Scotland finished off their Nations League group in style with a last gasp winner over Poland to stay three games unbeaten.
Steve Clarke’s side headed into the Warsaw clash sitting bottom of the group with an outside chance of still finishing second and qualifying for the quarter finals.
At the very least, a win would take them above the Poles into third and that’s exactly what they achieved with Andy Robertson’s dramatic stoppage time header. Kamil Piatkowski had equalised John McGinn’s early opener.
Unfortunately, Croatia managed a draw with Portugal to pip the Scots to second place in the group and march on to the knockout stages of the Nations League.
Scotland face Nations League relegation play-off
The three points in Poland ensured Scotland staved off immediate relegation back down to League B.
But we do still need to face a two-legged play-off in March to avoid that fate.
That tie will come against one of the runners-up from one of the groups in League B, who will be battling to take our place at the top table.
That means we will face one of Greece, Austria, Turkey, Wales or Iceland, Czech Republic, Georgia, Albania or Ukraine.
They all play matches tonight to determine the final placings in the groups, after which our potential opponents will be narrowed down.
The play-offs will be played on March 20 and 23 and the first will be away with the second at Hampden.
Clarke and his side will learn their opponents when the draw is made on Friday.
Scotland do still have a chance of being in pot two for the World Cup qualifying draw thanks to their heroics. If either Estonia or Georgia can avoid defeat against Slovakia and Czech Republic this evening, that will be the outcome.
What Steve Clarke said about Poland win
The Scotland boss insisted he always believed his side could find the win – although he was a little bit surprised about where it came from.
“You always believe,” said Clarke. “We always felt one more chance would come. But maybe not from the source it came from!
“It was a great header and a great way to finish the campaign.
“I’m really pleased for everyone. It’s a good way to end this part of the Nations League campaign.
“We look forward to the games in March.”
He added: “The more you play at this level, the better you get.
“The players didn’t lose belief and I didn’t lose belief in the players.
“The depth of squad is good and we’re missing another three or four.
“Hopefully, going into next year, they are all fit and make my job more difficult.
“It’s the evolution of a team. We have been to two major tournaments and we want to reach another one.
“There have been a lot of good moments, milestones and improvements.
“This is a another step on the journey.
“Poland make the game open. They’re so offensive. We knew we had to be at our best to get the result and we got a positive result in a really difficult environment.”