Balkan double-header at home gives Scots opportunity to make fast start

Scotland will also finish off their campaign at Hampden, against Croatia, in October 2013. Levein’s satisfaction with this outcome helps off-set the apprehension promoted by the thought of playing in Croatia in the summer. Scotland must travel to face the group favourites on 7 June 2013, after the end of the season. Levein has long stressed the need to win home matches. The outcome of yesterday’s negotiations means Scotland will hope to have six points in the bank by the time they head to Wales for the first away fixture.

The clash with Gary Speed’s much-improved side on 12 October next year is the first of a series of Friday night appointments. Levein will then return to Brussels for the second part of an awkward looking away double-header as Group A begins to take shape. These four matches make up next year’s competitive schedule. The six-match run in 2013 will determine Scotland’s fate and they kick it off with Hampden’s first competitive Friday night fixture, when Wales are the visitors.

Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan yesterday expressed his gratitude to Strathclyde Police for relenting on their previous opposition to major football matches being scheduled for a Friday night in Glasgow. However, the force would not agree to plans for a Friday night date at home to Serbia, whose away Euro 2012 qualifier in Italy last year was abandoned due to unrest among their fans. Scotland’s group opener against the Serbs will take place on Saturday, 8 September next year, kick-off 3pm.

Although many Scotland fans will prefer Saturday afternoon fixtures, Levein is happy to adhere to the now Fifa and Uefa recommended Friday-night slot since it offers the Scottish players maximum recovery time before tricky away appointments against Serbia and Macedonia respectively. Both these games will be played on Tuesday nights in another change to the fixture calendar, following lobbying by the game’s major club sides. “Obviously we went into the meeting aware of the potential difficulties in negotiating while not being allowed to play on a Friday night, but after positive discussions with the police, they have given approval for us to play on a Friday, which is a huge help to Craig in terms of giving the squad extra recovery time between games in a double header,” said Regan.

The desire to see Scotland qualify for a first major finals since 1998 is tangible. “Like everyone in Scotland we want Craig and the boys to qualify for the World Cup,” said assistant chief constable Campbell Corrigan. “In general we can’t support big, high-profile matches on a Friday night. However, in these exceptional circumstances we are happy to cooperate.”

Scotland will face Belgium on Friday, 6 September 2013 at Hampden before flying out for another awkward-looking assignment, this time against Macedonia. “We got most of what we came for,” is how Levein summed it up yesterday, although he was conscious that he had to make one significant concession. The avoidance of an away fixture against either Croatia, Serbia or Macedonia during periods of high temperature featured in the top items on his wish list.

The three-man Scottish delegation of Levein, Regan and SFA president Campbell Ogilvie had to agree to one such trip, with Croatia, the country currently ranked highest in the group, scheduled to host Scotland on Friday, 13 June, 2013. Levein said he was “prepared to make that sacrifice” so long as he secured his other wishes. Two Hampden home games to start with was his top priority. Scotland have been forced to play catch-up in their last two qualifying campaigns after opening with away appointments.

The last bid to qualify for a World Cup finals came unstuck early on when Scotland, then under George Burley, lost their first outing against Macedonia in Skopje. Levein pronounced himself delighted with a 0-0 draw secured in Lithuania as Scotland kicked off their Euro 2012 campaign in September last year, but the dropped points proved costly.

Scotland kick off with the only Saturday fixture in the entire campaign and hope to make the most of a now endangered tradition. Serbia, who have dropped four places to 27 in the latest Fifa rankings, will be welcomed to Glasgow on Saturday, 8 September. Fifa’s rankings, which were up-dated yesterday, may look very different by the time Group A is in full swing. As it stands, Scotland have crept into the top 50 again, while Croatia have risen to eighth place.

It is form over the course of the next qualifying campaign which counts when it comes to the matter of qualifying for Brazil. Levein, though, believes that the result of yesterday’s deliberations has given Scotland every chance to succeed, even if it was an often fraught affair.

“At various stages we thought we had reached agreement, but then negotiations broke down again,” said Levein. “You could write a book about some of it. From our point of view, we got most of what we came for: two home games to start the campaign with, at least one Saturday afternoon kick-off at home for the sake of our supporters and a home game to finish with. Obviously playing Croatia in June was the one concession but with an evening kick-off I was prepared to make that sacrifice in order to protect our other wishes.”

• Scotland are up two places from 51st to 49th in the latest Fifa world rankings. England have moved up to fifth following their friendly wins over Spain – still at No 1 – and Sweden. The Republic of Ireland are up four places to 21st, while Wales have dropped five places to 50th despite winning four of their last five games and Northern Ireland are also down five to 89th.