away game, this time to take on Belarus.
That match is likely to take place on neutral ground, as Belarus are currently banned from playing at home as a section following their support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
October has a crucial pair of home matches, as Scotland host Greece at Hampden on Thursday, October 9 and welcome Belarus for their return game on Sunday October 12.
The short campaign ends with a trip to take on Greece on Saturday, November 15 and then a showdown with Denmark or Portugal in Glasgow on Tuesday, November 18 when the nation will be hoping to celebrate qualification and a place at the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998.
Speaking after the draw on Friday, national team manager Steve Clarke said: “I always just take the draw as it comes and I’m not one to overthink it but there’s lot of interesting matches.
“We know the Pot 1 game is going to be difficult but I think we’ve shown over the past few games that we can handle teams at that level. Looking at Denmark, that victory at Hampden in 2021 was a memorable night. We lost in Denmark and we then won by the same scoreline so we know what to expect from them.
“Obviously we played Portugal recently in the Nations League matches. We did well to get a point off them at Hampden and we played well over there.
“We will now play Greece four times in 2025 so we’ll get to know them very well and the March games now take on a slightly different meaning, with both teams having a close look at each other ahead of the World Cup qualifiers.
“It’s funny how it happens that you don’t play a team for so long, then you end up playing them a number of times. It’s just one of the quirks of the draw. We know they will be good games. Greece went to Wembley and won – not many teams do that. We respect them a lot but we look forward to the games.
“Belarus is a team we’re not quite as familiar with but by the time we play them they will be a team we make sure we know everything about. For me it’s about getting to know their players, getting to know their tactics and hopefully we can take the points that we require.
“When I spoke after the tournament in the summer, I said that one of my main remaining ambitions is to go to a World Cup with my country. These qualifying games give me an opportunity to do that and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got and I’m sure my players will do the same.
“We’ve played teams at the highest level recently and we’ve seen that we have to be right at the top of our game to get points from them. It was a difficult year but we finished it well. We showed that we can compete against the top teams and that’s what we will have to do if we want to get to the World Cup
“The fact we have already seen so many supporters renewing their memberships, it shows that the supporters buy-in to this team and what we’re trying to achieve.
“The players are desperate to do well for their country and I think the supporters appreciate that. We want the supporters to be involved as much as possible because we saw in Germany that when the Tartan Army are in full voice, they are a force to be reckoned with.
“1998 was a long time ago and when it comes to World Cups, there’s no extra motivation required. The squad is full of players who want to go to the World Cup so now is the time to do it.”
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