Scotland manager Steve Clarke expects a stern examination from Croatia, Portugal and Poland after the national team discovered their group for their maiden campaign in the UEFA Nations League Group A.

Scotland have been placed in Pool A1 alongside the Croats, the Portuguese and the Poles. The first matches will be played after Euro 2024 in September, with the top two in the group advancing to the quarter-finals, the team finishing bottom automatically relegated to League B and the third-placed team facing a play-off to preserve their status as a League A nation. The competition also acts as a play-off route to the World Cup in 2026.

Reacting to the draw on Thursday evening in Paris, Clarke said: “It’s a tough one – but we knew that anyway. It’s our first time in the top group and we expected difficult opponents. That’s what we’ve got and that’s we wanted. I’m a believer if you want to improve, you’ve got to play the best teams. We’ve got good opponents we look forward to the matches.”

Steve Clarke was in Paris to witness the Nations League draw.

Scotland could be up against veteran trio Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski. Their respective international futures are likely to be decided after this summer’s European Championships and Clarke hopes to come against them. “Hopefully they keep going because I like my players to play against the best players,” he told the BBC. “Hopefully the three all turn up.”

The league phase will be played between September and October before League A quarter-finals and promotion/relegation play-offs take place in March 2025. Single-leg semis and a final will be played in June 2025. The fixtures for the Nations League will be announced in due course.

Scotland's Nations League draw brings Group of Heritage – and there's one country to pick on

Steve Clarke reacts to Scotland's Nations League draw - and has special request for three players